Colour and Materials Report 2021 _
Interpreting industry predictions for colour and materiality
Key colour and material trends 2021
Contents
1.0 FOREWORD
2.0 CORE TRENDS
– FACTORY
– REVERIE
– CLARITY
– ALICE
4.0 OUR PERSPECTIVE
1.0 Foreword
INTERPRETING INDUSTRY PREDICTIONS FOR COLOUR AND
MATERIALITY, AND WHAT THIS MEANS FOR RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS
During a visit to this year’s surface design show in London, our creative team attended a presentation by trend forecasting agency ColourHive, which bought to life for the show attendees their predictions for the colours and materials that will emerge as key trends in 2021.
These far-reaching detections of ‘ripples’ in the global visual landscape are of interest to our team as maintaining our cultural and aesthetic relevance is part of how we continue to provide the best creative service to our clients.
The ColourHive presentation was food for thought for our creative team who have expanded on the direction received at the show and are pleased to present our more retail architecture specific interpretation of how these key trends could emerge as we progress through 2020 and beyond.
In this presentation we will share a sampling of the visual directions our team have defined as ‘ones to watch’. We will review the marketplaces we work within throughout the year to see how our predictions are faring.
2.0 Trends
2.1 FACTORY PRACTICE AND PROCESS
2.2 REVERIE LOVE AND LYRICISM
2.3 CLARITY CLEAN AND CONSIDERED
2.4 ALICE IMMERSIVE AND SUBVERSIVE
2.1 Factory
PRESERVING AND CELEBRATING PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
AND SKILLS. RE-ENGAGING WITH PROCESS AND PHYSICALITY
TO CREATE A SENSE OF PLACE.
Process
IDENTIFY AND ILLUSTRATE MANUFACTURING METHODS
PRESERVING AND CELEBRATING PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
AND SKILLS. RE-ENGAGING WITH PROCESS AND PHYSICALITY
TO CREATE A SENSE OF PLACE.
Utility
BRING PRACTICAL DETAILS OF USE, AND THE FIXING AND JOINING
METHODS OF CREATION TO THE FORE
Community
CELEBRATE A SENSE OF PLACE THROUGH LOCAL MATERIALS AND
UNIQUE PRACTICES
Practicality
REMOVE EXTRANEOUS DETAIL AND ORNAMENTATION
Heritage
REVIVE FORGOTTEN TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS
Urban
SHOWCASE TEXTURES OF THE CITY AND USE VISUAL
DEVICES DRAWN FROM AN URBAN LANDSCAPE
Imperfect
EMBRACE MAKES MARKS AND UNFINISHED SURFACES
Factory
MATERIAL CONCEPTS
_Imperfection Repetition
_Joinery detail
_Repetition
Imperfection
This trend facet emerges in environments as imperfect surfaces and makes
visible the marks of manufacture- particularly the physical imprint made by
the actions of a skilled maker, from rough plaster to hand made tiles.
The microtrend also recalls the bygone age of manufacture with heritage
and even retro feeling environments rich with mid-century colour and visual
devices.
Spaces can also refer to their surrounding environment with context specific
material choices and locality references.
Joinery detail
We could see this trend facet being applied through increased- yet more
considered- use of timber as a core material.
A greater number of brands will see the benefit of biophilic and timber-built
architecture, as well as increasing their use of this natural material in unusual
and unexpected ways as a key part of their sustainable activities.
To speak loud and clear about these actions, interior concepts will use more
visible timber, and draw attention to the craft of it’s construction with visible
joins, grain structure, and raw texture.
Repetition
Recalling the industrial processes of mass manufacture and the rhythms of
factory machinery with repeated forms.
This trend could be leveraged through application of textured materials with
clear repeated patterns such as corrugations, concertinas, and pleating.
Repetition of forms at an architectural scale will echo this key material trend
creating smooth visual flow through environments; and raw, natural surfaces
could be used to further evoke the heritage factory trend across these forms.
2.2 Reverie
REACTING AGAINST MORE POLARISED AND UNCERTAIN MODERN
TIMES, THIS TREND LOOKS TO THE NOSTALGIC ROMANCE OF A
BYGONE AGE TO BUILD AN ETHEREAL AND REASSURING STORY.
Romance
TRADITIONAL VALUES AND NOSTALGIA FOR A ROSE-TINTED PAST
Soft
WARM, COMFORTING TEXTURES THAT INVITE TOUCH
Reflective
SHINY, IRIDESCENT SURFACES, BRILLIANT WITH LIGHT
Tactile
RICHLY TEXTURED SURFACES OFFERING LAYERS OF DETAIL
Ethereal
DELICATE AND TRANSPARENT VISUAL APPEARANCE WITH LAYERING
Nostalgia
CLASSIC AESTHETIC, REFERENCING REMEMBERED PAST TIME PERIODS
Reverie
MATERIAL CONCEPTS
_Opalescent
_Clouds
_3D Floral
Opalescent
This trend is inspired by mother of pearl as remembered from the love-worn
softness of antique jewellery and grooming sets of a past age. The future of
the trend translates this very romantic material into a wealth of new and more
linear contemporary forms.
