Trend Tuesday: CMG Announces 2010 Next Hot Hue

The Color Marketing Group (CMG) is the premier international non-profit organization of color design professionals. For 47 years CMG has successfully predicted future color trends for the home, fashion, contract interiors, transportation, consumer goods, and visual communications industries. Kate and I, along with hundreds of our color colleagues, as members of CMG participate in the forecasting process.

We’ve already heard news from CMG members…Pantone, ICI, and others on their take of 2010′s Color of the Year. Now from the powers that be comes CMG’s 2010 Next Color, Mardi Grape. This sophisticated crossover between brown, purple, and gray is a transfer from fashion with European roots. Mardi Grape was a fashion color, now it’s all set to be the year’s biggest star for everything else.

“Purple has been with us for a while now, but the big story today is that we’re seeing purple as a neutral for the very first time, said James Martin, president of Color Marketing Group. “This purple is browner and grayer, a neutral we can love long-term.   These days everyone is seeking versatile colors with staying power.  Colors used to be the focus while neutrals were the understudies.  Today, neutrals are the lead performers, chameleon colors that shift and change.”

In a recent House Beautiful Magazine article, “The Hottest New Paint Colors,” Pratt & Lambert Paint’s Peggy Van Allen, CMG, was asked what she sees as the most popular color for the new year. Here’s what she had to say…

“I think this is the year purple will really get picked up. People want a sense of their own personal space, and this is something different — a grayed purple, like a field of lavender on a foggy morning. It’s soft, not scary. I see it in a bedroom, or as a secondary color in a living room with warm beige and camel.” —PEGGY VAN ALLEN: Grape Hyacinth, Pratt & Lambert Paint

Purple is a color we’ve been tracking and forecasting for some time now, this only proves that a true color trend has longevity and staying power. Check out one of my favorite posts, Trend Tuesday: Passionate Purples, for more on this directional color. Over time purple has shifted from blue-influenced, to red-inspired, and now infused by gray. The application and interpretation of the new dusty grape is absolutely soothing, but don’t just take my word for it, take a look at a few interior images.

In addition to Mardi Grape, CMG outlines further color trends in our future. So be on the look-out for these colors too. Notice how many of these colors are bright, optimistic accents for pops of color to pair with neutrals. Green shifts towards blue creating a bright clear mix reminiscent of turquoise! Another important color on the horizon.

Red – Reds are strong with pink intuition; bright and clean with energy and excitement –   a clean pop to go with neutrals.

Orange – A rich, sophisticated color that moves away from earth-based colors to an optimistic orange, seasoned with a touch of gray.

Yellow – A greener, more natural yellow, softened with gray.

Green – Optimistic and uplifting, a clear and bright accent green with a slight shift toward blue.

Blue – A saturated blue with gray influences; rich without being too luxe.

Beige-Brown – A true chameleon to complement darker hues, it can be either matte or metallic.

Neutral-Gray – Gray with a touch of purple, drawing inspiration from mineral, concrete and steel.

Go to the Color Marketing Group website for more information on the organization, becoming a member, or finding a color expert. Keep up with what the color professionals are doing by following the CMG Blog.