Pantone's Colours of the Year 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity.

For the first time in recent years and in an interesting and clever turn -at least in my eyes- Pantone has chosen a combination of two hues as the Color of the Year 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity. Rose being warm and compassionate and Serenity blue, cooler and calm, together they promote the sense of balance and wellness that is currently felt as so necessary in our stressful days.

Pantone

About a month ago, my friend Marta Aymerich Mallorca and I were guessing about which colour of Pantone's SS Fashion 2016 Report would be the One for 2016. After analizing past Colours of the Year and a quick sight at Colour Trends and the World's current events, my votes were divided between ... Rose Quartz and Serenity! (Honestly, I also though of Silver Gray).

COPPER ORANGE, AkzoNobel's 2015 Color of the Year!

As every year these days, AkzoNobel published their 2015 Colour of the Year, Copper Orange, which is defined as: 

¡SURPRISING – WARM – BEAUTIFUL!

A deep colour in an emerging spectrum of reds, pinks and oranges, it showcases a globally more optimistic trend.

According to the current protagonism of metallic hues in design, this colour reflects and summarizes the Trends identified for 2015 in this field. These are:

• A warmer attitude and a desire for sharing.

• Natural earthy colour palettes, from clay tones to sunlit yellow strokes.

• And last but not least, skin tones that reflect human interaction and sepia hues from the past. 
  

Color and Materials Trends 2015-16 by Heimtextil.

Today I present you this interesting video published by Heimtextil. Here you have a very good and visual summary, which explains itself very well. Take notes and enjoy! 

Isabel de Yzaguirre, 

La Colorista.

Colour Trends in the first half of the year.

According to what Tamsin Kingswell says in Mix Trends Newsletter, which  I'm subscribed to, the Summer is a good time to make an overview of colour trends as seen in the first half of the year.In Tamsin's words, "So far we’ve noticed metallics broadening out to include all things shiny (much on show at DMY), a romance with clear materials or those with just a hint of a tint and our love affair with green going ever deeper into the forest with a lovely, almost Loden-like shade. And we still don’t seem to have shaken off the collective passion for pastels and neons although at Mix our enthusiasm is waning fast. Instead we are waiting for a move towards darker, more sober colours that counterbalance all that candyfloss knocking about at the moment. "

From what I've seen in the streets here in the small Barcelona's area village where I live, I can confirm the love of pastels and neons among people, together with emerald green and floral colors such as pink, red and sunny yellow.

Cal Gavi, Moià (Barcelona).

Photo credits and colour  palette by

(c)-Isabel de Yzaguirre Maura, 2013.

www.lacolorista.com

Dance with Color!

Thanks to the many sites I vist in the net while looking for Color and Design news, I found this beautiful video. Not Tango music, but wonderful as well as the chorepgraphy. Dance with color and Enjoy!

Isabel de Yzaguirre, 

La Colorista

Which will be next Colour of the Year 2013?

The time has come when we begin to wonder about this question. And I have come back to think about that after reading Azkonobel’s Color Future’s 2013 and after finding an interesting post by Laura Bielecki reporting the predictions made by the prestigious trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort in a meeting in Design Days Dubai 2012.

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While we don’t know about Pantone’s choice yet, AzkoNobel and its division Dulux have chosen Indigo as their colour of the Year 2013.

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What qualities explain this election?

As they say, Indigo is associated with wisdom and honesty, and gives a sense of tranquility which is very restful. It’s a benevolent colour that has the trustworthy nature and elegance of blue at the same time.

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Indigo is a rich and deep colour that, being scarcely accessible in our natural world, instills a sense of wonder and magic in us.

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Within a colour palette, indigo is versatile and pairs well with brights of a similar saturation level, citrus, warmer neutrals and other blues, purples and greens.

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Curiously, in her seminar in Dubai, Lidewij Edelkoort presented yellow as being the new pink in Interior Design, and that makes sense with its being the complement to the purple family. According to her predictions, yellow will make for vibrant and stimulating colour palettes, fabrics and fittings. And it will come with more staying power than Tangerine Tango, it seems.

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I can say that I have seen that trend for myself in Ikea Barcelona Autumn/Winter Textiles display yet. And yellow adds a vivid and hot accent that makes fabrics look wonderful!

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And what about Pantone’s Color of the Year 2013?

Last year they published it in early December, so we won’t know for a while. But there are two colours that I have seen in their Fashion Reports and that have caught my attention. They are Emerald Green and Seafoam, or Grayed Jade, as they call it. If they are not the colour of the Year, I bet something they will be a hit. And they both combine well with blues, purples and yellow families.

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While every Corporation publishes its Colour and Trends Forecasting, time will say which of them meet the costumer’s favor. But let me say that, from what I see when comparing Trends Forecasts, all of them are related and interconnected, with special accents to their market.

