The document discusses a panel discussion between interior design experts on the topic of color trends. Some key points discussed include: - Designers encourage clients to be bold with color selection and push them out of their comfort zones, though it requires convincing clients through demonstrations and education. - Lighting is an important tool for achieving color balance and drama in a space, as it allows neutral spaces to take on colorful accents. - There is no consensus on current color trends, as preferences vary widely between individuals and industries, but bolder colors are becoming more popular among both residential and commercial clients. - New technologies have expanded color and material options, but simplicity is still often preferred over overly complex lighting control systems

1. 052 053
Daniel Hopwood (left) and
Jenny Wasson (right)
DESIGN SEMINAR
COLOURFUL
LANGUAGE
WORDS BY
TOBY MAXWELL
PHOTGRAPHY BY
GARETH GARDNER
FX recently brought together interiors
experts from all corners of the industry to
talk all things colour, styles, trends… and
encouraging clients to be brave
SPONSORED BY

2. look incredibly colourful by night even though
by day it may be fairly neutral and discreet.
Kramer added: ‘In our field, we probably
use less coloured lighting now. I guess it was
a fashion thing when RGB lighting first came
out and everyone felt it had to be applied
everywhere, but now people have probably
become a little desensitised to it. Because it was
overused, it somehow lost impact. When it’s
use subtly and simply, it can be effective.’
But is lighting such a specialist skill that
it calls for outside expertise? Kramer said he
wouldn’t personally use a lighting designer:
‘I think lighting is an integral part of having
a vision. There is a technical element of course,
but in terms of the mood or overall palette
you’re trying to create, I think it’s a core part
of the design.
‘We’ve gone through an era of saturated
colour and have used lighting to help achieve
that. I wonder if now it is more about
contextualising it and using it in more
constrained and interesting ways. A lot of
interiors you see in the commercial sector are
saturated with colour on the walls and furniture,
the whole lot. It can look a bit Toytown. The
contract interiors sector has been at that end for
a long time and I’m wondering if less is more.’
So when it comes to colour trends, are
there any discernible patterns out there right
now? Jenny Weiss, also a director at Hill
House Interiors, said: ‘It’s hard to really get to
the bottom of. You could ask 20 designers what
they felt were the hot colour trends and they
would all come up with something different.’
She added: ‘It’s interesting looking around
the table at what we’re wearing. Some of us
are in bright and bold colours, others are a
little more muted, but no-one has gone ‘non-
colour’,” to which Littlefair responded: “But
what is ‘non-colour’? I see colour in lots of
neutrals, in terms of shades and texture.’
Brand message
Personal colour preference is one thing but,
said Kramer, colour for brands can be a really
tricky area: ‘Companies have become quite
“physical” about pushing the brand
recognition in their spaces. They can
sometimes try to do this in too literal a way,
where what we try to do is get to understand
the meaning behind the brand and convey
that “tone of voice”. Some brands are adamant
that their corporate colours have to be
everywhere, and that can create a danger
of turning it into a pastiche of the brand.’
When it comes to commercial interiors,
there is also the issue of building in longevity
to what can often represent a huge
investment, especially in the case of a retail
WE’VE ALL SEEN THEM – and most probably
worked in them. Offices with interior layouts
and decor that are so lifeless and dull that they
sap the energy out of anyone who enters. The
scourge of workers and designers alike, these
spaces could become a thing of the past if only
the companies responsible for these spaces
could be persuaded to stretch the boundaries
a little.
David Kramer, director at commercial
interiors studio Squaredot, said: ‘It’s our job to
challenge some of the preconceived ideas that
clients might have about what their interiors
should be and how their brand is reflected.
What we like to do is push it a bit further
though and take them out of their comfort
zone, whether that is through colour,
materials, or lighting. Often this means going
with something quite bold. I don’t do vanilla.
If someone wants vanilla then why employ
someone to do their interiors?’
