When it comes to looking for color and trend information (especially online) do you get options overload? Do you ever wonder if the content is valid, or the source is trustworthy? Sometimes it’s hard to decipher between info that is reliable from that which is just opinion. Whether you’re a manufacturer, designer, homeowner, or just a color lover, I know you don’t want to be misguided.
As someone who chose a career in color design and trend forecasting, I believe credibility and the ability to pass on dependable (and useable) data to you is extremely important. (Like in the color reports that Kate and I put together. You can download our 2010/2011 pdf now for free when you subscribe to the Sensational Color newsletter. Just click here!)
That is also the reason why both Kate and I are Chairholding members of the Color Marketing Group.
No one person alone can possibly research and understand all of the drivers and influences affecting how color is being used today and how it will be used in the future. With trends moving at lightening speed and new developments in color technology making just about anything possible, it is important to keep abreast of what is going on in not just one industry, but all of them. This would be a daunting task if it weren’t for the collaboration among color professionals across all industries, which takes place at the Color Marketing Group Conferences, where trend, design, and color forecasts are produced.
So this week I have been gathering up all of my personal research, trendspotting documents, images, and swatches I’ve collected since our last conference this past April in Brooklyn, NY (which I wrote about here). Come Friday I will be shifting into full-color gear, headed to Portland for another amazing trend filled weekend.
Color professionals, designers, and marketers from all over the world, representing companies large and small, across industries such as automotive/transportation, consumer goods, technology, visual communications, fashion, and home interior/exterior (just to name a few) will come together to share information in a non-competitive atmosphere. Yes, this means you might have a color designer from Benjamin Moore sitting across from Sherwin-Williams or sitting next to Behr!
Once the forecasted design and trend information goes through the workshop process, into consolidation and steering, and finally to the color card it is presented back to the membership. Each person then takes their newly refined and inspired knowledge back to their companies where they translate the colors and apply them to future products or services anywhere from 1 year to 5 years out!!!
This is when Kate and I distill the colors and create our color trend forecasts and I come up with my editorial calendar for Trend Tuesday. You can download a copy of our 2010/2011 pdf for free here. Keep your eyes peeled for our 2012 colors coming soon after I have validated my findings at the conference.
Because of our individual expertise and involvement with CMG, Kate and I are also often hired by companies to assist them with their color strategy or to present on their behalf.
So next time you’re out surfin for color info look to those companies and professionals with ties to CMG. And ya know you can always call on….Kate & Kiki for any of your color needs!
Here are some great links….
1. Check out my personal profile and trend services as one of the few members listed on the CMG Experts Bureau.
2. For more information on the color forecasting process check out my TT post about CMG .
3. To read more about why we believe CMG membership is important click here to check out an article from Kate.
4. To learn more about CMG, becoming a member, or to find out what companies are involved go to www.colormarketing.org
5. Follow other CMG members findings and events at the CMG Blog or “like” us on Facebook.
Well, when trying to check your free 2010/2011 pdf copy a message appears: “Your shopping cart has expired.”
I get the same message even now. I hope they will fix this; I’d love to read the report.
Hi and thank you for your interest in our 2010/2011 color trends pdf. I appreciate your comment letting me know about the problem you had trying to download. I’ve refreshed the link in the blog post itself, but you can also get to the trends report by clicking on the cover of the pdf in the sidebar on the right hand side at the top of your screen (just scroll all the way up and you should see it). Let me know that you were able to get the report. Thanks for stopping by! Have a colorful day!