An inspiring podcast on everything you need to know about color!
Happy holidays to all our listeners! See you back here in January with a brand-new podcast with Brazilian creative Michell Lott.
Totally Obsessed with Trendstefan
There is a reason why I picked this title and you hear that when you listen to the conversation. Stefan is a true trend hunter who never stops searching for the new as his curiosity brings him to over 30 fairs a year. In this interview we talk about what is trending right now, what is coming and we wonder about what the future may bring when it comes to color and its application.
Stefan ”Trendstefan” Nilsson is one of Sweden’s and Scandinavia’s most influential trend experts. Constantly on foot, he visits fairs and world cities to scout the latest in design, lifestyle, sustainability, retail and hospitality. These insights are shared in various magazines and at seminars. Trendstefan also runs the design arena Designgalleriet, and is most visible on social media under @trendstefan. Swedish magazine Rum have listed Trendstefan as one of the most influential people in architecture and design in Sweden.
Design Experience with Xiaojing Huang
Xiaojing is the first person on the podcast to talk with an Asian perspective on color, design experience and CMF as she talks about the many differences between eastern and western consumer trends, preferences and color perceptions. As one of the most well-known CMF designers in China, Xiaojing will give her view on what is happening in the field and not just in China.
Xiaojing Huang is a renowned design strategist and trend expert, strategy director and partner of YANG DESIGN, chief editor of China Design Trends Report.
Winner of Red Dot Design Award, IDEA and Design For Asia Silver Award, Influential China Young by Linkedin. Chief editor of China Design Trends Report, which is by far the authoritative annual trend report for the Chinese market since 2013. The report has successfully forecasted well-selling Chinese design trends including gradient, purple, copper green and iridescence. She is curator of CMF TREND LAB, and design column writer of magazines including md. Invited speaker of many design events including TEDx, Color Marketing Group, NCS color forecast and Semiofest. Xiaojing studied in Guangzhou and Berlin from experience design expert.
As strategic director of YANG DESIGN, the forward-looking design consultancy in China, she has been leading the strategic team to build the CMF Lab and UX Lab , defining design strategy to realize business value for companies in different development stages. Her clients are leading brands including Boeing, BMW, GM, Nissan, Hyundai, Didi, Samsung, Microsoft, Huawei, BOSE, Haier, vivo, Schneider Electric, Unilever, Vanke, DuPont and 3M.
Shining your Light with Judith van Vliet
This is quite the unusual podcast for me.. as for the first time I am being interviewed myself by Keith Recker who beseeched, almost begged me to let the TCA fans get to know me better by turning the tables and allowing myself to be the interviewee. This fun conversation gives some insights into the mysterious world of color forecasting and its future, how you may identify color for clients and their brand but most importantly, what color can do for you on a personal level once you learn how to work with it. Color is life, color is emotion and above all, it is power.
Judith was born in 1981 in the countryside of The Netherlands. She moved to the urban environment of The Hague for her studies at the age of 17. At 28, when she moved to Milan, she fulfilled a lifelong dream of living in Italy. She still lives there, a participant in the vibrant unfolding of color and design-thinking in one of the world’s creativity capitols.
Her initial dive into color came in her first job as Product Planning Specialist at Kawasaki Motors, where she was the only European and the only woman on Kawasaki’s Japan-based design team. Later, she served as Senior Color Designer at Avient ColorWorks, which designs innovative and increasingly sustainable polymer-based colorants to the manufacturing sector and was Creative Director of ColorForward, a global color forecasting guide. These positions allowed her to travel the world to present social and consumer color intelligence to cross-industry professionals, designers and marketers.
Today she is captain of her own ship as founder and color intelligence provider at The Color Authority. She’s also vice president of membership of the Color Marketing Group, where she’s been very active for over fifteen years in positions including president and member of the executive committee.