One of a number of wide-ranging topics
being discussed by a panel of interiors experts
at the recent FX Design Seminar on Colour,
held at the showroom of Designworks Tiles
in London, the issue of winning the client’s
confidence was agreed by most as a key
challenge. Kramer said: ‘You have to win [it]
through demonstration and education. You
can show them by mock-ups and explaining
the impact that a certain design could have.’
Rather than battling to convince a client
that their preferences are wrong and that they
should adopt something completely different,
there was a suggestion among designers
around the table that, instead, clients tend to
come to interior designers whose portfolio of
work resonates with them, hence, they are
generally ‘on the same page’ since they
identify with that designer’s signature style.
Jo Littlefair, director at Goddard Littlefair
said: ‘We have clients come to us for our
diversity. We’ve undertaken hotels as well as
developer work and private residential and it
can be the case that each industry is feeding
the other in terms of ideas. For example, you
have developers wanting a “hotel feel”,
homeowners wanting the hotel bathroom kind
of look, and yet you have hotels that want to
create the sense that you’re going into a home
environment.’
Illuminated thinking
For many, achieving the right colour balance
has much to do with effective lighting. Helen
Bygraves, director at residential specialist Hill
House Interiors, said: ‘We will often use a
neutral base but look to highlight certain areas
with lighting, and we let that provide a lot of
the drama. It means you can make a space
DESIGN SEMINAR 055
Simon Fisher (left) and
Jenny Weiss (right)
THOSE TAKING PART WERE
Theresa Dowling
(chair), editorial director,
FX Magazine
Helen Bygraves
director, Hill House Interiors
Simon Fisher
founder, F Mark
Daniel Hopwood
president, BIID
David Kramer
director, Squaredot
Jo Littlefair
director, Goddard Littlefair
Cherrill Scheer
director, CSA
Jenny Wasson
design director,
Designworks Tiles
Jenny Weiss
director, Hill House Interiors
054 DESIGN SEMINAR
SPONSORED BY

3. 056 DESIGN SEMINAR
David Kramer (left) and
Helen Bygraves (right)
DESIGN SEMINAR 057
company CSA, pointed out the recurring nature
of colour tastes. ‘When we built our home in
the Sixties – I’m rather vintage myself – the
first thing that would greet you in the small
front hall was bright orange walls and a dark
blue ceiling. Some years later, my daughter
who had gone on to study interior design said
how old-fashioned it looked. By the time we
got around to redecorating it, the trend had
come back around to orange and dark blue.’
Of course, the ‘elephant in the room’ when
it comes to discussing the rights and wrongs of
colour is that this whole topic is so subjective.
What’s right in one person’s eyes is most
definitely not for another. Simon Fisher,
founder of lighting design consultancy
F Mark, said that within a commercial
project, creating a colour scheme that appeals
to all is a particularly tough challenge. ‘The
environments that you’re applying these
colours to can be so varied and there is such
a broad demographic within the space. From
the 18-year-old intern to the 60-year-old CEO,
you have to try to appease them all.’
Kramer replied: ‘I think that’s why you
have to vary it quite a lot within a project.
It sets the tone and if you have a constant then
you miss the opportunity of using colour to
create contrasting spaces and experimenting
in certain areas. It helps create different
moods for different areas of the project.’
He added that the big banks are a good
example of organisations that have had
to rethink their approach in recent years.
‘It’s not about them, it’s about the people
they’re attracting and getting into the mindset
of the younger generation. This can mean
very simplistic interiors, dynamic, and edgy.
Corporates are seeing the benefit of that, as it is
attracting the right people to their organisations.’
What the future holds
Colour and material options continue to
broaden, not only through evolving tastes but
also as technology leads to new options. Jenny
Wasson, of Designworks Tiles, said: ‘There
have been big advances in digital printing
business with multiple units. Littlefair added:
‘It is important to think about longevity as
everything has got to last. What you specify
has to be durable and the colours you choose
need to be timeless, or at least it has to be
possible to know it has some long-term
appeal. Who knows where we’ll be in 10 years’
time in terms of colour preferences.’
Understanding the broader picture when
it comes to colour trends is an even bigger
challenge when working across borders. The
panel discussed how colour tastes vary from
country to country – a colourful cultural
difference that makes it important for
manufacturers and designers alike to really
know the countries they are working in.
