A 2019 COLOR STORY: SPIRITED JOURNEYS

Once upon a time in 2019...

There is a serious quest for balance in the world. Creativity is king and color is queen. We are constantly searching for soothing escapes like opportunities to relax and play. The design industry is empowered by hue, value, and chroma, while we combine elements from the past and of the future, painting beautiful new worlds into existence.

The journey is yours. Perhaps, you'd like to take a romantic step back in time or maybe even discover a futuristic fusion of natural and urban inspirations. The time has come to revel in flawless imperfection, push the boundaries of design and existence, and play like you've never played before.

Now, let's dive into the color palettes and explore all the endless possibilities they have to offer. Throughout this post, I'll be sharing 5 different color and design stories from Spirited Journeys a color & design trends report created by Dunn Edwards that I have brought to life using various visual examples, my own personal perspectives, and color schemes I've put together myself in order to help elaborate on each story and really show how they can be incorporated into daily life.

If you'd like to check out the original color & design trends report by Dunn Edwards, please click here!

"If you could travel to anywhere in the world...where would you go?"

COLOR PALETTES

We begin with the story Extreme Odyssey, which explores the unfathomable depths of space and sea. Then we travel in to City Stroll, a color story that embraces the hustle and bustle of city life in a bold, humorous way, while Poetic Passage combines the concepts of feminine and masculine features with soft, romantic influences. Country Caper embraces color opulence through personal expression and artistic indulgences. Finally, Sojourn is a story about naturalists, authenticity, and earthy hues. Get ready to experience each unique color and design story; may they bring you inspiration for future projects or even just in life.

"Extreme Odyssey is out on the edge of color where mysterious surprises provoke sensory exploration."

Inspired by embracing visionary experimentation with influences that span to the farthest reaches of sky and sea. Innovations in architecture and design embrace a minimalist or a dreamlike, surreal aesthetic. Color is a postmodern blend of aquatic, icy, pearly, and techno tones that redefines the impossible. It is mystical and entrancing, beyond normal understanding. This color story plays into the idea of a future inspired by embracing innovative and forward-thinking concepts that highlights a techno-fiber softness with iridescent flashes layered over neutrals and pastels. This creates a transparent and delicate filmy quality allowing these hues to morph between digital and organic, whereas the aquatic tones create depth among the opalescent palette, giving textural effects the chance to take the lead.

COLORS:

The color palette emphasizes the blending of complex textures (fish scale motifs, octopus silhouettes, oxidized metals) with shades of deep-sea hues and space-age dark matter; parallel paths of nature and technology weave the palette — orphic, perplexing and entrancing,and way outside society's definition of "normal". Here are some ways you can pair the colors together...

Materials and textures are worn by time and weather with oxidization in colored neutrals on textiles, metals, wood and ceramics. Ultra-delicate fabrics like lace, chiffon, tulle, glazed voile, tech netting, perforations, aluminum, tin, wired glass and also textured metals add layers to the Extreme Odyssey color palette. Explore these magical interiors for some extra inspiration.

"I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost

Color, like music, lights up the world and gets us all to dance through the city streets without a care in the world. This palette has a joyful spirit that invades the hyper-urban realm of large global cities. It's modern with a twist, exotic with a touch of humor, artsy with a hint of fantasy - all developed to make cities more pleasant and welcoming. Bright colors have a happy expression with a modern aesthetic that adds to the atmosphere, while products focusing on entertainment value make daily living fun and light-hearted.

COLORS:

"City Stroll is full of saturated fruity hues blended with natural energy and technology influences."

It tantalizes with vivid overtones, lively and charged with positive energy. Intense, bold patterns play with notes of vibrant tropical spirits and dazzling hyper-saturated brights are paired with stark white. Hologram metallic finishes are softened with pastels, but sporty graphic colors are drunk with power and radiant monochromes are given a moment to truly shine.

Materials and textures animate over-the-top story staging — reinventing reality with extraordinary décor. There's an air of amusement and pop spirit, patterns are inspired by figurative views of geometrics; illustrations for all-over motifs; and otherworldly flora and fauna such as mushrooms, cacti, and flower bulbs in unexpected colors and textures. Add more pizzazz with animal and plant motifs in tropical, stylized, colorful and pop aesthetic tones.

