Have You Met Rubino?
If you think this will not affect you, think again. The color palette will show up the marketing of and in actual products including consumer goods, recreation products, technology, home products, visual communications, transportation, juvenile products and fashion. The colors will also be available for decor for office, health care, retail, hospitality, entertainment, institutional and public spaces.
There is a practical reason for this forecasting. It is not just coincidence that when you decide to buy certain clothes you can now find perfectly matching accessories, or if you re-paint a room in a new hue there are matching slip covers or pillow available. In manufacturing, things have to match from thread and buttons to carpets and paints. And in marketing, colors have to appeal to societal and generational trends.
Picking Colors
The colors selected are a combination of colors which have been deemed current “best sellers” plus colors which will debut in the consumer marketplace in the next 12-18 months. According to the CMG, consumers are responding most to colors which are versatile, durable and livable. Consumers are shying away from “trendy” colors and are more sophisticated about and creative with their color choices.
Attendees at the spring 2006 conference noticed that consumers are seeking an “emotional connection with color.” Often, it is not just a color that can create and emotional response, but a combination of colors and or hues. Yellow is bright and cheery, but combine it with black and it’s a warning. Yellow-greens are reminiscent of spring and rebirth. Purples have a long history in royal garments.
Ampacet, one of the world’s leading volume provider of color and additive masterbatch solutions, their 2006 color palette has been strongly influenced by “east meets west” idea. Ampacet agrees with the CMG that the upcoming color selections are basically attitidinal and are affected by society and politics and the consumer’s desire to reach out and buy a particular product.
Color Directions 2006-2007
The red and blue families are the current colors of choice.
When a color or family of colors is becoming less popular it is said to be “cooling.” Conversely, when a color is gaining in popularity it is seen to be “warming.”
Reds are doing both. Last year’s Marrakesh Red is cooling off while Rubino, a new member in the red family which is a raspberry-like hue, is warming up. Reds will continue to have a strong showing with the coming of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. International influences which lean toward red come from Central American and India.
The ever-popular pink, which has been a very popular color in the past 18 months will be cooling off and shifting toward a softer pink, a coral. Often colors shift within the same color family, moving from warmer to cooler, clearer to grayer or darker to lighter.
Reds will continue to be incredibly popular, but environmentally-inspired blues will abound. The concept that is emerging is “Aqueous,” as a green-blue influenced by ocean and water hues and beauty spas. Water and beauty spas are both known for their calming and serene effects. The Aqueous blue may also be paired with brown for a retro effect.
Ampacet’s Palette
Ampacet’s color palette is based on various concepts that are seen by consumer to be appealing and fulfill certain needs of various demographics, both practical and emotional. A sampling of colors reveals that red and blues do indeed rule these color groups. And the color group names are as rich as the colors themselves.
Global Reality is about “heritage colors that interpret the feeling of luxury without density.” For example,
Baroque-n-Burgandy is the perfect marriage of red and brown pigments.
Nouveau Luxe contains rich jeweled tones and ethnic brights for the upper echelon of society. Bemused Blue is a “true blue” enhanced for luminosity.
Societal Vibrations are hybrid colors that reflect the younger demographics demand for radical colors
Rethink Pink is evolved from the red family and has a non-gender specific presence.
Techtopia colors convey visual energy emphasized through high sheen pigments. A sample color includes Crystalline Carata light, bright and sensuous silver.
Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will see these colors around you: in clothes, housewares, paint, electronics and packaging materials.
