Coatings World - May 2012

ASK THE EXPERT

A Q&A with Sonu Mathew, ASID, IIDA and Benjamin Moore’s senior interior designer.

Coatings World: What is the latest news from Benjamin Moore on the color development front?

Sonu Mathew: We have an entirely new collection of colors called Color Stories. The collection is comprised of 240 full spectrum colors. Inspired by nature, the senses, moments, found objects, travel and pure imagination, each color tells its enticing tale.

We’ve created a collection of full spectrum colors that use no black or gray pigments. This means the colors have an added sense of mystery, depth and beauty. They interact and reflect one another, creating a colorful conversation on walls. And that means the color is unique in the context of its environment, creating a haven for the individual at home. We offer Color Stories exclusively in Benjamin Moore’s Aura paint, defining the important balance of color and product working together to create a coatings system.

Coatings World: What are the current color trendsetters? How do you see these trends evolving in the future and affecting the color design/selection process?

Mathew: Wythe Blue HC-143 represents the family of blues that will trend in 2012. Blue is calming, trustworthy, a color rooted in history, but with a strong modern edge. We find a cooling of the palette as we move into 2012 evoking a sense of soothing calm. Blues are also representative of the cooler colors which visually recede, rendering a more spacious feeling in a room. As we are scaling down our living spaces, color can make even more impact.

As a backdrop to other hues, blue works across the board with the various wood tones, grays and whites we see intermingled in our environments. Blue represents a classic color family that has become a favorite over the years and will continue to hold its position in the world of style.

Overall, combinations of colors have an interesting nuance to them, offering saturated hues underscoring feminine brights in a serious way.

Benjamin Moore’s Wythe Blue evokes nature’s primal elements of earth, sky, water, flora and fauna. It’s a color designed to create a serene and restful, comfortable and stable ambiance as an antidote to the frenetic pace of today’s daily life.

Coatings World: Who/what determines color trends (consumer demand, designer influence, etc.)?

Mathew: Benjamin Moore’s North American design team meets annually to discuss color forecast and trend research conducted throughout the year. Our perspectives are individually shaped by social, political, economic shifts and how they may translate to the world of design. This means we pay close attention to influential designers, emerging designers and consumer behavior, as well. From there, we further analyze design concepts and assign colors that will help to tell these global stories with a cultural slant to North American color. Our research comes from London, Paris, New York, Milan and local home states and provinces across North America. Trends are simply the evolution of style and can be born anywhere. The skill is in identifying them and finding colorful and meaningful ways in which to embrace them in the world of design.

Coatings World: How important of a role does color play in the overall design scheme?

Mathew: Color is the soul of design. Where design defines the environment in terms of function, color enhances its character. Not only is the family of colors important, but it’s equally relevant to consider the intensity and tone of color as well as its relationship to other colors in the scheme. Inherent colors in materials—brick, stone, wood finishes, etc.—can be celebrated and complimented by creating an edited palette throughout an environment.