Marketers and graphic designers have long known the power of colour to boost the success of a campaign, and retailers are all too aware of the emotive effect of hue in influencing product sales. As a result, the importance of accurate colour-trend forecasting cannot be overestimated in today’s image-centric world.
A forerunner, then, in the field of colour prediction, South Africa’s largest paint manufacturer, Plascon, has built its reputation on not only providing leading-edge products but also immeasurably valuable inspiration through publications such as its Colour Forecast, which is revealed annually at the country’s largest décor and design exhibition, Decorex Joburg.
“The 2016 Plascon Colour Forecast continues a tradition started in 1999, when we launched our first Forecast – a pioneering publication in the South African market,” says Anne Roselt, Plascon’s Colour Manager who heads up the Forecast, which is produced in partnership with the colour experts at MIX magazine, a global thought leader in the world of design and interiors. “The combination of local expertise and global insight that goes into producing the Forecast means it is relevant to the South African context but is also dialled into international trends and understandings,” adds Roselt.
As in previous years, the 2016 Plascon Colour Forecast expresses key directions in colour trends across a selection of fundamental themes, each expressed in a meticulously curated palette and accompanying décor application. Without giving too much away, Roselt explains that next year’s significant hues are firmly rooted in the 21st century, with its pervasive sense of adventure, which is underpinned by an innate yearning for social interaction.
“Inspiration comes by way of the physical landscape, be it the incandescent canopy of a night sky or the chalky soils of a topography tattooed by the scouring of weather and time,” she hints, adding that, although forward-looking, colour is still significantly influenced by the pull of the past. “The enduring allure of the patina of age prevails, though not without unexpected pops of retro-cool colour.”
Interior styles, too, span the aesthetic scales, reveals Roselt: “Expect, at one end of the spectrum, the luxurious tactility of nature-inspired design, and, at the other, the classicism of old reinterpreted for the modern-day lifestyle, with colour-saturated, exuberant, yet infinitely liveable spaces in between.
“In addition, paint-application techniques break new ground, with everything from gradated finishes, weightless ombrés and powdery effects interspersed with graphic bands and stripes, floor-to-ceiling all-over colour and carefully balanced light and dark tones,” she adds.
“As one of Decorex SA’s Co-Headline Sponsors, Plascon recognises this important exhibition as a highlight of the local décor and design calendar and, hence, continues to use it as an exclusive platform from which to launch our Colour Forecast for the year ahead,” says Roselt.
Indeed, visitors to this year’s event can look forward to an exciting new stand from the paint giant in the show’s revamped exhibition halls, which have been given a fresh themed design ensuring even easier navigation.
Themed ‘Home of Great Ideas’, and promising more take-home inspiration than ever before, Decorex Joburg runs from 6th to 10th August, over the Women’s Day long weekend, at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. Ticket bookings for the exhibition can be made at www.decorex.co.za.
Decorex Joburg details:
Dates: 6-10 August 2015
Public Access:
6th August: 1pm-6pm
7th to 10th August: 10am-6pm