I have always had a love of strong color – I have these memories of this beautiful emerald green wool duffle coat I had as a child growing up in Berlin (yes, I’ve always loved green, just the hue has changed over the years)….probably the only 8 year old loving dark green, but whether it was that coat, my chocolate brown blanket or ruby hued dress, color spoke to me.  It still does, and a lot of my work allows me to use color to set a mood or create an environment.  Today I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with a kindred soul, Lee Eiseman, a world renowned color expert who not only serves as a consultant for Pantone but teaches classes on color theory, has authored books on color, and is absolutely fascinating when it comes to discussion how color trends come about.  Yes, this is the woman who is responsible for 2009’s “Mimosa Yellow” and the 2010 color of the year, Turquoise (which would not have been a color most floral designer would have chosen, but heh, I’m always up for a challenge.)  And as Sasha Souza so aptly pointed out in a symposium she gave in Seattle this evening, it usually takes two years for colors to drift down to the event world from when they first hit the fashion runway.  As Eiseman explains, the original owner of Pantone first developed the Pantone system for printing – graphic designers, sign makers, anyone in the printing system NEEDED a system that could translate “I want an ad with this color green” into “I want a flyer with background in Pantone  x and copy in Pantone Y.”He saw that someone Fuchsia was another’s Purple, and that we needed a system to objectively classify color in order to discuss it accurately.

This brilliant color system caught in quickly in the make-up, interior design and fashion world, and soon Pantone expanded their systems to include more than just printing. Today, you see such companies as Dessy Bridal working with Pantone to create a easy color system for brides and bridesmaids, and even J. Crew selling Pantone hued sneakers.

When interviewing Lee, I wanted to know how the color forecasts are made, how colors of the year are chosen.  Is it random or is there a formula?

Lee explained that many different factors go into the forecasting of color trends of any particular year, from the socieconomic climate, the historic implications of a color, the psychological aspects of a certain hue and everything from what she sees in the European fashion world (which we know is always a ways ahead of what happens here in America) to what is in the midsts of production in Hollywood films.  The last two years (2009, 2010) have brought us bright, happy colors: Mimosa Yellow and Turquoise.  I queried Lee about Turquoise, and she explained that she not only had seen turquoise springing up in everythign from Eur0pean fashion to small hip  boutiques, but also that people in general felt a need for protection (Turquoise has long been seen as a talisman in many cultures) and a sense of escape (an overwhelming response from people included the ideas of tropical island & tropical waters).

What does that mean for the event industry?  Well, event designers may embrace this hue and show it to their clients currently if they want to be ‘current”, but it will likely take a bit longer  for brides themselves to see turquoise around them in the fashion and home decor industries and request it as a hue to use in their wedding.  At Bella Signature Design we do have have two weddings this year with turquoise as a main element, and two of our clients for 2011 weddings are playing around with “aqua.” Is it because this hue is popping up more and more?  Whatever color you choose, it should be something you love!  Most of us have colors that make us happy, makes us smile, colors that catch our eye whether it is in a paper clip or a wall paper. THOSE should be the colors that you use for your wedding.  Most of my clients can’t help but notice the chartreuse walls of my studio or my favorite purse, and my friends know ANYTHING in that hue will make me brilliantly happy.  What is your favorite color?  (Psst, Lee’s favorite color of the moment?  Periwinkle.)

Then there is the question of what to do with this hue in terms of floral and event design (let’s face it, turquoise is not a floral color, and besides tropical waters and peacocks, can rarely be found in nature.)  See next weeks post on how to incorporate this hue into event and floral design (we loved Sasha Souza’s suggestion of turquoise and a marigold hue – yum!).  And you can always look back on our original post on Pantone’s 2010 color trends