Layers of Meaning

Color Forecast

Ever wonder who picks the colors for everything? Or names them? Every June, Graphic Arts magazine reports the color forecasts for the upcoming year. The colors to the right are their forecast for the fashion colors for spring 2004. Those are not my vision of colors that scream "spring fashions!! Easter bonnets!"

These color forecasts aren't just restricted to clothing. The industry predicts colors for cars, home furnishings, school notebooks - anything that comes in a color. These predictions come from several places, but the most influential color forecasters are The Pantone Institute, The Color Marketing Group, and The Color Association of the United States.

The Color Association of America offers national meeting and seminars to discuss color related issues. Meeting notes from their fall 2003 meeting:

"Topics that elicited the most comments were the role of texture in replacing or accentuating color; aquamarine or 'mist' green-blue as the color of the future; the aesthetic of 'white' and 'clean'; dealing with the perception of color as an indulgence; and the impact of plastic and candy colors on American culture.

The second day of the symposium focused on effective color presentations. To illustrate, the Color Association staff reviewed the past 90 years of the Association's forecasts and presented innovative new formats for paper, fabric, yarn and photographs. Working in teams, the attendees then had a chance to evolve their own presentations based on fun topics that included creating a pet line of animal day beds, an eco-friendly drink and a line of guitar straps."

I am simultaneously repelled and intrigued by this commercialization of color. I am also pondering, as an artist, and as a crafts-person, how involved I should be in this societal investigation of color. Seems like, at the least, artists should be aware to check ourselves for the authenticity of our vision against the pressure from the commercial color palette.