THE POWER OF COLOUR In his new book, design hero David Harrison champions the crucial role colours play

Long-time collaborator David Harrison has a remarkable knowledge of design and is our go-to guy for furniture pieces with pedigree. In his new book, he shares his love of colour and how it has influenced modern design

Why the particular focus on colour in this book? I had noticed the steady increase in the importance placed on colour in object design over many years. There are many good books on design, however most of these feature pieces that rarely experiment with colour. I wanted to showcase designs that incorporate colour into the design process. There are many contemporary designs that use colour for the pure joy of combining colours in unconventional ways… look no further than the Stitch chair by Australian designer Adam Goodrum from 2008 or any of the Memphis designs from the 1980s.

How difficult was the editing process when you were writing the book? Massively difficult. The first few months of the process were consumed by long lists of possible candidates for inclusion that I then had to massage into great combinations.

How does a wave of colour pick up momentum and become a movement? I think different eras bring out different attitudes to colour and this is what makes certain colours more ubiquitous at that time. What was interesting during the research was just how little importance was placed on colour in the 1990s — it was like the ’80s had used up all the colour and the world was just left with white, black and beige! Any predictions for future colour trends? The only prediction is that restraint won’t be used — at least not for a while anyway! The beauty of design is that it’s constantly evolving and the use of colour will change along with it.

And your favourite piece in the book is… Like a parent asked about their favourite child, you can’t really have favourites in a book like this. My favourite piece to write about was the

UP 5_6 chair by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia in 1968. It was such a fascinating story of radical thinking and brilliant marketing and it was set against a backdrop of the breakdown of a collaboration between two companies and the establishment of a new one. The design’s success was short-lived, but it was reissued by B&B Italia in 2000 and remains a landmark of ’60s design. Few furniture designs have caused such violent reactions as the UP 5_6.

A Century Of Colour In Design: 250 Innovative Objects And The Stories Behind Them by David Harrison (Thames & Hudson, $39.99) is available now.