In honor of Dec. 4rth’s free webinar “Making Color Make Sense” presented by color expert Jack Bredenfoerder, we present you with his 2014 color forecast from March of this year, his thoughts on the psychology of color and what goes into making a color trend, as well as his interesting take on Pantone’s whole Color of the Year concept.
Color Trends 2014: Lose the War Paint
When I consider where color direction is likely to go, I think it is best to start by examining the psyche of the overall marketplace. Where are the consumers’ minds at? How can we reach them, and how can we help them communicate with color? I like to take these questions and create a color story to help define the direction and clarify the forecast. (PRO members, don’t forget to check out the replay of Jack’s PaperSpecs Webinar “Composing Your Color Story.”)
Three years ago, I predicted a huge boom of bright, assertive colors in a forecast that I called “War Paint.” My observation was of a growing conflict in our society over practically every social issue. I felt that color would be used to shout those opinions to the world.
Anatomy of a Color Trend
When we talk about color, are there separate trends between those we see online and those we see in print, fashion, and other “real world” venues?
Yes definitely, but there is an advantage to first define the macro color direction as I have illustrated. The individual industry trend expressions can be quite useful references for further defining your own particular industry’s color direction.
For PaperSpecs, I would suggest it would be best to closely follow the print, fashion and home décor color trends and directions. I have prepared a Pinterest board and selected links from these three industries for your reference. I believe these work very well with the Color Feast direction I have defined earlier.
