CMG's International Color Forecasters Reveal Current Color Trends

DENVER, Colorado, May 3 /Color Marketing Group/ -- More than 400 color design professionals gathered in Denver this April at Color Marketing Group's (CMG) 2006 Spring International Conference to forecast colors that will be favored for consumer products.

Color is a powerful communications tool that CMG members use to create and reinforce product image. The Color Forecasts developed at the CMG Spring Conference represent colors for a variety of consumer products. CMG members are professionals who enhance the function, salability and/or quality of a product through their knowledge and application of color.

Nineteen Consumer Colors Current® Workshops were held at the Conference to evaluate colors that are currently identified as "best sellers" in the consumer marketplace or are scheduled to appear in the consumer marketplace within the next 12-18 months. Through the collaboration of the workshop participants representing the following industries: Action/Recreation, Consumer Goods, Home and Visual Communications, the result was a Consumer Colors Current® Forecast for 2006-2007 representing a total of thirty-three colors.

Participants agreed that color sophistication among consumers is increasing and color experimentation is growing for 2006-2007. Consumers are now seeking an emotional connection with color. And now, more than ever, colors in most industries must be livable, versatile and have longevity. Consumers are making durable but versatile choices. Accent colors with added dimension and character are replacing trendy "pop" colors.

According to Susan Hayes Hoover, CMG, chairman of the Consumer Colors Current® Committee, the most influential colors for 2006-2007 that came out of the Consumer Colors Current® Workshops were from the red and blue family.

Reds continue to lead the consumer forecast and are heading into two distinct directions. Workshop participants found the red family to be the most "livable." The family of reds is heavily influenced by the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as global influences from Central America and India. Reds are both cooling down and warming up simultaneously.

A new introduction to the red family is Rubino. A raspberry hue, this is a departure from the classic Marrakesh Red from last year's Consumer Colors Current® Forecast that is still the best selling consumer red. The diverging red was a dominant story.

Workshop participants have also seen cooler reds becoming more chromatic with deeper pinks moving toward coral, while the warmer reds have been popular for years and are becoming classic colors.

While reds continue to dominate the forecast, blues, specifically blues inspired by the environment, are leading the color grouping.

In the blue family, Aqueous is a sophisticated new introduction that bridges blue and green inspired by spa influences and ocean hues. Aqueous was seen as both an accent color as well as a predominant color — a new retro that is often paired with brown.

Additionally, the workshop participants talked of a big movement from yellow green to blue-based green. An increase in knowledge and awareness of sustainability and eco-savvy products and processes is the influence.

Founded in 1962, Color Marketing Group is an international, not-for-profit Association of more than 1,300 Color Design Professionals.

Color Sells and the "Right" Colors Sell Better!