Opening up new possibilities
FX editorial director Theresa Dowling took the
panel back to where it all began, with the story
of William Henry Perkin, the English chemist
who, in 1856, accidentally discovered the
first synthetic dye. It enabled a real shift in
people’s perception of colour when it came
to clothes, fabrics and furnishings. Kramer
said: ‘It’s the art of the possible. It is up to
the imagination of designers how you use
what’s out there and get the best out of it.’
Of course, the correlations between
the design and fashion worlds are well
documented, with the likes of Vivienne
Westwood known for bringing an injection
of colour into her work but without always
having to ‘over use’ it. The idea of a dash of
colour in an otherwise neutral environment
can be a powerful design tool, hence some
clients wanting a minimalist Apple Store-look
or, as Bygraves called it, ‘operating room chic’.
BIID president and interior designer
Daniel Hopwood said: ‘Nowadays, we have
a kind of colour anarchy in terms of choice
which they didn’t have in the 19th century.
And yet we’ve not gone berserk with it; we’re
all still quite restrained.’ He pointed to the
example of Sir John Soane, who famously
embraced yellow for many of his interiors
since the ability to do so had only just been
invented. ‘We’ve got used to talking about
using a “pop” of colour in quite a subtle way.
Now I’m finding that some of my younger
clients are asking for more and more colour.’
Littlefair added: ‘Property developers
coming to us for show apartment designs
who would traditionally be used to the
monochrome ‘shades of grey’ scheme now
want something else: they want to see colour,
such as orange in the upholstery and other
furnishings. We’re being asked more and
more to get away from silver schemes.’
Cherrill Scheer, director of public relations
Helen Bygraves: ‘We’ve found that on our
lacquered and satin finishes we are
using a lot of metallic car-paint
finishes. More of that is coming
into furniture, which is nice because
it has a good colour but also has that
iridescent sheen’
SPONSORED BY

4. DESIGN SEMINAR 059058 DESIGN SEMINAR
underestimated as a way of introducing strong
colour to a space.’
‘That’s been a good way of getting colour
into people’s houses actually,’ said Hopwood.
‘We talk a lot about the Wall of Fear – otherwise
known as the feature wall. It can be a good way
for people to experiment with colour when
they’re not too confident about it, but at least
it’s meant we’ve got colour back. When you
think back to the Sixties, when everyone was
so exciting with colour, what happened? We
got there but then somehow ran away from it.
‘What I’m seeing creeping in now though
is a moving on from the eclectic “Shoreditch
look” towards something more related to
the Memphis movement of the Eighties, and
all its bold use of colour. I saw the beginnings
of this returning at Salone in Milan last year
and again this year – the shapes and colours,
if not the “Lego block” form exactly, but it will
be quite exciting to see what happens with
that.’ Kramer added: ‘Application is important
too. We talk about feature walls and where
to put the colour that we want to inject into
a scheme, but too often people overlook the
ceiling. How many times do you go into an office
building and it’s just boring white throughout
all the ceilings? Why don’t people think about
different applications for colour in this way?’
Dare to be bold
Which brings us back to one of the fundamental
talking points of the day – encouraging corporate
clients to embrace an approach to colour that
they are unlikely to be familiar with. It is all
part and parcel of the designer’s job believes
Kramer: ‘You have to win their confidence
and take them on a journey. You can’t go
leaping in and expect them to just “get it”,
because it’s frightening to the uninitiated. You
have to sell the idea and use a lot of reference
to your past experience of working with all
different kinds of spaces.’
Wasson added: ‘If the scheme is at least
supported by a neutral then they can often
feel more comfortable about it. That way
colour can punctuate the rest of the look.’
Hopwood said: ‘I agree it is very much
a journey, and one that can take a lot of time
and effort. That can be very rewarding, but
the frustrating part is that you then move
and that has opened up almost endless
possibilities. That applies across not just tiles
but also textiles. It also all depends on good
lighting to get the very best end result.
