Shaw’s 2012 Color Forecast
To envision Color Revolution, a collection of 42 colors, Shaw Contract Group spent months researching images to pinpoint the hottest palettes and their insight into our global experience. The company’s in house design team examined contemporary social and economic shifts and grouped them into six “personas” or thematic groups: Radical, Visionary, Nomad, Futurist, Resident, and Globeseeker. Creative director Reesie Duncan presented the findings at NeoCon in Chicago. 1. Radical channels the feeling of destruction and turmoil imposed by recent natural disasters and predicts that these phenomena will continue to strike. According to Shaw, these earthly changes will result in our increased familiarity with and embrace of muted tones of black, brown, and gray, while materials within this theme are industrial and heavy such as concrete, stone, and metal. 2. Visionary is a direct response to Radical, expressing a human desire for hope and freshness provoked by decay. This translates into otherworldly materials and ethereal, pale tones manifested in fluid, organic, and voluminous shapes. 3. Following Visionary’s reflection on the supernatural, Nomad returns to the raw earth, rediscovering warm tones like forest green, brown, navy, and deep yellow. Found materials are included in this palette, encompassing unfinished stone, rock, clay, and wood. 4. The Futurist truly looks forward and draws shimmering pastels from technological advances such as rapid prototyping and 3-D printing. This palette is about the optimism found in technology, which expresses itself in iridescent surface treatments and faceted silhouettes. 5. Resident is utilitarian. Shaw predicts that a life of excess will cause us to reflect on the essentials, attracting us again to bold primary colors that recall fine craftsmanship and longevity. 6. As a response to Resident’s no-frills approach, Globeseeker is a celebration of individual expression. A multicultural explosion will result in bright neons and a focus on handmade crafts that are enhanced by and fused with new technologies.