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Let There be Bright!

June 28, 2013

At the recent Dwell on Design show in Los Angeles, Sherwin-Williams introduced colormixTM 2014, a four-palette collection of colors influenced by fashion, science, nature, pop culture and global traditions. The 38-color collection is developed as a guide for design professionals to create and select colors for projects. 

K+BB spoke to Jackie Jordon, director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams, about how colormix 2014 was chosen and delved into detail about the four palettes. 

Jordon’s team is made up of people with backgrounds in interior design, fashion design and merchandising from all over the world. Members of the Color Marketing Group, the members do a lot of their own research, as well as glean information from trend-tracking companies. 

“It is an involved process that is both systematic and organic,” said Jordon. “We walk away with what we feel are the drivers that are impacting color and design trends moving into the future.”

Inspiration behind the 2014 palette

Reasoned, Diaphanous, Curiosity and Intrinsic are the four new palettes in colormix 2014, and they can be used by themselves or layered with colors from other palettes. Jordan says that aside from paint, the colors can also be used in an interior design project for textiles, countertops, etc. 

Reasoned is made up of blacks, whites and grays, and Jordan says it is a great choice for a sleek, modern kitchen, especially when paired with a white, quartz countertop and stainless appliances. A designer can easily grab from other palettes to add pops of color when using Reasoned. Jordan says this palette was influenced by mathematics (think white chalk on a blackboard), economics (black ink on white stock pages), linear design (shadows that create gray) and fashion (silhouettes and black-and-white color blocks).

Diaphanous conveys a soft, spiritual and ethereal tone, but it has strength when it is applied to an interior application. According to Jordan, society’s need for overconsumption has given way to minimalism and a quiet reality – it’s about having less and becoming more involved in our environments. Diaphanous was influenced greatly by cuisine and culinary ingredients, such as salt, with its soft grays and whites and dusty salmons and pinks. 

Curiosity is the evolution of Midnight Mystery, a palette Sherwin-Williams introduced last year. Influenced by science and geology, the palette is about collections of oddities and curiosities and has an earthy component to it. Jordan says it’s also about metals – the color of ore and copper, which is an important material in kitchen and bath design.

– Intrinsic got its origin from the cultures of Latin America and Eastern Europe, and it is focused on embracing and preserving tradition, culture and design. The palette is also about the importance of handmade crafts. 

Along with colormix 2014, designers can choose from an array of color resources offered by Sherwin-Williams, including swcolor.com, the ColorSnap StudioTM iPad and smartphone app and Chip It!, an interactive, web-based tool designers can use to identify online colors with a Sherwin-Williams paint color.