Colour influences every aspect of our lives – from fashion and décor to art and design.
Every year, Kansai Plascon publishes their viewpoint on the latest colour trends in their Colour Forecast. It starts with the experts in the brand’s Colour Team surveying the way colour is being used across the creative industries, and then filtering this insight into a set of trend stories that truly reflect the global mood.
These curate a palette of colours from the Kansai Plascon colour system, brought to life through inspiring room sets and inspiration imagery. With this approach customers can get an insight into the trends at play, supported by the guidance to bringing the looks to life in their own spaces.
Along with four themes that express the key trends in the world of colour, Plascon also chooses one colour in the Forecast that captures the overall mood for that year. This year, the team decided to do things differently and pick a Neutral of the Year. This means that the colour is still directional and trend-right, but much easier and versatile for anyone to use, whether it’s by itself or with other hues from the Forecast.
The Neutral of the Year for 2018 is Amadeus: an earthy, yellow-tinted hue. The overall feeling in design at the moment is that the world is in flux, and the current colour trends are often about bringing together eclectic influences to create something new. The Colour Team picked this neutral because it balances this tendency out and brings the grounding energy that holds a more diverse palette together.
Exotic Euphoria
In this first theme, the distinction between natural and artificial blurs in response to scientists and artists hybridising the two in their work. The palette’s supercharged and jungle-inspired brights are almost phosphorescent, especially against the backdrop of lush natural hues. The overall feeling is a little wild and overgrown, and it’s perfect to create living spaces that feel connected and natural but energetic at the same time.
Soft Composition
Soft Composition is about editing spaces and styles to create room for contemplation. The mood is calming yet grounded and the whole look is inspired by classic form and colours. The palette gets its on-trend update through the inclusion of bold retro accents alongside the muted colours. In this way classic and contemporary are combined. The whole idea is to create spaces that feel familiar but at the same time look new. It’s a warm take on minimalism for the way we live today.
Craft Spirit
Every culture has a craft heritage and this theme is inspired by the way this common past connects us all today. It’s about combining North and South, East and West, and finding that the ties that bind are invariably colour. This rich global mix is expressed in a palette of pigmented hues, fruity accents and watery blues. The overall feeling created in Craft Spirit is one of connection and it’s ideal for creating rich and textured living spaces.
Hi-Glo
One for the adventurous, Hi-Glo is the mash-up of digital and physical. It’s inspired by how the digital space allows people to express new identities and at the same time how colour still has such a physical presence in our lives. It’s a rule-breaking palette of citrusy sorbet tones, soft pink, mid-toned primaries and grounding earthy colours to hold it all together. It’s the perfect way to create youthful and more experimental spaces, and lends itself well to artistic colour treatments and paint effects.