Fabric Color Trends for Spring 2010

Meanwhile, on the trendy side of things -




Here's the new fashion color trend report for Spring 2010, by Pantone. My comments, soon.

Emotional Color Trends for Spring 2010

Short abstract taken from their website:

Each year, the ColorForward team explores global cultural influences and lifestyle trends to gauge their impact on color directions for future consumer products.

The 2010 Edition of ColorForward Focuses on Four Key Societal Trends:

- Reinventing Happiness
• In an unstable world, personal satisfaction and quality of life gain new importance.
• Time is a precious commodity to be spent on self-indulgence, self discovery and enjoyment.
• Luxury translates to freedom, harmony and well-being.

- Tech It Easy
• We embrace technology’s ability to serve universal needs with new materials and multifunctional products.
• Design aesthetics combine with manufacturing craftsmanship, adding performance and value.
• New business partnerships evolve, and co-branding is a growing reality.

- Embracing Gaia
• The Earth inspires products and lifestyles with new levels of sensory appeal.
• Biomimicry, a new scientific discipline, applies nature’s solutions to human society.
• Green concepts permeate our lives – organics, sustainability, hybrids, new forms of energy.

- Age Shock
• GRUPS (today's grownups) defy the aging process, measuring age solely by attitude toward life.
• Generational boundaries are dissolving. "Youthful" appeals to mature consumers with more discretionary income.
• Savvy "young affluents" are the focus of high-end marketers.

Quote for the Week

There are two kinds of light - the glow that illumines,

and the glare that obscures.

- James Thurber

Monochrome in Magenta

Here's my homework for the 2nd class. Two more to go (Color Rhythm, and The Value Matching).

Darkness and Light

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in.

- Arlo Guthrie

I held a paintbrush again, after 14 years, and if it is not evident in this humble byproduct, then I should tell you how nostalgic/liberating an exercise it was indeed.

The last painting I painted was a throwback to a Monet, a kind of homage to him and his style. He and his contemporaries are one-third the art I was exposed to when I was growing up. The other two-thirds were Renaissance, and Bob Ross. It's true. Don't judge.

Is it a good thing that I have control over the brush now, and I know it? Or is it bad that I approach a blank canvas with control right on the onset? I don't know. But, in the end, I liked what I did. It's a simple project, but no simple feat. I'm glad they invented artist's tape. ;)

Black, White and Everything in Between

This is the greyscale collage I made for homework on the first class. I cut up my ex's V magazine (and it was very cathartic, thank you very much), which has an abundant amount of prints. I realize most ad campaigns use greys a whole lot, so it was not a problem for me to look for swatches to put together. The Gap "Create Your Own" campaign used black and white photography of known artists and personalities. I had to butcher The Sartorialist's Scott Schuman, supermodel Lily Donaldson, and Brit heartthrob Hugh Dancy (oh, the regret) to produce this work, but after being told I can frame it - it's worth it.

Color Phobia Remedy

I've always used color sparsely, in my work, in my fashion sense and even in everyday life. I am comfortable with a neutral color palette, which I will extend only in a monochromatic way. Black, white, and everything in between, or else, creams, taupes, tans, nudes, bare - those are my automatic choice. To me, color draws attention, and I suppose only if I'm in the mood to draw attention, will I use color. A red lip. A pink bag. A blue belt. Whatever I do, and only if I have to, I include just a hint of hue.


I don't remember when I started being afraid of color. My childhood bedroom is filled with so many pinks. So, maybe somewhere on the road to growing up, I started shedding color away. My rationale for choosing the palette I always go for, whether I'm picking furniture or polish for my nails, is that it goes well with most things. If I use neutrals, they go with everything.

So, taking the Color Workshop class is going to be a leap. To be honest, my first reaction to the first meeting, was fear. The content of the course is just so...intuitive, and I suppose I've always approached things academically. So, as I was assembling the colors in terms of their codes, I felt myself exhaling first, but then catching my breath next. I'm going to have to let go. I mean, painting... the last time I painted was when I was in high school. It was a frustration. After I got a massive asthmatic attack from the fumes, I never held a brush since then. Even when non-toxic fumes were invented. I never went back.

I know I need color. It might suit me to wear rose-colored glasses from which to see my world today. I want to be able to combine colors fearlessly, to master what the colors do to the body physically, emotionally and psychologically, to be able to tell what a design sketch needs in terms of color, to go back to using color manually - in paintings, sketches, drawings - and to maybe one day switch my taupe colored nails to firetruck red, and don't give a damn what any one else says.