Shadow and light dance in a marriage of masculine and feminine, luxury, and lines. Status-oriented classics are innovative yet glamorous and there's an atmosphere of softness and elegance when it comes to contemporary design that is created with highlights of Neo-classical and Art Deco design elements. The overall aesthetic takes a minimalist approach through chic and refined natural basics within tender, cozy environments.

COLORS:

Delicate neutrals and dusty palettes evoke subtle opulence as well as sooth and reassure the soul.

"Poetic Passage captures nostalgic ideas by saturating the space in classical elements and timeless throwbacks."

This color palette is understated and demure with tones of romance and formality. Bleached, fresh and warm neutrals are lit by cool icy tones, casual blues, and muted pinks that are paired with graphic colors. Sophisticated nude palettes infuse warm hues into transparent and delicate pastels.

Materials and textures of Poetic Passage are based on luxurious classics — elegance is expressed through a subtle display of wood tones paired with romantic dusty hues. Light velvet; twill; monochromatic jacquard; velvet corduroy; and cocoon-style, pillow-top and satin sheen materials are spread throughout and blend seamlessly into the trend's story line.

Here's a palette immersed in casually colorful lavishness where we learn to embrace the beauty of creativity and personal expression. Many elements are hand-crafted and textured because authenticity is rewarded in this color story. Inspired by flowers and bouquets from southern gardens to outgrowths of architecture redesigns ranging from modest to majestic. Strong displays of ornate motifs add drama while washed out textures blend color identities together. There is a sophisticated Bohemian vibe that has been associated with idyllic countryside life by combining eclectic classic pieces with clean lines and luxurious features.

"We paint ourselves a perfect escape, with idyllic expressions reminiscent of the French and English countryside." - Sara McLean

COLORS:

Classic and elegant tones of rich hues are layered with graceful overtones. Country Caper color renews the essentials of food and furnishings bringing functionality and style together. These updated luxurious classics are refined and enduring, but still take on a cheerful and fancy showcase of intense, deep shades that are grounded with dark brown. There is also a series of greens - soft, grayed, dark or chemical chlorophyll - adding an element of perkiness to the palette.

That 90s classic velvet is making a modern comeback by incorporating this textile through deep jewel tones offset by natural and metallic materials. The goal of this color story is to transport the visitor to a lush, vibrant location engaging all of the senses through bold colors and hearty fabrics such as knits, suede, leather, and tufted velvet. Plants and other organic elements are also heavily used in the designs associated with this color palette.

With this color story, get ready to delve into naturalistic earthy aesthetics that remind us we are all creators and inventors at heart. Sojourn is authentically redesigned, infused with sunny conviviality, well-crafted and the cultural ornamentation has a certain modernity about it. Layers of cultures, heritages, and eras blend harmoniously, combining grandiose elements with basic design features, resulting in a worldly and exotic atmosphere over-flowing with warmth and soul.

COLORS:

Earthy hues ground the soul and self-expression is encouraged through punches of reds, yellows, and blues.

"Sojourn is sophisticated with tempered folksy hues reminiscent of early naturalists, while masculine deep tones like olives and charcoals are highlighted with sporty and outdoorsy features creating a classic yet graphic overall look."

This urban and organic multicolored, multipurpose palette consists of simple primaries mixed with olive, brown, and ochre tones. Naturally rich colors of perennial and mountain flowers pair with autumn inspired hues.

"Social Architecture" is the conscious designing of physical space to optimize human interaction and connect to its surroundings. Designers who utilize this architectural trend features local materials throughout the design and embraces urban agriculture, sustainability, and reuse of building materials with the hopes of having a very minimal environmental impact. There's a nod to desert and mountain landscapes, which would be great to incorporate in architectural styles such as Ranch, Art & Craft, Desert Modern, Cabins, and other exotic designs.

