| COLOR
ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES
The Color Association
of the United States (CAUS), established in 1915, issues seasonal
fashion forecasts in three categories - women's, men's and
children's - as well as an annual forecast in the field of
environmental/interior design. Color forecasts are released
20 months in advance. In apparel, the two seasonal forecasts
are displayed in colored yarns or fabrics; in interior/environmental
design, the yearly forecast is shown in silk-screened paper
and fabric. The colors shown are determined by a 12-member
panel of working professionals in a variety of residential
and contract interior industries, including fabric, floor
covering, architectural and interior design, paints and laminates.
The forecast is accompanied by a deck of silk-screened paper
swatches.
Contact: www.colorassociation.com
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ENVIRONMENTAL
INTERIOR FORECAST
The
Association's Environmental/Interior Forecasting Committeeís
annual meeting was held in Steelcase's New York office.
In choosing the shades for this forecast, certain societal
realities had to be taken into account. In particular,
nesting instincts and the celebration of life were discussed
as underlying themes of the presented palettes. Many
of the colors selected by the forecast, including stalwart
grays, have a warmth and sense of domicile comfort,
a coziness achieved by their textural qualities. Complex
neutrals lead off the projection. Clearer and brighter
hues, providing a spiritual uplift, are juxtaposed next
to these moody, mercurial non-colors. Interestingly,
the Association called particular attention to sienna
and the special warmth it projects, noting that a number
of shades from yellowish to reddish brown to richly
deep brown appear in the Forecast. Named after the Northern
Italian city of Siena, shades come in two color groups
- raw sienna is a ferruginous earth, yellowish in color;
burnt sienna is obtained when this same pigment has
been exposed to heat and turns a dark brown.
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SOFT AND
SOOTHING
IN AN AGE OF HIGH ANXIETY
Margaret
Walch, longtime director of CAUS, offers a few comments
on color in these difficult times. Walch's particular
expertise lies in historical and contemporary palettes.
She is a well-known lecturer and the author of Color
Source Book (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979), co-author,
with Augustine Hope, of The Color Compendium (Van
Nostrand Reinhold, 1990) and Living Colors: A Designer's
Guide to 80 Essential Pale Hues from Ancient to Modern
Times (Chronicle, 1995). Walch tells us that for 2005,
at least with regard to interior/environmental design,
"soft, colorful hues come to the rescue in an
age of high anxiety." In this regard, the CAUS
projects for interiors a warm palette of yellowed
greens, textured buff and brown earths, soft floral
pinks and yellows. The palette, she explains, is essentially
grounded in nature and presents soothing shades and
easy colors for uncertain times. In an era of multiple
technologies, multitasking, constant terror and health
alerts, the projected palette creates a quiet, focused
balance. "The abundance of yellow tones and yellow
influence," Walch also points out, "suggests
a bright, hopeful and healthy future. Two shades are
of special note: a floral pink and a soft buttercup
yellow. Used in combination with a soft aqua blue,
or buff brown, pearl gray or white, a 1950's retro
look might be achieved. My advice: remember yellow,
always a color of movement and youthful energies and
symbolic of a bright future, ideal for contemporary
graphics."
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