Farrow & Ball
wall-to-wall
tradition
preserving the craft of paint and wallpaper production
By Leann Harms
From humble beginnings, chemists John Farrow and
Richard Ball established Farrow & Ball in the 1940s in
Dorset, a small town on the south coast of England. The
paint and wallpaper manufacturing company was built on
a reputation of excellence and quality, garnering Farrow &
Ball contracts for supplying paint to the Admiralty, the War
Office and the Colonial Office, the organizations respon-
sible for military efforts in England. After the conclusion
of World War II, when many other manufacturers traded
their traditional paint formulations for more cost effective
acrylic paints with increased plastic content, Farrow & Ball
Sarah Cole
remained loyal to their craft and continued producing paint
Director, Farrow & Ball
using original formulas and fine raw materials. Their com-
mitment to tradition has earned the company a loyal fol-
ture block-printed designs while the striped collections are
lowing of discerning customers across the globe.
trough-printed, a 19th century printing process in which
While the range of paints and wallpapers continues to
both the background color and the stripe are created by
evolve at Farrow & Ball, the company stands firm in pre-
pulling paper under open-bottomed troughs full of paint.
serving the legacy of classic paint and wallpaper produc-
The stripes are created by the blocked off sections in the
tion. Estate Emulsion, a chalky matte finish offering incom-
trough. Advancements in color control have enabled Far-
parable depth in color, has become the definitive Farrow &
row & Ball to continue using traditional printing methods
Ball look. The formula for the finish has not changed in
to add distinction and beauty to their wallpaper collections.
decades and it continues to bear 30 percent more pigment
Director Sarah Cole recently spoke with DTM and shared
than other paints. In addition, Farrow & Ball continues to
some insight into what it is that makes Farrow & Ball such
manufacture paints in an environmentally responsible man-
a leader in the industry.
ner, using naturally occurring pigments such as umbers in How does Farrow & Ball continue to create such dis-
their purest form, as well as natural ingredients including tinct designs and fresh collections?
chalk, lime putty, linseed oil and China clay. The creation of new paint colors and wallpaper collec- www
The wallpapers are created using Farrow & Ball’s own tions is led by the directors with input from the manufac-
environmentally friendly, water-based paints rather than turing and marketing teams, as well as color consultants
.designtrade.net
industrial printing inks, creating a texture and appearance and designers who have worked with the brand for many
uniquely their own. Each design possesses an exceptional years. Decisions are made based on replacing low sell-
texture effectuated by the hand-brushing technique used to ers, trends in the design world and gaps in the color card.
apply the background color. The designs are then applied Paint colors are only updated every two to three years and
using another layer of paint. The patterned collections fea- we never permanently retire a color, so customers can al-
19
farrow&ball3.indd 2-3 11/2/09 3:15 PM
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