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Plastic Colors Will Reflect Changing Times, Clariant ColorForward™ 2012 Predicts
7/1/2011 |
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Clariant Masterbatches releases 2012 trend analysis and color design tool
Four global societal trends expected to influence consumers
Economic, technological, political and philosophical changes drive color preferences
Muttenz, 28 June 2011 - In 2012, colors that mirror a sense of movement, evolution and surprise - bright, lively, even quirky hues and special effects - can be expected to find a receptive public. So will soft, muted, earthy and organic tones that convey introspection, stability and personal responsibility. If these two trends seem at odds with each other, that may be because confusion and contradiction are also important elements in some of the major societal trends identified in the latest edition of ColorForward™. This trend analysis and color design tool from Clariant Masterbatches is released annually to help plastic product designers and marketing professionals make more informed color choices.
ColorForward 2012 and other Clariant color and performance innovations of interest to the personal care packaging industry are on display in Booth #843 at the HBA 2011 global beauty expo being held June 28 - 30 in New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center.
"Economic, technological, political and philosophical changes are happening across the globe at an incredibly fast pace," says Cristina Carrara, Designer at ColorWorks™ in Merate, Italy, and a member of the Clariant Masterbatches global ColorForward team. "Technologies that enhance communication and social interaction push these changes along. This creates an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty, while, at the same time, offering people a means to regain a measure of control over their personal environment."
In 2012, Carrara says, people will be quite open to taking chances and risks and will want to bring back a strong sense of identity. A growing distrust of the status quo can be expected to lead consumers to reject mass-produced things and seek more product customization; dissatisfaction with current leadership will be expressed by taking personal responsibility to make the world a better place.
ColorForward 2012 presents four global societal trends, which can be expected to influence the way consumers respond to color. Through intensive research and consultation with other color experts and organizations in different industries, an international team of Clariant specialists selected four different color palettes - combinations of colors, as well as visual and tactile effects - for each trend. While influences come from fashion, jewelry, interior design and other fields, the Clariant color predictions relate to plastics products and packaging. This valuable tool is intended to help designers and brand marketers make informed decisions for products that will be introduced over the next several years.
The ColorForward team includes representatives from Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America who bring an international perspective. Only trends that have truly global relevance are considered. For 2012, those include the following:
• Me… Under Construction• Times of rapid societal change require each of us to rethink who we are and what we want. We are introspective, self-questioning, seeking a balance between our inner and outer lives, our beliefs and the world around us. A major icon of the times, the ancient Mayan Calendar, comes to an end on December 21, 2012, suggesting the end of the world as we know it. Some see planetary destruction, while others look forward to a spiritual transformation, a revolution of consciousness and evolution to a higher level of humanity, where caring and sharing are worthy goals by which to live.
This palette incorporates natural hues that evoke the magic of ancient mythologies and the search for self in a high-tech world. It includes Echo of Silence, a delicate sand color that is slightly translucent to suggest lightness. The mythological aspects of this trend theme are represented by a terra cotta orange, overlaid with a burgundy red, which is named for the highest of Mayan gods, Itzamna. Introspective and stable, Inner Strength is a deep, dark non-black with an almost-hidden tinge of primal green.
• Creative Confusion Ambiguity and the element of surprise are welcome - in fact, they are sought after - by a population that no longer wants mass-produced sameness and blandness in the products they buy or in their lives. Today's consumers want more irony in their lives, more excitement, and they will favor brands that help them achieve that. In design, it's a time of profound playfulness, where things get mixed together that were never mixed before.
The colors of Creative Confusion are bright and fun, as you might expect, but they also take advantage of special effects and unique combinations that deliver the unexpected. Here we encounter Bizarre, an uncanny fusion of translucent purple and yellow, which creates a strange, undefined green. Equally absurd, Abracadabra harnesses the power of light to transform white into a mysterious violet.
• IN-FUSION3 This trend theme recognizes that the blending of the human and the technological is not only continuing but, in fact, evolving very quickly. Augmented reality created by digital media (phones, iPods, social networks, viral video, and the like) has leapt ahead to what the ColorForward team now refers to as augmented hyper-reality. It is embodied in 3D entertainment and motion gaming, which blur the line between media and personal space. This merging of public space and private space is also seen as we share our thoughts in blogs, on Facebook and reality television. Fantasy becomes reality and vice versa. We can wrap ourselves in environments of our own making, and not just in the home. Mobile connectivity allows us to take our "cocoons" wherever we go and feel we are in a safe place while communicating with anyone, anywhere.
Colors in this grouping are otherworldly, suggesting a confluence of space, time and technology. Hyperlight, for instance, is made up of different glitter colors that can be produced only in molded plastic. Other looks - like StarLED, a purplish blue color co-injected with a layer of puffed silver starburst - also are made by bringing together more than one color and/or special effect to achieve a result that merges fantasy and reality.
• Re-Volition This trend emerges in response to the negativity that has gripped the world in the latter half of the 2000s: the financial crisis, wars without resolution, religious conflict and controversy, global warming, political corruption and government gridlock. People seek a resolution to these problems, but instead of looking for help from traditional authorities (who, they often feel, may be responsible for creating these dilemmas), they look inward. Often using social media, they make personal resolutions, form small alliances with others who share the same ideas. Individuals join together to gain power in a daunting world. They believe fervently that there is a better way forward, and they take personal responsibility for change.
The palette of Re-Volition is pure and unadulterated. Solid colors without special effects. They range from a lively yellow/orange called Mind Switch, inspiring a new approach to problems, to warm Collaboraction red, which commands attention and stands for decision-making and commitment, and finally to a soothing, stable pearlescent brown named New Equilibrium.
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