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Color Provocations with Keith Recker
Keith Recker is a color poet and you will hear that immediately when listening to this conversation, even if it's not all roses we talk about. Keith does not refrain from talking about how color continues to create political and social divides and often triggers consumers into buying promises not kept by brands. The mission of his latest book Deep Color is to indeed reveal the misperceptions on color and to disclose the truth about each color in the spectrum. Not all that is white is clean, simple and pure..
Keith Recker brings 35 years of adventuresome, insightful, multicultural experience in marketing, merchandising, trend and color forecasting, and content development to his role as Editor in Chief and Co-Owner of TABLE Magazine. With strong roots in food and drink, TABLE also explores travel, interior design, fashion and jewelry, and other facets of modern living, in both print and digital formats.
Recker is the founder and editor of HAND/EYE Magazine, a print and online publication whose 10 issues cultivated a global following. The magazine profiles forward-looking creators, faraway cultures, ancient craft traditions, and cutting-edge design. HAND/EYE saw humankind’s creative future as handmade, which demands attention the struggle of artisans to earn decent livelihoods through preservation of ancient traditions, innovation of new ones, exploration of new markets, and educating the consuming public about the cultural and economic importance of their work. HAND/EYE is on a pause right now, but ripe for rebirth.
Recker is also a trend and color forecaster whose almost 20-year client list includes global influencers Pantone, WGSN, Stylus, Color Association of the United States (CAUS), and more. For 16 years, Recker has been creative director of Pantone’s annual home publication, PANTONE View Home. For eight years he was on WGSN’s global trend and color team. He serves on the CAUS home forecasting committee.
The revised second edition of his book, True Colors: World Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments (Thrums Books) was released in September 2020, with chapters already excerpted in London-based Selvedge Magazine, NY Textile Month Journal, and reviewed in many more, including Metropolis. He is co-author of PANTONE: The Twentieth Century in Color (Chronicle, 2012), published in eight languages. His new book, Deep Color: The Shades That Shape Our Souls, debuts in September 2022. His writing on color and culture has been published by the Studio Museum of Harlem (catalog essay about Stephen Burks), Museum of Art and Design (catalog essay about African craft and its messages about the future), Brooklyn Rail (comparing the work of potter Alex Matisse with the performance work of Marina Abramovic), The Santa Fe New Mexican, and more.
He has also worked in the non-profit world as a director of consumer marketing at CARE International and executive director at Aid to Artisans (as well as a board member and volunteer for 22 years). Through his involvement with Aid to Artisans, he has worked side by side with artisans from 50 countries. He has served on the boards of Art in General, Chez Bushwick, as founding chair of The Quiet in the Land (a project which brought leading contemporary artists into communities in the developing world) , and the International Folk Art Market, where he was also pro bono creative director and head of the Marketing Committee from 1996-2020.
Color Kindredness with Patti Carpenter
Patti Carpenter will talk color trends as she travels the world to places that inspire her. Actually, it is not the places that inspire her, it's the indigenous and how they work color in their artisan products from which we all can learn so much. Patti talks about what really keeps her going, her work in artisan development in countries around the world and her desire to bring more diversity to the world of design. From high Fashion to doing what truly matters to her, helping and supporting other creatives globally and bringing back the value of true artisan development. That is Patti.
Patti is Principal of carpenter + company and an award- winning Designer in globally sourced home décor, accessories, fragrance and gifts, with experience in product design and development, merchandising and color + trend forecasting. As a Micro-Enterprise specialist with U.S. presidential recognition for domestic and international expertise in artisan development, small producer and entrepreneurial training and economic development she has designed and sourced Private Label collections for Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Crate & Barrel, The Phillips Collection, ABC Carpet and Home, Donna Karan Urban Zen and Ralph Lauren. She has worked in 57 countries. Patti is an expert in Color + Trend research and forecasting and consults with Pantone. She is the Global Trend Ambassador for Maison & Objet, Paris. She is an active board member of SERRV International-one of the founding organizations of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), BADG (Black Artists and Designer Guild), The High School of Fashion Industries and The Bienenstock Furniture Library, as well as the co-founder of the Kaleidoscope Project. Patti is also the recipient of the Gift For Life Industry Achievement Award for 2021 and the Withit Industry Leadership Award for 2021 for the Kaleidoscope Project.
