I have been thinking about colour in Design..
On another thread, I flippantly said 'red is the new orange' but actually, now thinking about it, I believe it is..
All designers are influenced, to a greater or lesser extent, by fashion, trend and popular taste, and colour is an important part of this, if they weren't they would simply go 'out of fashion' and cease to exist as designers.
Red as a colour in design has come and gone throughout the Twentieth Century with surprising regularity-
it was favoured by the Victorians, returned with the Bauhaus, 20 years later or so, came back in the 50s, then not again till the 1980s.
(It being used in each era in different colour combinations)
It is filtering back but has not yet reached the mainstream..(try and buy red handtowels for instance)..but it is coming..
I think whitespike is 'on the money' with a future trend, as is my new bathroom floor.
The DA Bauhuas style logo in ..red.. is also on trend, but owes as much to Style as to Fashion.
Orange, on the other hand, belonged to art Deco period of the 1930s, returned in force during the 70s, and made a comeback in the Mid 90s, it has hung around much longer than I ever thought it would, but is beginning to date now (in my opinion)
Anybody else have any theories about colour in Design ?
Oh, don't get me going on color!
It's one of my main passions! And you are quite right that fashion design leads the way on color trends. It starts there and filters through every thing from furniture to automobiles. Citron green was big for a few years, which annoyed me cuz it's one of my favs and I hated seeing it overused everywhere.
There are actually several groups out there predicting color trending and to some extent what they saye influences designers in their selections. The thought being that folks will but if it's in one of the current 'hot' colors.
I think that has validity, but I think that the design savvy types such as the DA crowd tend to be more individualistic and not as 'trendy'. We might throw in a pillow or accent piece in the new 'hot' color but I thnk we less often opt to redecorate according to trends. I don't think that fact reaches the minds of advertisers though since you see the in colors on the advertised items.
It does seem though that certain pieces are iconic in a certain color even if that color is not currently trndy. ie: barcelona in black, womb chair in red, white tulip tables, etc.
I'll
I'll call that beautiful chartreuse 'Olive Green' from now on.. it is one of my favourites too:) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/robert2003robert/Hpim1447.jp g"img"
"whitespike is 'on the...
"whitespike is 'on the money' with a future trend"
Thanks. I just get what I like... and noticed that I obviously like red!
I feel the same about orange. It got huge in the 90s. I believe it looks dated these days. BUT - all in all, trends come back around. If you like it use it!
The same goes for color combos too. Late 90s early 00s I noticed powder blue and chocolate brown being over used.
Because it's "retro"?
Do you like avocado green because you like it, or because it's "retro". LOL.
I like a fresh interpretation of avocado - although generally greens are not my favorite colors, nor are yellows. I'm much more partial to complex neutrals with pops of either cool (blues) or warm (reds, oranges).
Don't get me wrong Whitespike - I have a ton of shit in the current apple green trend. I just think its going to be one of those colors that we all collectively get sick of at once.
I like a fresh interpretati...
I like a fresh interpretation of avocado green also and even chili's restaurants must love the green look, cause they are redoing most all 1500 of there eateries in the avocado green look, (no more dark green) yea!
I think the color really is great. and with the new stone that they have introduced I think some designer did a damn good job for Brinker International owner of the Eateries . I think we just got a little sick of it cause we saw so much of it in the 70's on the Fridge with the dark
wood cabinets in moms kitchen , I for one swore off it but the color looks good flying solo in your living room or other rooms, Just the appliances were scary,
I consider my self a rea...
I consider my self a real Design addict. Not just someone who is cause they hang around this forum a lot.