For me, an exciting Season of the Year has begun, that of Colour Future’s guessing!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista.

Furniture and Product Trends 2013, Maison & Objet.

Product and furniture of the near future are presented in this video by  Trendease. Here you will find  2012-13 Trends as seen in Maison&Objet early this year.Translation to English provided. Enjoy!

On White.

White - Blanco - Blanc.

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More»

I have recently created some Colour Ideabooks in my Houzz profile, to collect beautiful images gathered by Colour families. Today I'll begin showcasing White.

Traditionally used in neutral colour schemes, the use of whites was a predominant trend  in the 20 th. Century, between the 50's and the 70's. Considered by some to represent purity and cleanliness  and thought to be an ideal background to colourful decorating items and effects by many Interior Designers, Colour Expert Frank Mahnke devoted a chapter to White in his book "Color and Light in man-made Environment". The Chapter's title was "The Case Against White". There Mahnke argues why, "on a psychological basis, white is sterile" and is not recommended in Hospitals and Old-age Institutions. It seems that we humans need sensory variety in our homes and this can be introduced with the help of colour and the use of texture and patterns (wallpapers, textiles). On the contrary, the predominance of white can become boring and tedious in the end.

Via Pinterest

There are other issues with white: in contrast with bold colours, it can lead to eye strain, as it requires  "extreme adaptative changes from light to dark".

Via Pinterest

Being highly light reflectant, too bright whites can cause a distressing glare. This is why, according to Mahnke, white should not be used as a predominant colour in Interiors:

Via Pinterest

On the other hand, Design Writer Linda O'Keefe has devoted a book to White in Design. There she states that "White has the ability to pull everything together in a way that is kind of seductive". A timeless colour, it endures Seasons and Trend changes and never dates. As she says "all begins and ends with white"...

Linda O' Keefe

What do you think on this Colour Trend?

And if I can help you in some way, please contact me!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista.

Browse Lighting on Houzz- For Example:

Bathroom Lighting And Vanity Lighting · Ceiling Fans · Ceiling Lighting · Floor Lamps · Kitchen Lighting And Cabinet Lighting · Pendant Lighting · Recessed Lighting · Track Lighting ·

AzkoNobel's 2012 Color Trends

Color Futures Via YouTube

In this video AzkoNobel's Color Futures features their four 2012 Color Trends, which are:

• Delicate Mix: about elegant, refined, understated, subtle, luxurious.
• One Small Seed: about new life, healthy, precious, fragile.
• Living Scrapbook: about life, collecting, narrating, sharing...
• Rediscovered Heroes: about legacy of the past, industrial, robust, revitalized, appreciated.

To develop further in future posts.

Purple

Purple is a trendy color. It was chosen by CMG as Color of the Year 2012 and they named it Boyz'n'Berry:

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Recently, Color Strategist Lori Sawaya produced this Colorgraphic that shows Purple's meanings:

Lori Sawaya

Color Marketing Group think that "From office to home, from youth market to luxury goods, purple has as much masculine as feminine appeal.  Confident women and real men wear purple!" I love this turn of purple towards men!

Lori Sawaya has developed a palette of plums and purples in an Infographic that explains how and where you can use purple. If you want it, you can download it in PDF format here:

We are currently seeing purple and its related hues featured in many products, as in this sofa from Anéguil:

Or in this jardinière from the same brand:

Source

Also in this glass washbasin from Courant Verre:

And in this beautiful carpet by Heuga.

As for Colour Palettes combining purple, I love this one created and shared by Kate Smith:

Senstional Color

Purple was showcased by CAUS as early as in their 2011-12 Trends Report in GLOBAL ARTISAN TREND. Don't you be reminded of Pantone's Tangerine Tango by some of the hues in this palette?

CAUS

I love how Jane Hall used purple in this interior:

Via Pinterest

And how JPM did combine it here:

JPM Design, via Pinterest.

We could go on and on... and it would take long. I only expect you love purple as much as I do,be it trendy or not!

And if you need Color Help, please contact me.

Yours in Color!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista.

The year of La Colorista.

If I look backwards, this has been a busy year! 

I had decided to go back to Art Classes in 2010, and there I explored color with Mrs. Marina Berdalet, and I went on in 2011. Those were Happy Days!

Liliums, by Isabel.

I begun doing digital Colour Paletes, just because I liked to. I thank Jaume Orriols for his Photoshop classes. Also  Joan Sunyer Moret, for teaching me some pro tricks and for his conceptual and technical help with my La Colorista logos and card. And Hornbeck Design Partners were so kind to let me use their Monterrey photograph for my now Insignia Palette:

Monterrey Palette.

