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I don‘t care what color a car is, just as long as it is black.

An interview with Estevao Toledo, interior designer from Sao Paulo

By Oliver Spies

Estevao, for some years you have been working mainly with wood in your interior designs. Why?

Solid wood is one of the most important materials in Brazilian interior design. The main reason lies in the creation of high value. Solid woods represent lasting value. The weight, the color, the smell, the stability and the clear structure create confidence and safety. Here in Brazil, security is a big topic. For bigger investments, e.g. furniture, the current trend also plays a role. However, it‘s important that an investment won‘t lose its value too fast. Anyone who invests money today, whether he or she is rich or poor, does it with the intention of creating and to keeping values.

Despite your traditional material and the very understated colors and shapes of your products, they are carried by the hippest furniture shops of Sao Paulo. How do you explain this?

As I said, modern customers depend on current trends. But they also have the creation of value in mind. Either someone buys the product of a wellknown designer and hopes thereby to keep the value, or he selects a material and a color that offers him a lasting value. This applies to dark colors and heavy woods. For example, someone who buys a black car, often does so, because if he sells it after three years, he will get more for it than for a white one. That‘s business and this won‘t change in nearest future if at all.

Does this mean, that there will never be other, more fashionable, colors for Brazilian cars? Of course not. But only if these colors represent value to the customer, they need to look attractive or interesting.

Source: Color Evolution Guide

This interview has been taken from the Color Evolution Guide, which is part of the Color Trend Vision project. It provides detailed background information for 31 selected colors based on their current and future trend position. With the help of photographs, taken around the world, the book guides you through the emotions, origin and affinity of the colors.