I do have a life other than tapping the keyboard, although i must say the cordozon shot in the finger joints for the osteo arthritis last week has helped 100 percent and feels great !!! now, I thought the typing was killing me but the doc said the 56 year old hand was just wearing out. and the joints are hitting bone on bone,
Now that you have heard my medical condition update,
I spend a lot of time looking at buildings and all things design (like chilis )
I am seeing things that were created in the 90's that are already out of style and our being changed
the points and circles on shopping centers are already getting a face lift ( for some reason the world is in love with Tuscan ) even though i am a modern guy. I still love that look as i spent 14 days on my honeymoon and got to know Tuscany from Florence to Siena real well, so It is a great look, but we are over doing it now, just like we over did country french in every home in our city for the last 15 years,
I have started a thread , that i am redoing my home with a stone that was popular in the 50's and 60's and made popular by Frank Lloyd Wright in his great midcentury homes,
That stone was so overused in the 50's it went in hypernation for 40 years, this is gonna happen with the dry sack stone being used on the Tuscan homes in another 2 years and we all will be sick of it like green avovado and Harvest gold appliances in the 70's kitchen,
I guess what i am saying is we tend to beat things to death, and i guess as a developer of shopping centers and buildings, and homes , we want what sells and what the public embraces, as a great look, we have a tendency to shove it down ones throat and make everyone sick of it, I wish in our part of the country the southwest we would have some modern ideas put the public will not go for it so we are dictated to what will sell for the tenants,
"Do you like avocado green...
"Do you like avocado green because you like it, or because it's "retro""
Because I like it of course! I don't like the idea of "retro." I guess some things I like are considered retro, but I live in 2007 and I'm proud of it!
I was born in 1981. So, I have have no emotional attachment to any past fads. By the time I was born, the whole aesthetic world had turned to sh*t!
And I agree about the 90s - there are architecture and design books I bought last decade that at the time I thought were extremely modern. Some of the books' graphics and photos now look really 90s.
sorry to say white spike i...
sorry to say white spike i have shoes older than you and most of my kids are older.
I love avocado green always have it is really a great looking color, get it alone
when i think of retro i really don't include this one in .
pink and black and turquoise and black are my favorite retro colors
what's in a "favorite" color?
i believe color to be an amazingly powerful force in visual communication.
my textbook answer [well-reasoned and insightful, i might pseudo-smugly add] to the inquiry of my "favorite" color is that it depends on the context. [this is where i begin my litany of "my favorite color for grass is green; my favorite color for flamingos is pink..." ad nauseam.]
rather than provoke the inquirer to frustration and eye-rolling, my intent is to make a point that all color has good [accurate] and bad [inaccurate] application [in the world of reality, that is], and "desirable" color in aesthetic matters is dependent on both intent [of the creator] and perception [of the viewer].
as a graphic designer, i have been known to use otherwise "strange" or "ugly" color combinations, but to the extent that those decisions contributed to the overall success of the message, those colors can possibly be judged as "good".
since those of us who find ourselves returning to the pixels of this site have--to some extent--at least a basic understanding of the emotional impact of color, it's no surprise that a skilled interior designer is not so concerned about a client's "favorite" color as with the overall mood, energy level, and user experience desired.
i wonder if color trends actually have less to do with pure aesthetic preferences and more to do with our attempts at addressing the emotional needs of society. as we well know, there is an ebb and flow to these perceived needs, based perhaps in large part on the events of contemporary culture. so much of this could be more intuitive rather than intentional or declarative, so to that extent the historical trends of color may serve as an emotional record of sorts.
well, i certainly have no high-level credentials when it comes to color, but these musings are some of the things that intrigue my brain and serve to expand my field of vision for expression in the visual arts. it also is a good discussion launch pad when someone at a party asks me, "hey, what's with the color of this carpet?"
ok, then, all of that theory aside... i live in a grey house, drive a red car, wear black underpants, and wish my teeth were much whiter. :^/
Personally, I just love green
I enjoy nearly all shades of green except for the forest green kelly green varieties. My 'avocado' is more like the real fruit rather than the design color which is more like the shell of the thing. I like soft greyed yellow-y greens. And the vibrate life affirming lemon green of new leaves in spring. And the deep quiet cool greens of mossy woods and still ponds. Green is so alive. No retro, no fashion trendiness, I don't really care what's 'in'. I just love green.
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