A peek inside tone-setting world of color forecasting
Earlier this year, in a conference room littered with half-eaten lunches, water bottles, laptops and easels, a group of color forecasters from PPG Brands was wrapping up a week of work.
They came up with recommendations that will influence the colors and finishes we’re likely to see in 2017 on a wide variety of products, including appliances, cars, phones, airplanes, paints and beverage cans,. They also picked a color of the year.
Pittsburgh-based PPG, which makes paint, coatings and materials for industries ranging from architecture and aerospace to automotive and consumer products, is just one of many companies that produce color forecasts.
At this Manhattan meeting, the forecasters were deep-diving into color decks, field research reports, magazines, books and each other’s heads. The easels were covered with inspiration swatches, photos and descriptive phrases. One “mood board” listed thewords “timeless,” “memories,” “diamond patterns” and “ticking stripes” under the header “Nostalgia.”
Small groups with card filled boxes sprawled on a carpet. They brainstormed, laying out arrays of coordinating colors that looked like mosaics or game boards, until the palettes came together and there was a universal nod of satisfaction.
“We start really loose and abstract, then we take those organic concepts and
make them more concrete,” said Allison Heape, a color team leader.
At the end of the session, the group prepared an extensive file of themes, colors and finishes from which designers and manufacturers can draw.
“We draw inspiration from global influences,” said Dee Schlotter, senior color marketingmanager for PPG’s paint brands, who oversawthe forecast session. “The team considers what’s happening in society, fashion, nature and elsewhere, and delves into things that resonate with consumers.
“For example, did a significant event take place this year, and are there colors that connect with it that capture the feelings it may have created?”
For instance, she said, “After 9/11, soft pink, a compassionate color, and chocolate brown, a grounding color, bubbled to the surface in home decor because they resonated with how people were feeling at the time.”
A few years later, grays dominated the neutrals category, she said, “because with the state of the economy and of theworld, the hue felt right.”
The forecasters also consider lifestyle and demographics. A Texas baby boomer may want different paint colors than a millennial in Oregon does.
The team also develops palettes around popular hues.
“Let’s say pale beige is trending,” Schlotter said. “It can seem dated, but when it’s next to a dark granite gray or an orange-red, it becomes fresh and new. Different fromthe beige a baby boomer remembers from the 8`0s.”
Does the forecast team ever disagree?
“We have more than 20 stylists from six countries and four different industries, so the discussion’s quite lively,” Schlotter said.
But this year, the color of the year choice was unanimous.
The color is a grayish violet. The forecasters liked its gender and age neutrality, aswell as its presence in the naturalworld, from amethysts to outer space. Those factors should make it appealing to a wide audience, they felt, but the team won’t know for sure till products begin to roll out.
Schlotter is optimistic.