COLOR TRENDS & FORECAST
has gone to the paint store thinking they
knew the exact color they wanted only to
discover it looked totally different once it
was painted on the wall of their home.
This can make the consumer very fearful of selecting color for their home.
Consumers have asked for a few things
to help them with their decisions including larger color samples, the ability to
recolor an image of their home on the
computer and wet samples to apply to a
wall. All of these are available from most
manufacturers today.
Warman, Resene: Many consumers
seem to have lost their confidence
with colors. As color has become more
and more a design feature, customers
often feel their project needs to make
a strong color statement and we
often employ someone to assist with
this rather than go with their gut
feeling on what colors would be right
for them.
Kim, Valspar: There are certain
groups of at-home design divas, both
male and female. They are very comfortable with colors and experiment
with colors. These consumers who
reach out to me are successful selecting one perfect color for them and
need help for other harmonious colors
for trim, ceiling, door or adjacent
rooms. Less sophisticated consumers
need color suggestions from the start.
Their expectation on color advice is for
a color designer to narrow down the
color selection process and leave some
room for them to have a chance to
select the final color.
Mantyla, California Paints:
Consumers are looking for useful
color tools that showcase real color
usage. Color combinations are important as well as real use photos showing featured combinations are helpful
for consumers to gain confidence in
their color choices. Mini decks or
smaller color selections like
California Paints’ Historic and 20th
Century Colors of America collections
help consumers zero in on a color fam-
Contrast and contradiction drive
the latest color trends showcased
in Resene’s The Range 2010,
which focuses on a move away
from basic earthiness towards the
warmth and comfort of copper
browns, such as Resene
Desperado; a shift from gold
towards yellows, such as Resene
Ipanema; while healthy oranges
and pinks, such as Resene
Daredevil and Resene Vibe,
pack some punch.
ily more easily. Larger-sized single
color chips are becoming the usual
request from consumers.
Prime, NCS Colour: With the web,
people are opening up to taking control of design. We’re seeing lots of
enquiries from companies wanting to
customize the NCS Navigator right
now so their customers can explore
color for themselves.
Schlotter, PPG: Consumers are not
comfortable with the color selection
process. They need help with what
colors go great together. PPG has
the Harmony program which offers
color in context—five colors on a
paint swatch—colors that can be
used for paint, flooring, fabrics, window treatments and carpet so consumers can be sure all their colors
work well together.
How about behind the scenes?
What is happening in the R&D lab
on the color development front?
Lawlor, Kelly-Moore: We have been
working closely with our pigment suppliers to produce zero-VOC colorants that
will ensure our low- and zero-VOC products remain so once tinted in fashionable
colors. We’re already using zero-VOC colorants in the factory and anticipate
using them in our stores very soon.
These reformulated products have
Photo: Resene
caused problems for tint machine vendors who are addressing these issues. We
have also been working on heat reflective pigments for our products. These
pigments are intended to keep buildings
cooler in warmer climates. The color
range for these types of pigments is limited, and tends to be light- to mid-ranged
earthy colors. We're also focusing more
on bright reds and yellows with high
exterior durability. This will allow us to
produce more fashionable exterior colors
that will not fade rapidly.
Kim, Valspar: My interaction with R&D
is to develop colors that are new and
appealing to our consumer based on the
color trends I see for coming years. When
I need to communicate the emotive side
of color, the R&D lab makes it possible
with their scientific side of color.
Mantyla, California Paints: At California Paints, our color lab is one of
the busiest places in the building. We
are always working on new ways to
bring high quality color solutions to
our customers. Over the last three
years we have been very focused on
offering our dealers the most revolutionary colorant system on the market. Our Trillion Super Strength
Colorant will be released in May
2010 and is imported from Europe
exclusively for California Paints. Due
to its super strength intensity, less
colorant is needed to achieve opaque,
