MUTTENZ, Switzerland — March 8, 2016 — Clariant has released the Automotive Edition of ColorForward® 2017. This is the second year Clariant has formatted its color/trend analysis tool to meet the needs and interests of automotive designers and marketers.
Clariant’s groundbreaking ColorForward trend-analysis and color-design tool has been released every year since 2006 to help plastic product designers and marketing professionals make more informed color choices. It presents four global societal trends that can be expected to influence consumers and then links them to colors that evoke an emotional response related to each trend.
The Automotive Edition is the work of the Clariant Masterbatches European Automotive Team in collaboration with the color specialists at the Clariant ColorWorks® design and technology centers. It presents 20 colors, linked to the four trends, in several different forms:
- Large, textured plastic plaques
- Fiber pompons and yarn wrap cards (to illustrate carpet and textile options)
- Small “concept” cars molded in plastic
- Leather swatches (new in the 2017 edition)
These samples are packaged in a presentation box and are meant to be handled, rearranged and studied as part of a creative exercise. “We are not trying to teach our automotive customers about color,” explains Laura Carrillo, Head of Market Segment Automotive, Clariant Masterbatches Europe. “They are already experts. We want to start a dialogue with them about global societal trends and, at the same time show them these different materials so they become more aware of possible color harmony issues. In any case it should be fun and inspirational.”
The colors for 2017 are more muted than in years past. People are a bit more fearful, more introspective and reflecting the disconnectedness that many seem to be feeling today. In general the colors are softer, darker and even ambiguous. The trend themes for 2017 are as follows:
ANNOY FIRM OMIT
An anagram of the phrase “my information” is intended to capture the ambiguous, yin/yang nature of the information universe. Data mining, or the systematic sifting of digital information to achieve a specific purpose, is central to this trend theme. The duality of the web-world is captured in the annoy firm omit trend colors. Two of the five are dark and sinister.
DELONELINATION
In a connected world, the last taboo is being lonely. “Delonelination is a wake-up call,” says Judith van Vliet. “It is a warning that loneliness is on the rise, particularly among young people. The five colors representing this trend are generally pale and muted, ranging from a beige to suggest the human need to be handled with care, to a plain brown.
NEBULOVE
This theme can almost be seen as the antithesis of loneliness because it recognizes a trend toward complex connected relationships between multiple people who may be married or not depending on what gives them fulfillment. Colors representing this theme include a light green/yellow like the inside of a cucumber, and a diffuse red. There is a lilac purple and a brownish orange, almost cognac-colored shade.
IT’S A TRAP!
“Life can be a trap,” says van Vliet. “It can be hard and stressful — or just plain dull — if you allow it to become that way, and so people are beginning to seek new ways to break out, to be curious and explore the limits of the human mind. This trend is about escapism and finding new modes of perception.” Not surprisingly, the colors of this trend theme tend toward a funky new aesthetic.
Posted March 8, 2016
Source: Clariant International Ltd.
