10 D+D OCTOBER 2014

Color + Design

eutral and soft-toned nature col-

ors, with an emphasis on blue,

are forecast by many paint and

coatings manufacturers to be

popular sellers in 2015 for resi-

dential and commercial interiors,

large and small. Zesty, deep and

full-bodied colors are also in the

forecasts.

Why is that important to construction

professionals and building and business

owners?

Money and marketing, says James Mar-

tin, president and architectural color con-

sultant at The Color People, Denver, and

past president of Color Marketing Group.

“There is not a product sold today

where color is not affecting people’s buy-

ing decisions,” Martin says.

That hasn’t always been the case in con-

struction, he notes. Up until about 10 or 20

years ago, color was a secondary considera-

tion outside the fashion industry.

You might remember back in the 1990s,

Martin says, when consumer electronics

manufacturer Apple Inc. began marketing

computers in bright colors — computers

that had until then been white or beige.

Their colored keyboards, monitors, CPUs

and most importantly, soaring sales,

got the attention of individuals and

industries.

That was a beginning for the contempo-

rary cultural influence of color, he says.

Now, nearly everyone is sensitive to

color in some degree, and at much higher

levels than just a few decades ago.

“Color sells,” Martin says. “And the

right color sells better.”

Predicting the “Right” ColorPredicting what the “right” colors will

be, and what will sell in the coming year is

the color forecaster’s job. Many companies

have found gold at the end of the rainbow

palettes their color forecasters foresee.

What Tomorrow’s Colors Can Do for You TodayThe 2015 color forecast is for blues, soothing tones and value.

NBy Gary Henry

Color + Design11

U.S. paint and coatings manufacturers

— the U.S. Census Bureau recorded about

a thousand of them in 2011 — shipped

$23.5 billion in paint and coatings products

in 2013. That’s up more than half a billion

dollars from 2012, according to the American

Coatings Association. And the Cleveland-

based Freedonia Group predicts that by

2017 the market for paints and coatings

will top $30 billion.

To help that market keep growing, color

forecasters do their homework.

“Color forecasting is actually very method-

ical,” says Mary Lawlor, Kelly-Moore Paints’

manager of color marketing. “There’s a little

bit of ‘crystal ball,’ but there’s a lot of going

back and looking at history.”

Along with history — that would be

sales history going back about 18 months,

Lawlor says — they engage with forecast-

ing services and trend spotters. The com-

pany navigates a cross-section of design,

home products and furnishings, fashion,

travel and hospitality, and electronics of-

ferings. They track technology break-

throughs and significant architectural

projects to see what colors are trending in

which industries.

Design publications and the news media

— both industry-specific and those cover-

ing pop culture — also provide insights

and influences, Lawlor says.

Observing emerging design, new con-

struction and décor trends in the European

Soft tones are among Diamond Vogel’s top colorpicks for 2015. The company’s palettes are set tooffer “calming, relaxing” grays, browns, beiges andsoft nature colors. Photo courtesy of Diamond Vogel.

(Facing page) For 2015, Behr Paints combines pas-tels with deeps, aiming for an original and polishedambience. Photo courtesy of Behr Paints.

Union, Asia/Pacific Rim and across North

and South America keeps the company

abreast of global influences driving color

movement and change, she adds.

What do those diverse sources reveal

about tomorrow’s colors?

“Overall the colors for 2015 are fresher

and cleaner than previous years,” Lawlor

reports in her 2015 forecast. “We see some

unexpected colors like yellow-greens, cyan

and mauve move into the palette, and we

also see a dominance of the blue color fam-

ily. And pink, while a letdown of red, iden-

tifies as its own color family and shows up

plenty in the forecast.”

Kelly-Moore’s attention to the influences

and indicators of what the selling colors

are and will be is not unusual in the paint

and coatings industry.

PPG Architectural Coatings has color

stylists located in six countries and in

many consumer markets, including auto-

motive, architectural, industrial and con-

sumer electronics, says Dee Schlotter,

PPG’s senior color marketing manager,

North America.

The company also attends design

shows, she says, including the Maison &

Objet trade fair in Paris; ICFF, the Interna-

tional Contemporary Furniture Fair; Neo-

Con, a design exposition and conference

for commercial interiors; ASID, the Ameri-

can Society of Interior Designers’ confer-

ences; and kitchen and bath and

automotive shows around the world.

Based on past experience in these are-

nas, Schlotter says her company expects a

“fierce, clean blue” to trend in 2015.

“The color brings positive energy and

represents possibility for the future. Blue

has an impact all over the world and will

continue to make waves in all industries,”

she says.

