• Color Trend Vision

Where’s the sense in styling?

By Alison Metzger

Styling enhances sales appeal

The term “styling” developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s in the USA, when car sales dropped as a result of the economic crisis. Small, fine exterior touches were intended to give sales a boost. These measures were successful and since then, styling has spread to all product groups.

Since the term “styling” is fairly new, definitions tend to be similar. Webster’s Dictionary defines it as: “The act or process of imparting a stylish quality or a particular style, especially the alteration of the style of something, usually to increase the sales appeal or utility or to improve the appearance.” The Designlexikon International gives a comparable definition: “Styling means the formal, esthetic adaptation of a product in the sense of enhancing it with the aim of improving its marketability.”

“Styling is not the same as design”  

“Design,” says Oliver Spies, designer and co-founder of the company Visual Research in Berlin, “is the creation of something new with an esthetic form that conforms to the requirements of ergonomics, value in use, contemporary mood and marketing opportunities. Styling, on the other hand, is the process of adapting, optimizing or in some way influencing an already existing design, often with the aim of improving it and usually as a basis for communication.”

Styling, he adds, can be used to make a clear statement where words do not convey enough. The advantages of styling are effective and rapid communication that does not depend on language. The risks are that it can drift into kitsch and that it can cause misunderstandings in different cultural circles.

“Styling is a tool”

Nathalie Gaullier, application specialist in Ciba’s Coating Effects Segment, says that “styling provides inspiration and unique ideas. And it shows what we can do. We use styling to demonstrate to customers how to achieve the effects and effect combinations they want, thus helping them to differentiate themselves in the market.”

In order to do this, says Gaullier, we need both inspiration and expertise. Inspiration can be gained in many different ways – from just looking about us to using sources, such as trend books or interviews and discussions with designers. “We do not just follow trends at Ciba,” she says. “We also lead them – our effects are often completely new. With our new effect pigment range, for example, we can produce a wide variety of effects, including pearlescent, metallic, transparent, iridescent or fluorescent. These can be used to achieve the required styling on end products.”

In the effects laboratory at Ciba, inspiration combines with expertise. “Besides inspiration, we need the know-how to implement our and our customers’ ideas. We have to be able to adapt products to specific materials and to combine them to achieve the desired effects. We can achieve a variety of effects on different plastics or specific surfaces. Often the effect is linked to a particular pigment. For instance, we match silver effects on plastics, for items such as packaging, computer housing parts, or coffee machines,” says Gaullier.

Another example is food and beverage packaging. “Trend colors are desired for packaging, because they help to sell the item, but the products used have to meet Food & Drug Association regulations,” says Gaullier. “We find out what is feasible and how to achieve it.”

Styling sells

In today’s world, with its ever-growing population and ever-increasing globality, we are constantly in search of an identity that we can express through an individual style. The consumer makes use of styling, whether consciously or subconsciously, as a means of expression, or of identification, or to make a statement. That is why styling is so important.