How do trends develop and what is the crane all about?

Colour trends are a mirror of social currents and therefore never come as a surprise, rather they can be anticipated. The task of the ColorDesignStudio is to detect, observe and filter such trends and developments. Of course, we do this in exchange with other researchers and also take into account so-called megatrends: big issues that move our society—what concerns people, what do we long for?

For us, this also includes the further development of trend colours for use in wall design: which colour combinations create which moods, what role do shapes and materials play, which new application techniques do we use to create links or exciting breaks? And how can all this be implemented in reality?

We interpret and want to inspire, but deliberately maintain a practical approach. The diversity in the team is a great help in this, as it enables a wide range of skills to complement each other perfectly: a total of 20 employees work together at the ColorDesignStudio—they come from the fields of architecture, interior design, colour design and multimedia design, and some of us are, of course, master painters.

Inspiration from the past

The fact that trends often originate on the street was already discussed in UNIKAT #1.
At the moment, we are also observing several retro trends. In fashion, for example, it’s the 1970s, in interior design it’s objects, colours and materials from Art Deco or the 1970s and 80s (postmodernism and Memphis). The crane in our current UNIKAT #5 Trend Book was already in vogue in Mid-century modern (50s and 60s of the last century). Especially now, we are fascinated by this bird, which stands for freedom and happiness. Our little wooden crane is a real Mid-century!