Blue headlines at California Paints, too.

Kristin Summer, color and design strate-

gist, indicates they follow the economy,

magazines, furniture design, clothing, even

12 D+D OCTOBER 2014

women’s hair and nail colors — women

typically have greater color sensitivity

than men, Martin notes — for its forecasts.

“True Blue,” a palette featuring shades

of blue, along with whites and creams, can

be used in any combination to create nau-

tical, vintage, clean, eclectic or other

styles, Summer says.

Trends, Not FadsIt’s important to note that color trends are

an “evolutionary process,” says Jackie

Dunn-Edwards Paints’ 2015 offeringswill include palettes that are somberand serene; vibrant and intense; sugarysweet; and, shown here, dusky and dark.Photo courtesy of Dunn-Edwards Paints.

Jordan, director of color marketing at

Sherwin-Williams.

“Trends don’t just come and go,” she

says. “If they come and go, it’s not a

trend, it’s a fad. Trends have longevity,

and transition from year to year in some

instances.”

Her company’s 2015 “Chrysalis” palette,

for instance, follows on the company’s

2014 “Reasoned” and “Diaphanous”

palettes. Those 2014 color groupings in-

cluded dusty, gray, off-white tones. They

led to the newer palette, still on the neu-

tral, chalky side, still soothing and calm-

ing, but with new influences and

undertones related to sky and clouds, Jor-

dan says.

While such forecasts can give construc-

tion professionals and building and busi-

ness owners valuable insights into what

their customers may want in the coming

year, both Jordan and Martin advise cau-

tion when it comes to exteriors.

The color blue for instance, Martin says

— even though it’s trending, you don’t

want to go right out and put it on a build-

ing. It’s okay for interiors, he says, but for

outside you should wait until acceptance

builds, possibly in a year or two, since ex-

Color + Design13

Overall, the colors are fresher and cleaner than previous years, according toKelly-Moore Paints’ 2015 forecast. Photo courtesy of Kelly-Moore Paints.(Below) Neutral and soft-toned nature colors, with an emphasis on blue, areforecast by many paint and coatings manufacturers to be popular sellers in2015. Photo courtesy of PPG Architectural Coatings.

14 D+D OCTOBER 2014

terior coatings are not as changeable as

interiors. Also, he says, color changes

quite a bit at scale.

It’s still something construction profes-

sionals should keep an eye on, Jordan says,

because if color forecasters have done their

jobs correctly, acceptance will build.

Valspar’s Jeff Alexander agrees.

Alexander is vice president for the com-

pany's sales, coil and extrusion division.

“We have seen that it can take a couple

of years for design professionals to incor-

porate these colors in building projects

across the world,” Alexander notes. “If

it’s a popular color, the color is generally

adopted quicker, tends to stick around

longer and is widely accepted in the de-

sign community.”

That means colors, like the trending

blues backed up by the intensive scrutiny

of color forecasters and a year or two of

experience, are likely to keep a contempo-

rary look longer — maybe as long as the

coatings’ service lives, Martin says —

than colors not backed by trend research.

Sales is one industry measure of accept-

ance, says Andrea Magno, manager of

Benjamin Moore & Co.’s Color & Design

Studio. Tracking how and where colors

are used and mentioned in media is

another.

Though Benjamin Moore & Co.’s 2015

palette wasn’t available by Durability +

Design’s press time, Magno counts their

2014 color of the year “Breath of Fresh

Air” — described in its literature as “an

ethereal blue serving as a ‘new neutral’

that is livable and functional” — as a fore-

casting success.

“The message of stopping what you are

doing to recollect yourself and to shut off

your cell phones and take a breath of

fresh air went a long way,” Magno says.

Tomorrow’s ColorsSoft tones are among Diamond Vogel’s top

color picks for 2015, according to Sandy

Sherwin-Williams’ 2015 “Chrysalis” palette offers “soothing, calming” neutrals, with influences and undertones related to sky and clouds. Photo courtesy of Sherwin-Williams.

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16 D+D OCTOBER 2014

Agar-Studelska, the company’s color mar-

keting and decorating products manager.

Several of its palettes such as “Retreat”

and “Whites & Neutrals” offer “calming,

relaxing” grays, browns, beiges and soft

nature colors, she says.

Not every forecast calls for soft and re-

laxing, however.

Neutrals in commercial spaces, from

way-finding to highlighting architectural

elements, will focus on warm and honey

tones, predicts Sara A. McLean, Dunn-

Edwards Paints’ color marketing manager.

Look for “Poppy,” a trending color be-

tween red and orange, to show up on

everything from walls to commercial prod-

ucts, she says.