COLOR BREAKDOWN

This section will showcase each color family individually, breaking down exactly what they may contribute to the different color stories and how that can impact the overall design aesthetic. You can use this part to pin-point a specific accent color or even create your own palette and truly embrace the concepts of self-expression and creativity, which are prominent ideas in every palette.

Pink, in all its glorious shades, continues its dominance in color trends. "Millennial Pink" -- a gender-neutral range of hues -- leads the pack with blush touches and a hybrid of peachy-salmon colors. Reds, on the contrary, are bold and powerful or dark and rich, playing into the earthiness and organic nature of the color family.

These tones create lightness through the pinks as well as vibrancy and dynamics from the reds, each of which contribute a unique characteristic to their respective color trend stories.

This year oranges range all across the color spectrum from bright and fruity to earthy and rustic. Pastel oranges are also on trend, however they're still following in the shadows of "Millennial Pink" and come in the form of apricots, peaches, and blush tones. Natural oranges take on characteristics of earth, like clay and rust, which end up grounding the overall orange color trend.

"Orange is a color of liberation, from the pains of hurtful love and inner insecurities. To channel orange is to truly be free, to be you." - Frank Ocean

Yellows are transitioning from green undertones and muted golds to vibrant, rich, saturated colors evoking happiness and energizing its surroundings. "Gen Z Yellow" is now taking center stage by creating a bold impact in both the fashion and design industries. Golds are still prominent, but deeper and favoring more of an orange undertone instead of a brassy look. Pastel yellows act in a supporting role to both cool and warm neutrals.

The Color Factory is probably one of the most current locations where yellow really shows off how bold it can be by creating entire rooms in monochromatic yellow schemes. You may be familiar with the ball pit room filled with thousands of yellow balls and "Gen Z Yellow" walls. It's also very prominent in fashion for both men and women's wear.

Greens are definitely the trend to keep an eye on this upcoming year. They come in a variety of tones from chemical greens that are bright and saturated to soft green-blues, then finishing with earthy greens resembling foliage, moss, and olives. Darker tones can also be more jewel-like falling to those jade and emerald gemstone colors.

Light greens, more specifically muted light greens, are currently extremely popular in interior design because of the calm and relaxing feelings they induce. They're even being used in more of a neutral sense, like in kitchen cabinet design, bathrooms, and bedrooms where they're being paired with bolder, deeply saturated tones as well as blush pinks.

Blues remain popular over time as a classic color that can be used almost anywhere. Tones are fresh and dynamic, bringing in vibrancy through cool and icy hues. There's an equal divide between blue and teals - teals reflecting more of the tones found in the ocean and sky, whereas blues represent space and nightfall.

No matter your mood or design aesthetic, there will always be a blue to calm your soul and your mind.

Purples are now moving towards grayed dusty hues in both dark and pastel tones. Violets are deep and jewel-like favoring more of a pink or fuchsia hue, but are still mysterious and edgy like their purple counterparts. There's also a strong whimsical quality, however there's an added level of sophistication and elegance instead of the traditional child-like vibe.

Purples and violets are the perfect choice if you're looking to spark creativity and provide a bold aesthetic to any space.

"All the other colors are just colors, but purple seems to have a soul -- when you look at it, it's look right back at you." - Uniek Swain

Warm neutrals are earthy and muted, reflecting a beautiful serene desert landscape. From khaki to cream then dark brown to tan, these colors are perfect for creating a comfortable, tranquil oasis or acts as a supporting role for those bold accent colors in order to create a cohesive space. Select any one of these warm neutrals and transform any area into a cozy retreat.

As you may notice, there is a rosy tint to some of the neutrals, which actually helps soften the color making it easier to use and pair with other non-neutral colors. Grayed warm neutrals come in the form of "graige" blending the color families of browns, beiges, and tans into earth tone grays.

Grays are slowly moving into the shadows of more dominant colors, however they still remain relevant in 2019. Cool neutrals are primarily gray, but infuse a subtle tint of blue and purple, which allows the colors to be more compatible with almost any palette...including warm neutrals.

Use these colors in ultra-modern designs or even more contemporary aesthetics. Either way, these cool neutrals will transform to be accommodating for an space in countless ways.