Hard surfaces shine with opalescent and iridescent coatings reflecting light in
a spectrum of soft shades, and the existing mainstream trend of holographic
materials continues strongly across surfaces and lighting but with a less
futuristic feel, and more soft application.
Clouds
Capturing the softness and weightlessness of clouds in material form.
A range of squishy, foamy, touchable, and effervescent textures and forms
are created. Both realistic evocations of cloud forms and more stylised
variations will be seen, introducing a whimsical and playful tone of voice
into public spaces to counteract the global trend of an uncertain future.
Inflated soft-touch objects and squeezable foam artefacts will be sued to
create a squishy, tactile playground for consumers.
3D floral
This rich, detailed, and feminine visual trend is expressed through a romantic
explosion of blooms.
Both hard and soft surfaces can receive the floral treatment, and the visual
effect could be seen in ceramic, fabric, plaster, beadwork, or contemporary
production techniques such as routed panels or 3D printing. The trend could
be leveraged for luxurious environments, creating a feeling of effusion, of
indulgence, and a masterly attention to detail.
2.3 Clarity
AS UNPOLLUTED AIR AND WATER BECOME INCREASINGLY
SCARCE, THIS STORY FINDS INSPIRATION IN MORE CREATIVE
APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
Purity
UNFETTERED BY EXTRANEOUS DETAIL OR FUNCTION AS UNPOLLUTED AIR AND WATER BECOME INCREASINGLY SCARCE, THIS STORY FINDS INSPIRATION IN MORE CREATIVE
APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
Integrity
SHOWCASING A DISTINCT PURPOSE, AND A RESPONSIBLE USE OF MATERIALS
Clean
SMOOTH FORMS WITH HIDDEN FIXING DETAILS
Transparent
CLEAR ACRYLIC, GLASS, RESIN, OR FABRICS
Sustainable
MINDFUL USE OF MATERIALS WITH THOUGHT AS TO CIRCULARITY
Elemental
NATURAL MATERIALS WITH THE CONNECTION TO THE EARTH AND ELEMENTS CELEBRATED
Bubbles
This trend could be bought to life through attempting to capture and preserve
pure air in translucent, iridescent forms. The aesthetic is amorphous, delicate,
and ethereal.
Physical forms are light and clean, with smooth surfaces and a sense of
delicacy. The soft colours of the trend blend and morph into one another
in translucent materials giving an mutable feeling to the forms created.
Translucent building materials create spaces that can move and flex as
needed.
Expandable
An alternate approach to sustainability. This trend describes design that
creates multifunctional and changeable products that reduce material
consumption by offering multiple purposes.
The adaptable forms are closely attuned to the human connection
required to use them.
Spaces and environments can be created with multiple functions and
adaptable architecture is delivered through expandable and changeable
physical structures.
Ripples
This microtrend will appear as capturing the flowing motions of liquid
into a solid form, maintaining elements of dynamic movement with
barely there materials.
When paired with matte materials such as silicone, or chalky ceramic the
ripple aesthetic has a distinctly contemporary feel, whereas more glossy
surfaces such as glass or lacquers are more realistically evocative of liquids.
2.4 Alice
Hyper real
AMPLIFIED COLOUR AND TEXTURES WELCOME TO THIS DARK FAIRYTALE WHERE THERE IS AN
ESCAPE FROM REALITY. DIVE INTO A DREAM WORLD OF INFINITE POSSIBILITIES UNITING PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL WORLDS.
Immersive
LEVERAGING VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITIES
Psychedelic
RECALLING THE HEYDAY OF THE 60S PSYCHEDELIC MOVEMENT
Synthetic
COMPUTER GENERATED GRAPHICS AND TEXTURES
Fairytale
SURREAL AND UNEXPECTED VISUAL DEVICES
Distorted
UNNATURAL PERSPECTIVES, UNUSUAL FORMS
Alice
MATERIAL CONCEPTS
_Weird nature
_Synthetic
_Murano
Weird nature
This trend could emerge as repetition and patterns that draw on the
forms of insect and fish scales with iridescence and translucency
recalling the beauty of nature.
Use of textiles with irregular weaving patterns encourage touch, whilst
surfaces with protrusions and tufts offer playful visual treats and create
spaces that feel ‘alive’ with fur or scales evoked as surface decoration.
The aesthetic should never feel like a direct simulation though, but be
inspired by nature and abstracted to create slightly surreal, yet playful
visual presentations.
Synthetic
What is real, and what is unreal? Our increasingly digital landscape is
redefining our notions of self and of reality. This trend creates distorted
versions of reality by using amplified colours across shifting surfaces.
Environments could use brilliant lighting in clashing colours and digital
art to create a sense of a hyper-real synthetic landscape. Distortion and
optical illusion could be used to produce an unnatural, even unnerving
sense of the surreal.
Murano
Swirling mixtures of translucent colours recall the psychedelic op-art of
the 60s and 70s.
The retro aesthetic is bought up to date in glass and ceramic finishes
applied over walls and floors so as to create a feeling of enveloping and
immersion.
