The Hot New Colors
Last Monday consisted of 10 hours of inspiring, informative and exhaustive walking through the New York International Gift Fair. The show included 2,700 of the best and most progressive new designs in gifts, home furnishings and textiles. There were purveyors of decadent chocolates, sumptuous bed linens, fabulous tabletop wares, the cutest baby paraphernalia, and accessories that would make any pet feel pampered. Even Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, was there showing her delicious goodies.
Ladies and gentlemen, get your plastic and checkbooks ready, because if the buyers bought even half of the wonderful things I saw, your bank accounts are in danger! My only saving grace was that you can’t make personal purchases on the showfloor…but I digress.
I came from the show armed with insight into what consumers will be looking for throughout 2008 and beyond. One of the biggest treats of the day was a two-hour design trends seminar hosted by IFDA (International Furnishings and Design Association). Doty Horn, Director of Color and Design for Benjamin Moore, presented their COLOR PULSE 2009 forecast and Samantha Nestor, Metropolitan Home’s special projects editor, presented “Color in the Home” which focused on what they’re seeing this year in terms of color and design.
The team at Benjamin Moore identified SIMPLICITY as the overall theme of upcoming trends supported by four key influencers: RAW, URBAN SILENCE, SIMPLEXITY and PRIVATE IDENTITY. The key influencers are a compilation of what is happening in the world.
Over the next several designSnaps, I’ll report, explore, expand and add my take on each of the trends they’ve identified.
But for now, in this designSnap, let’s focus on the “Color in the Home” trends presented by Samantha Nestor.
According to Metropolitan Home, the hot colors for this year are Yellow, Grey, Green and Lavender. The Yellow is a bright lemon or sunshine; the Grey is the evolution of the black/white trend we’ve been seeing over the last year or so; the Green is acid; and the Lavender seems to be the calming hue. However, I did notice that she showed a fair amount of fuchsia in her examples. There may be something to that – PANTONE has identified it as a major color for Spring.
Anyway, Samantha showed some great examples of how the four colors are being used, with the most common treatment being all over color, usually a neutral, with splashes of contrasting bold bright colors.
Since these trends tend to show up first in fashion, you’ve probably seen this on the ‘red carpet’ (Alicia Keys showed up at the Grammys wearing a sapphire gown and a hot pink purse), in the stores (check out Neiman Marcus’ accessories) and on the runways (DKNY’s grey punctuated with burnt orange.) She showed a great example of how the fashion industry influenced the color of Strida’s new folding bicycle – it’s, as she termed, Unmellow Yellow.
On the topic of Yellow, in Metropolitan Home’s January/February Issue, they quote Donna May Woods, design director for Brunswick & Fils, “Sun is primary to people’s psyches, so a bright yellow wall is a good substitute if there’s none around.”
I agree. I just painted my entire living room – ceiling and all - daffodil yellow. And, I was happier from the first day I saw it. (Or maybe it was because there were no more ladders in the room!)
Are you using the hot new colors in your products and designs? If you are, there may be a story in there. If you aren’t, perhaps it may give your product a new direction. Give me a call, 717-392-6982 or email me at mapiccirillo@northstar-m.com. Let’s talk about it.
Ciao,
Mary Anne Piccirillo
Public Relations Director
P.S.
Join me on Tuesday, February 19 for the Get Noticed: How to Use P.R. to Survive Tough Times teleconference. Click here for more information.
Also, click over to the North Star Marketing Tips and learn how trends can enhance your business and products. |
