Color Marketing Group Predicts Cool Colors Are Hot For 2001

Art Business News, Dec, 2000

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--As we approach 2001, a new wave of soft colors, led by blue, aqua and true lavender, is appearing across all markets in response to consumers' desire for serenity in their environment. This comes as no surprise: back in 1999, members of the Color Marketing Group (www.colormarketing.org) predicted these colors would be heavily represented across the board in consumer markets. And members of the art and framing industries should take note--consumer color preferences quickly translate into the colors chosen in consumer art preferences.

These professional color designers anticipate consumers will demand softer, but more energizing products that reflect both a physical and global influence in 2001 due to the following four major emerging trends:

* The consumers' desire for both products and colors that are authentic, possessing some degree of heritage, originality, tradition or craft that can be linked to an individual's cultural roots or personal interests.

* Water's color, texture and calming effects continue to be integrated into product colors and design.

* Globalization, especially the strong ethnic influences from Asia, Morocco and Turkey, continue to bring spicy and earthy colors to U.S. color palettes.

* The positive economy has spurred the interest of consumers in personalizing their own living spaces in a bolder, more colorful way.

Special effects, translucence and color layering are becoming critical to color and design. There is an increasing sophistication among both consumers and designers who expect quality and more complex colors that are not necessarily easily recognizable. Technology has become a given in product design. According to Consumer Colors current Co-Chairman Robbie Douglas, CMG, with Igloo Products Corporation, Houston, "With 21st century technologies allowing us to use special effects in a wide variety of products, pearlescence, iridescence, textures, and other complex finishes have continued to grow in importance. These unique subtleties in color finishes and sheens are playing a vital role in color marketing for many industries."

Mass media and the Internet are changing the speed with which colors and trends move within our society and around the world. "Because the world is at our fingertips and we are now living in a truly global society, we are seeing new color and trends develop and gain acceptance much faster today than we did even five years ago," explained Consumer Colors current Co-Chairman Ricki Gardner, CMG, with Artistree in Coppell, Texas. "The immediacy that the Internet, television and other media afford brings new lifestyles and design influences into our homes and offices on a daily basis. This rapid consumer acceptance makes it much more important for us as product designers and marketers to keep abreast of developing color and design trends."

According to Color Marketing Group, look for the following colors on your favorite consumer products for 2001:

Marrakesh Red: The earthiness of natural dyes used from Morocco to India exude from this soft red.

Pink Lady: Soft and sophisticated yet strong this true pink combines with many different tones.

Sandy Egg-o: This clean and vibrant yellow has lots of personality.

Amazing: A touch of red warms this pale yet vibrant yellow.

Copper Blush: Reminiscent of a translucent cameo, this hue is tinted with white and pink.

Autumn Oak: This orange-based, weathered brown has natural dye characteristics.

Cocobola: Neither brown nor red, this chameleon color is a deep earth hue.

Capri Blue: Yellow slightly influences this soothing aquatic blue.

Silver Strand Blue: A clean, calm medium gray-blue.

Blue Too: Blue that is saturated, bright and fun.

Black Pansy: A deep, blackened, blue-based purple.

Lavendare: This pastel purple is pale, yet cross-gender.

Pure Purple: A mid-range purple that can be exciting and fun, as well as subdued.

Glass Block: Inspired by soothing aqua and the lightness of being, this hue is blue-green.

Smudged Green: Green undertones and a trace of yellow create the base of this warm, dirty neutral.

Astro Green: Green that is clean, clear and soothing.

Storm: Resulting from the merge of mineral blues and greens, this is an industrial and mechanical hue.

Tuscan Clay: A tinted terra cotta inspired by the Asian influence.

Orange Spice: Sophisticated yet energetic this orange is inspired by the Asian influence.