Colours make me happy!

I am surrounded by colours & paints these days. And so this post had to happen. 

I am writing a colour story for a magazine for their January issue, working on a product development project with Akzonobel (ICI Dulux in India), getting the entire house painted (Its through Asian paints and my clients at ICI sure won't be happy if they see this post...so..ssshh) and tackling lots of paint based DIY projects at home. Paints, Colours, Swatches, Rollers, Brushes..heaven!

I was going through a color & trends report put together by the lovely team at Akzo and thought would share some of it here. Though let me warn you after going through the post you may be tempted to download the 132 page report (here)!

The colorful story begins with the Color of the year 2011. A "light, airy citrus yellow that symbolises a freer spirit, sense of fun and positive energy". 

Do you like it? To me it represents sunshine,cheerful times, warmth, lemonade, lemon pies...What about you?

Every year ColourFutures™ works on one dominant trend and five relating trends. From this colour palette of these trends, the one color that best sums up is the Colour of the Year 2011. 

For 2011, the dominant theme is 'Appreciation' "is - a time of acceptance and appreciation of things we so often take for granted; the mood of which we will see springing forth in confident yet relaxed trends for 2011"

What a beautiful thought. I like the way it fits into my plans for the new year as well. Working towards smaller things in life, appreciating the smaller moments in life and becoming happy, remember:) Which reminds me I must give you an update of the same sometime soon. 

The five trends stemming from this are the beauty of everyday life, pop up pleasure, finding the way, made with love & molecular magic. Come with me for some gorgeous pictures & almost poetic renditions of the same through words.

"This theme harnesses the idea of local contentment, of satisfaction with what we already have as opposed to focusing on impossible goals and faraway solutions. It's about accepting real life, local pride and community respect where nothing is trivial or meaningless. In a world where everything can be visually pristine, digitally manipulated or graphically enhanced, this look represents a return to a universal sense of truth, honesty and harmony where things are simple and slightly imperfect.

This trend reminds us to revalue what we have, where the palette is relaxed and reminiscent of all things close to our heart, things we know well – blue skies, juicy fruits, country flowers and washing fluttering in the breeze. To live the moment and make it our own."

"This trend is about the joy of making something well as it is about the beauty of the end result - where the focus of attention has shifted from owning items to living better by making things.

Exchanging skills, working together and sharing the experience are qualities that connect people. Here, we see a valid rebirth of making things as a pleasurable, social experience; to witness the growth of knitting clubs, pottery classes or cookery schools.

This theme is not about 'loud' iconic design but one of quiet, creative pride and being truly 'green'. We now expect to know the full life cycle of materials and products. This more personal, responsible approach is a reaction against machines that can do everything, mass production, computer generation and inhuman processes. The love and care inherent in this theme will communicate beauty and quality - a true appreciation of the earth, its materials and creativity."

"This trend reflects the freshness of light zingy tints and clean pastels, grounded by typical cardboard brown. A single clean background colour can easily be accessorised by an array of pastel shades.

The idea of things that are transient and surprising is an engaging and charming one - a gentler humour and quirky creativity comes as a breath of fresh air.These refreshing spaces and places allow us to perceive things differently - magic from the mundane, poetry in the prosaic - to see them afresh, as if for the first time. They open up our eyes to the things that we have become so used to and learned to interpret in an educated way.Here, the magic is ageless, classless, and cultureless - a freedom of freshness."

"Defining directions, navigating life and understanding context are ideas that have a basis in both our personal identities and the wider aspect of where we fit into a globalised world.

Uncluttering our minds, homes and attitudes allows us to make sense of our immediate community and the world at large, where we can simplify and structure things. Mapping our homes via colour is a powerful way of decoding our environment. By accenting and highlighting certain areas it allows us to know and see where we are headed.We seek new directions and means of decoding who we are, where we are going and what our place in the world is. Inspired by signs, maps and urban architecture, this palette consists of pure, contrasting cool and warm neutrals highlighted by pastels from old maps and brighter signage shades."

"This microscopic, computerised palette is strong and alive - shades that grow, glow and pulsate with life and vitality in stunning greens, turquoises and purples that showcased against an array of subtle and understated deeps.

This trend is where the inspiration for tomorrow's cutting edge design is found, not by looking to distant lands, but to what is closer. Because we are so used to looking outward for inspiration, we sometimes forget to look closer at what is already here.As we look deeper we find unbelievable beauty often embedded in things that we consider to be destructive or unhealthy. This trend inspires us to no longer focus on the slick packaging of technology but what it can do for us. It's where the miracle of nature and its hidden, secret beauty will provide the new frontiers of tomorrow - a kaleidoscope of colour and pattern to fascinate all our senses."

I needn't mention that I am completely in love with each of the pages of the mammoth very well designed, researched & put together report.  Its a visual treat both for the eyes & heart I tell you. If you want to spend your weekend browsing through it, download it right here.

Wishing you a colorful weekend! Be happy! 

All images & part of text courtesy colourfutures.