Europe
Applicators of powder coatings are
now opening plants specifically built for
powder coating of medium-density fiber-
board (MDF) panels. MDF Specialised
Coaters, Sheffield, England, operates a
dedicated power coatings unit with a gas-
fired, infra-red curing oven able to give
4,500 meters of MDF per day smooth
and textured single powder coatings,
With both MDF and melamine-
faced chipboard (MCF), powder coat-
ings are supplementing spraying with
conventional coatings and printing as
a coating process. In addition systems
applying textured plates are available
for adding embossed effects, such as
wood grain patterns.
The dispersions and pigments business
of BASF has developed a system for the
mass coloring with pigment dispersions
of the wood fibers in MDF boards.
“The pigment preparations are added
during the production process,” explained
Juliane Kruesemann, BASF’s pigments
marketing manager. “ They ensure an
even mass coloration of the material,
since they stay affined to the wood fiber,
and stand out due to their great shine as
well as their color and light stability.”
BASF has just jointly developed a
range of four new colors for Glunz,
Meppen, Germany, an MDF produc-
tion subsidiary of Sonae Industria
Group of Portugal, which will comple-
ment black and grey shades already
provided by BASF.
“The new color collection opens up a
completely new range of aesthetic options
for MDF,” said Kruesmann, adding that it
reflects both current and long-term trends.
Most of the leading coatings, pigments
and woodboard manufacturers now have
their own design teams keeping up with
the latest color trends to provide an advice service to operators further down the
value chain.
“Our customers expect us to come up
with new designs which reflects the current color preferences of both industrial
and ordinary consumers, “ said Elliott
Fairlie, head of décor development at the
UK branch of Egger Group, a German-based panel manufacturer. “It is easier
for us to provide the ideas for designs,”
he added.
Although being affected by technological advances in coatings, color trends
are mainly driven by economic, political
and social factors.
“We have to look at a wide spectrum
of current influences, which are evident
during visits to fairs and exhibitions but
also in lifestyles and behaviour patterns,”
explained Judith van Vliet, a designer at
the Swiss-based pigments manufacturer
Clariant. “We translate the results of all
these observations into predictions of
color trends the next 1-2 years.”
In recent years the main theme in
interior design has been a predomi-
nance of soft and neutral color but
with a growing tendency for promi-
nent accents in the form of brighter
and bolder colors on relatively small
accessories or equipment.
“Soft neon colors are popping up in
several consumer electronic products:
headphones, speaker sets and mobile
phones as accents or covering the whole
surface,” said Stephie Sijssens, perfor-
mance coatings color design manager at
AkzoNobel. “Sport accessories and the
new generation of Scandinavian designers
were a big inspiration for (this change).”
At last year’s Milan Furniture Fair,
one of the biggest in the world with more
than 350,000 visitors, the use of color
accents was even more noticeable as a
means to “create more personalized and
individual pieces,” according to Fairlie.
This contrasted with a growing trend
for cooler greys, often in a combina-
tion of shades. “Mix and matching (in
interior design) is nothing new,” said
Fairlie in a commentary on the show.
“We now see this trend in a new form,
with designs appearing individually and
at random, yet stylishly balanced and
complemented.”
Brighter colors are now gaining more
prominence in interiors possibly due
partly to the wider applications of pow-
der coatings and the greater availability
of colored MDF and other fiberboards.
“There is a lot more accenting go-
ing on perhaps because consumers are
willing to take more risks with colors in
their own homes,” said van Vliet. “The
stronger colors are also now being ap-
plied to larger surfaces such as tables
and chairs.”
In parts of northern Europe where
traditionally cool but light reflective
colors have prevailed, bolder colors are
starting to be adopted by designers.
“In Scandinavia pastel colors and
neutrals have been very important in the
last years because they give out light,”
said van Vliet. “So I was pleasantly
surprised to see during the Stockholm
Design Week last month (February) col-
ors like bright orange and teals with a
mix of greens and blues being used in
interior design, often combined with the
softer neutrals and pastels.”
“This use of brighter colors in interi-
ors in Europe is a sign of a greater opti-
mism, particularly among the young even
though they are experiencing high levels
of unemployment,” she said. “They are
fed up with the years of negativity since
the 2008 financial crisis and want to
show they are being positive.”
As the mood of Europeans change
amidst economic and political uncertain-
ties, the coatings sector, particularly that
serving the interior design market, will
have to continue to grapple with fluctua-
tions in consumers’ color tastes. CW
“Brighter colors
are now gaining
in prominence in
interiors possibly
due partly to the
wider applications
of powder coatings
and the greater
availability of
MDF and other
fiberboards.”
