Perceiving Values, Sensing Color Trends

A study of color trends in a particular field of application shows that the popularity of defi ned color groups can only be understood in relation to the values of the users at the time. Every new color trend is created through a new value or one perceived as altered by the social group in which it originated. There are numerous reasons for value changes, the main one being the emotional process of seeing and experiencing. Visual and/or emotional influences, changes in socio-structural and social circumstances and the perception of new life styles – primarily through the media – affect the way in which we react to color. The consequences of this are collective and can scarcely be influenced; further developments can only be affected to a limited extent, if at all. To forecast new or collective preferences in the choice of color sets, the group – the defined cultural grouping or region comprising people with a similar life style and set of values – must be analyzed in terms of a predefined mood or set of circumstances. This mood (collective emotion) can be associated with a color or a group of colors by examining the general cultural perception of this grouping or region. This association can be verified by scertaining how a similar mood or set of circumstances affected the popularity of similar colors at a point in the past. When energy prices rise, for example, warm, value-creating earth shades become popular. When the economy is flourishing, clear primary colors predominate.

Implementing color psychology findings

A case study from Europe. In a color psychology survey carried out in 1988, 56% of all respondents perceived green as the most “soothing” shade while 21% chose blue. Green was officially classified as soothing in color psychology studies of the 70s and this resulted in countless variations of green being used inside buildings. At the time, blue played almost no role as a color with a soothing effect, but it has now overtaken green in this respect.

There is never a single overriding reason for such striking developments. One of the main and most common reasons that seems to have played a role in green being replaced by blue is the loss of premium value through overkill.

A color chosen very frequently on account of its high popularity conditions the period of its use and is thus culturally connected with this period. It is regarded as a typical shade of its time. The human urge to move on gives rise to the desire to move away from this color. Progressive avoidance of a color thus prevents permanent glut. This mechanism also works the other way round.

Security through familiarity

Besides the wish to advance, we humans also have a strong emotional desire for security. Looking back on positive or pleasant experiences results in retrospective reactions: familiar colors from former years are chosen to revive pleasant memories, often seen through rose-tinted spectacles because they date from so long ago.Nostalgia and excess alternate as motives for choosing or rejecting colors. The study of a single culture, therefore, often reveals alternation between growth and decline in popularity.

Retro as a contemporary copy

A comparison of new versions of “old” colors with the originals – which might also have been retro in their time – clearly shows slight shifts in shade, i.e. variations on the original. When “old” shades are copied, those that become popular and have the potential to establish themselves are often a tone lighter/darker or warmer/colder. One example of this is the sporty, dark denim blue of the early 80s. In 2006, this color became popular in Northern Europe and North America amongst a group similar in age to that of 25  years ago. However, it completely lost its fresh, vibrant green component. This time the blue shade took on slightly grayish, deeper and cooler tones. A predominant trend – extending to several color groups – toward darker and/or grayish colors (retro-elegance trend) thus influenced the “old” shades and contemporary interpretation created a new color.

Attractive effects

When forecasting trends in the popularity of specific colors, an additional determining factor besides the effect and mechanism of color reincarnation must be taken into account: innovation in technical feasibility and/or value creation through the generation of individual, previously unknown features and effects. The enhancing property of a color is determined by the material and structure of its surface and the prevailing light conditions. The acceptability of effects such as glossy or matt, shimmery or dull, deep or superficial is subjective. Effect pigments can control perception, thereby creating a further color dimension, i.e. flip-flop effects.

It is no longer color alone, but also the appearance of a surface that creates a lasting impression that is either attractive or unattractive. Like the growth and decline of the popularity of a color, the additional effect is either innovative and apt or overdone and inappropriate.

Oliver Spies, Graduate in Design,
Visual Research, Berlin

Find an extract of the Color Evolution Guide #1 in the contents area.