I wanted to learn Color Consultancy in a more scientific way that I had been taught at the Art School. There are no such studies in Spain and I looked for Online Classes. The one that looked the best was by Sensational Color. I wasn't disappointed at all. I earned my Color for Your Home Consultant Certification with Color Expert Kate Smith. She was and excellent teacher and now is a friend!

In the last days of 2010 I had bought the domain lacolorista.es and very shyly opened a Facebook bizz Page. Now it has 218 followers! To all of you, many, many thanks!!!

I have  gone on publishing my blog in three languages, and this means writing three blogs in one. My English one is the more read and has lead me a lot of traffic -don't forget, I'm a small fish... I have gone from about 3000 visits in the beginning of 2011 to nearly 9000 today. I could never have imagined that. So, to all that have come here to read my posts, or maybe just to have a look at them, many thanks for spending part of your time here!!!

I have tried to do things in my way and have explored trends as well. And my 2011 more read posts have been:

Colors of the Year 2011: which one you choose?

466 visualizations

Mural project for a School's Yard

426 visualizations.

AzkoNobel's Colour for the Year 2012, Juicy Ripe Red

358 visualizations.

And the Winning Award goes to:

Tangerine Tango, Pantone's Color of the Year 2012!

586 visualizations until this moment.

Maybe this will seem not much to some, but I had never dreamed of being read by so much people!

To end this yearly review, I designed my logo and card and am launching my service locally.I had Joan Moret's help as mentioned above. But I have a special thank you for Color Expert Teresa Tullio, who kindly offered some free ideas from which my current logo was bornt.

And I have made many wonderful Color Friends. So what else could I ask for? 

Just one thing: please, come back in 2012!!!

Happy New Year to all!!!

Some trends for 2012

I thank you Fiona Jenvey, CEO at Mudpie, for sharing this interesting presentation about Trends for 2012.

JWT 10 Trends for 2012 Executive Summary

View more presentations from JWTIntelligence

And if you are interested in Consumer Trends, you have a 12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012 Inform at Trendwatching.com

How Colour Trends are set

Colour Trends are set a minimum of three years in advance to a certain year, as many of you know. Trend setters work for great Trending Companies, establish trends according to many indicators and then follow the market to see which ones are early adopted or not. All kind of industries consult Color Trends Forecasting Books and Companies, so their products adapt to the market. This is how we see colours adopted and loved by costumers: they are made to enjoy them by industry. As Colour Marketing Group's tagline says, "Color Sells"!

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And as Frank H. Mahnke explains in his book "Color and Light in Man-made environments", psychological studies carried in a very serious way demonstrate we humans need colour in our lives. That's why we love it! And we also need variation to avoid boredom.

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That is where Trends come to make sense, as well as seasonal colour changes at our homes. 

I follow as many fonts as I can in order to know about Colour Trends. I love reading Mix Magazine from Globalcolor, they provide really good information that focuses in different markets. There are many other fonts of course.Then this is up to the Color Detective to make his, her colour work and choose. I'm working on my Colour Focus for the next months in 2011 and yesterday I came through this jewel: AzkoNobel Colour Trends 2012. I will come back soon with very intersting news on that!

Color Styling for a Wardrobe and the Color Blocking Trend

This week a friend wrote to me to ask me some color advice. She had bought two blouses, one in pale dusty pink and another in a more bright one. She was said by the shop assistant she could combine it with dark blue and she was told about color blocking being trendy. And here came her adressing to me. My friend is a little bit younger than me and I offered to make her a wide colour palette so she could see that there are really many other options apart form color blocking. It is not that I don't like  this trend, but I think this is not for all styles. I took my friend's photo and with the help of Photoshop and my Color Wheel, this is what I sent her:

La Colorista

I tried two differendt grounds, one in light warm gray and another in a deeper gray, so she could see how color changes according to the one being next. From left to right  I displayed :

1- Complements and split complements, making a happy and casual combination.

2- Neutrals, for a more classic look.

3- Analogues for soft harmonies.

4- Triadic hues.

It would be easy to pick two different bold and bright hues from these to build a color blocking look if you want to. And this is how because a friend trusted my opinion, I found myself being a Color for Image Stylist for one day. I looked at the matter in the same way I would have done to pick colors for Interior or Architectural design and my goal was to offer a wide range of possible Color Combos to my friend. This color Consult was really a very exciting one for me to do and I admit I loved it. So now I have one more field for fun in the Color world. 

To end this post, I looked for something to illustrate the Color Blocking Trend and among what I found was this refreshing home video prepared by two young girls, that have a blog called Clothes Encounters. They explain very well what the trend consists of, act as models and explain in a few well chosen words why they love it. Have a look at it and enjoy!