‘When we develop some of the glaze
finishes, we put the product into light booths
in which we can replicate every single type
of lighting to see how it looks. You might put
a daylight bulb in and think the tiles look
great, but then under certain other lighting
the tone can be completely different.’
It’s also worth factoring in the false
economy of using cheaper components in
a scheme, with warnings over LEDs that start
to burn out and provide a ‘greenish’ colour
after a certain period of time – ‘if you buy
cheap you buy twice’, warned Weiss.
Technology has touched many aspects
of interior spaces, not least in terms of the
ease at which the mood, colour, light and
temperature can be changed at the touch
of a button. One on the panel explained that
they often get asked by clients for an all-
singing, all-dancing, internet-controlled
lighting system, something which is often
way too over-specced for their needs.
‘I sometimes think, “You’re not old enough
to have all the controls!” In the vast majority
of cases, what they need is a switch for on and
off, and once they’ve mastered that they could
think about moving on! But it’s clear that the
demand is there and some people are
prepared to pay for it.’
Kramer said: ‘We are in an era of infinite
control of space. The technology is there to
turn up in a space with your laptop or tablet
and control the lighting and temperature at
a keystroke. Why you need to do this is
another thing, but it’s possible.’
Hopwood added: ‘That is nice to have
in the commercial world but in a residential
context it’s not so helpful. I was recently
stripping out a house in Bayswater that had
literally hundreds of thousands of pounds-
worth of electronics embedded into it. My
client, who has just bought the property, told
me: ‘I tried to turn the television on with the
online controls and ended up opening the
curtains.’ And what happens if you mislay the
iPad that you need to control it all with? Most
of the time people just want simplicity, and
there is a reaction against over-complicating
what should be a very simple activity.’
Bygraves of Hill House Interiors added
that another solution for introducing colour
to a space could be right underneath our feet:
‘A vibrant colour on the floor can make you
feel very differently about a space too. We
sometimes use dark colour for carpets or
darker colours for ceilings, but I think it’s often
on to the next client and you have to start
all the way back at the beginning.’
There are nevertheless plenty of reasons
to be cheerful for designers working in
interiors now, as the scope for being creative
is broadening in both commercial and
residential schemes, with clients and
consumers increasingly prepared to go bold
with colour. ‘The public is wanting it. They
just need direction,’ said Hopwood, who
appears on BBC2’s The Great Interior Design
Challenge. He says that people come up to
him showing great interest in doing something
more ambitious in their own homes. ‘But they
ask me, “How do you dare to be so bold to use
those colours?” The simple answer is that it is
just a case of trying it out. A lot of the people
on the programme have clearly soaked
everything up from magazines so they’re
copying what they’ve seen, but at the same
time those magazines are a really good vehicle
for broadening the mind and boosting
confidence in experimenting with colour.’
Tough times for the economy had also
focused people’s minds less on residential
property purely as an asset and more on how it
should be a home. Hopwood said: ‘Pre-recession
it was all about how to make money out of your
property and sell it for a big profit. Now, the
thinking is less about moving and instead
focusing on how to make it a great place to live.’
Against this backdrop, ‘upcycling’ has
become something of a buzzword, but it’s not
just restricted to the residential sector. Kramer
says that references have been cropping up
in the commercial sector too, with junk-shop
and second-hand items being repurposed for
a new life in an office, retail or other business
environment. ‘It can really change the dynamic
in those spaces quite a lot,’ he added.
Just like encouraging a client to step out
of their comfort zone with colour, it is perhaps
another area in which the designer has to help
them along the way by putting things into a
context that they are more comfortable with.
‘I recently had a Russian client who told me
that they didn’t want anything in their home
that was old. She was quite adamant about
that point. I said “OK, do you like vintage?”
and she replied: “Oh, I love vintage”. I guess
that has been a great bit of marketing.’
Jo Littlefair: ‘There are so many tools that can be used in
residential projects – from the cushions to the textures
to the rugs – and yet it staggers me how relatively
few there can be in a lot of commercial settings’
SPONSORED BY
Jo Littlefair (left) and
Theresa Dowling (right)