She reports the company’s 2015 offer-

ings will include palettes that are somber

and serene; dusky and dark; vibrant and

intense; and sugary sweet.

Trending blue plays a strong role in the

Dunn-Edwards vision. The “Into the

Abyss” palette is filled with layers of blue,

from the inky blues of the ocean depths to

lighter sunlit blues, McLean says.

Red isn’t out of the game either. “Just

look at the Emmy Awards red carpet and

note the number of red dresses shown this

year,” she adds.

Behr Paint’s 2015 Color Trends are in-

spired by the emotion color evokes, accord-

ing to Erika Woelfel, director of color

marketing. “We are inspired by colors and

tones that maximize the level of energy in

the room to create a unique style and feel.”

While its “Deep Dreams” palette offers

colors of charcoal and eggplant for an

atmosphere of contemplation and relax-

Geographic location plays a huge role incolor selection, and can carry moreweight in color selection than trend forecasts.

You will find particular colors lookbeautiful in one geographic region whilelooking foreign and uncomfortable in an-other region. Light characteristics, cli-mate, altitude — all these play into theway colors read. Manufacturers havestruggled with this for years with bothpaint colors and carpet and textile col-lections for the interiors market.

In an attempt to solve consumer tastepreferences, paint manufacturers onceoffered different color cards by region.Carpet manufacturers experimentedwith this same concept, offering differ-ent sample books based on location.

The sophisticated neutrals would bemarketed in New York, the bright hues

would be marketed in the Southeast, andthe earthy colors would be found in thePacific Northwest. The strategy had nocorrelation to what was trending, but re-sponded to a deeper level of color prefer-ence based on geography, light and place.

The cost of this type of color market-ing ultimately was prohibitive and mayhave contributed to shifting the con-sumer emphasis to following colortrends: If you do a trend color, your de-sign is guaranteed to be successful!

We had firsthand experience when acorporate client hired a well-known ar-chitectural firm to create a global colorpalette for the company offices.

The colors and materials that lookedsophisticated and on-trend in Manhat-tan looked depressing and sad in Lon-don, due to low light intensities. Theylooked foreign in Mexico due to culturalexpectations.

Color selection and design is not justdecoration. For color to be successful itneeds to be selected using criteria thatbridges multiple disciplines — geogra-phy, culture, psychology, human responseand visual ergonomics. This process canhelp ensure an environment is meaning-ful to the users and in sync with the tasksand functions taking place.

Trends alone are not enough to har-ness the power of color to shape expe-rience. — Jill Pilaroscia, Colour Studio

Emmett Fiore, staff colorist, Fine Paints of Europe, adds:My grandfather was a tailor from Italy.I think the tailor trade parallels what we

do at Fine Paints, and it implies that onesize will never fit all.

Much in this same manner, colorpalettes need to be individualized to fitthe needs of each client while providingthe very best paint. The high-end marketis about customization and quality.D+D

Dissenting Voices

Light characteristics, climate and altitude all play into the way colors read,says Jill Pilaroscia, Colour Studio. Here, a newly painted home in Weston,Vt. — population 566 according to the 2010 census — shows its colors. Photo courtesy of Fine Paints of Europe.

Jill Pilaroscia

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18 D+D OCTOBER 2014

ation, “Social Brights” features vivid

blues, reds, oranges and yellows that ex-

cite and energize, balanced by deeper

shades of gray, Woelfel says.

“We are intrigued by the combination of

brights with neutrals, and pastels with

deeps, to create an original and polished

ambience,” she says.

Beyond Value“Color is so personal,” says Agar-

Studelska.

Construction professionals and their

clients often approach projects with their

own ideas of what they want. In those

situations, forecasts can be valuable as

guidance and validation, she explains.

“Are we on the right track? Are we look-

ing forward?”

Forecasts carry more weight, since most

are backed by extensive research, than

random guesses.

“Our color forecasts are written for the

professional design community, architects

and designers,” Jordan says. “We use

those same stories for consumers. We

pare them down a little, make them more

DIY-oriented. But the forecast in our pres-

entation is for professionals.”

Forecasts give architects and designers

new avenues to explore for their specifica-

tions; opportunities for using tried-and-

true colors in new ways; and the

possibility of whole new insights into

color and design, she says — insights that

may transcend mere utility. D+D

Flat metal panels, coated to look like copper,gleam in early morning sunlight at Judson University, Elgin, Ill. Though color forecastsmainly target interiors, experts say they canbenefit exteriors too, given time and perspective.Photo courtesy of Valspar Paint.

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