WE WANT MORE NUANCE, DEPTH AND MORE INTEREST EVEN IN OUR NEUTRAL COLORS. — Mark Woodman, owner, mark woodman design + color
Group, Woodman travels across North America to attend color workshops. During these meetings, the 2013 Color of the Year, Re-Blue, was chosen. Woodman notes warm colors had been chosen as Colors of the Year for the past several years; Re-Blue counters that trend and evolves design toward more cooling colors. He says the Color of the Year is chosen
Although corporate and commercial buildings tend to
rely on a neutral palette for public spaces, pops of color can be added through accessories and artwork.
based on cues from the world around us. Woodman explains: “Our members will look at a little bit of everything: politics, sociology, travel, food, technology. Blue has become the color of technology: Tech companies use blue for identifiers or lighting, like Indiglo blue. Toyota uses blue to brand its hybrid vehicles. Car dashboards tend to be blue, not only because it’s a soothing color, but also be- cause of its visibility at night. Think of all the high-end technical products that have blue in the name: Blu-ray, Bluetooth. Just naming these things has made blue hip and forward- thinking. Blue gets an edge as opposed to be- ing the classic go-to that it always has been. Basically, it has been Re-Blued, thus the name of the Color of the Year.” Woodman adds that as a classic color, blue is inherently relaxing, comforting and energizing. Think of water, he says, which is blue and has these characteristics. “Blue also is kind of representative of us—not a political party but of our flag and military uniforms (dress blues),” he adds. “There’s a connotation to it as a color that moves us forward and on to better things. The discussion surrounding Re-Blue suggested heritage and a bit of cleansing. Those were terms that came up across the board. As we look at the start of a new political adminis- tration, Re-Blue seems appropriate.” For those who aren’t ready to commit
PHOTO: MARLITE
to Re-Blue or any other expanse of color in their space, Woodman points out there are many neutrals being created with tints of color in them. “ At Global Color Research, we have a story called Reflect, which contains a lilac-influenced gray, the softest blush
60 RETROFIT // January-February 2013
color and yellow-influenced off-whites,” he says. “And out of Color Marketing Group’s workshops, we have a neutral coming called Filtered Moon, which is essentially a very pale green—90 percent of that green is yellow. At first glance it’s an off white, but if you look again there’s a tiny bit of color running through it. We want more nuance, depth and more interest even in our neutral colors.” Woodman expects 2013 will bring about
a richer softness to color, thus more neutrals being influenced by color. But, he adds, color
PHOTO: PRATT & LAMBERT
The world around us in- fluenced Color Marketing Group’s members to choose Re-Blue as the 2013 Color of the Year. The shade offers an edge to classic blue, suggest- ing technology and new beginnings while still remaining a comforting hue.
trends can appear unexpectedly. For ex- ample, when the Baltimore Ravens National Football League team was established in 1996, there was a lot of concern that purple jerseys and T-shirts wouldn’t be purchased or worn by men. “The football team’s knock- ’em-down, drag-’em-out connotation sud- denly was translated to purple. Now purple is this big, tough color, which it hadn’t been before—yet another example of how the world around us affects color trends.”