The Future of Color Forecasting with Leslie Harrington
When color-minded come together you have great conversations, proof again is my episode with Leslie Harrington. Leslie talks color strategy like very few and explains the major pitfalls in selecting color. She believes the future of color forecasting lays in data to validate intuitively made color choices. How will AI influence the jobs of color professionals and how can the two sit side by side? Listen to this intriguing color talk now!
Leslie Harrington Ph.D is the Co-founder of HueData, a color intelligence company, and the Executive Director of The Color Association of the United States, a color trend agency since 1915 specialising in Fashion and Interiors/Environments. She currently is on the Executive Committee of AIC, a professional member of ISCC, is a professional member of ASID - American Society of Interior Designers. Leslie is the current President of AIC - International Color Association. Leslie has worked in the area of color strategy and color marketing over a 25+ year for companies such as Benjamin Moore and has been published and quotes in numerous publications such as The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, Oprah Magazine and aired on Dr Oz Show, CBS’s Live it Up with Ali & Jack, ABC's Good Morning America and many more.
Creating Design Synergies with Certosa Initiative
Founders of Certosa Initiative Margriet Vollenberg and Remi Versteeg will reveal why they are going to be the talk of Milan Design Week in this exclusive podcast interview. How is color influencing this years' Milan Design Week and how did it influence the installations at Certosa? What are the innovations we can expect in materials, design while tapping into our multiple senses? How is combining color ever more so important and what role does the absence of color play in todays' design?
Beyond Space, architects with a distinct focus on delicate interiors and grand-scale transformations, bundle forces with Organisation in Design, makers of Ventura Projects and instrumental in breathing new life into rediscovered districts of Milan. Brought together by a deeply shared passion for design, their complementary track records make them a natural match to move the crowds into the up-and-coming Certosa District. In the face of turbulent times and on such short notice, the team sees itself floated by the sheer energy of the historical moment of resuscitation and is poised to make the Certosa Initiative the Talk of the town during the 2022 Milan Design Week.
Remi Versteeg is equal parts architect and entrepreneur. He founded his first company back in 2002 (many were to follow) and obtained his degree in architecture from Delft University. In 2016, he co-founded office for architecture Space Encounters. In 2021, he co-founded Beyond Space together with Stijn de Weerd. Remi is driven to innovate and always seeks to combine diverse perspectives to forge new connections and lead him down roads less traveled.
Margriet Vollenberg is an entrepreneur and a professional in the global field of design and has over twenty years’ experience in the design industry. Margriet, founder of Organisation in Design and founder & art director of Ventura Projects, has got a grand sense of adventure on the one hand and the prudence to do business wisely on the other. She is a graduate designer who studied at the Design Academy in Eindhoven under Lidewij Edelkoort. Her company Organisation in Design (started 2005) provides clients with services design strategies, consultancy, and art direction. For 11 years she was driving force behind the successful design events Ventura Projects in Milan, Dubai, New York, and many other places all around the world.
The Magical World of Crypto Art with Bruno Pitzalis
Before getting into the Crypto Art topic, Bruno gives a quick guide through the hot topic of metaverses, NFT's and how one can be part of the digital world. He also debunks some misperceptions that quickly had risen within the first year of the very existence of this new reality. While Bruno reveals his main inspirations within the Crypto Art movement, how he selects artists for his exhibitions and which artists are currently hot, he has a direct call to action to the creative community as the digital world is in great need of creative input. Listen to our interview and find out why color creatives are so necessary at this early stage of this new movement and what future role color has in this digital world.
Bruno Pitzalis is a Crypto Art expert, curator and sale advisor. In June 2021 he conceived and coordinated "Dystopian Visions", the first Crypto Art NFT auction in Italy for the Cambi auction house in partnership with SuperRare. Thanks to his twenty years experience of working in the field of communication and documentary direction, he has developed a peculiar vision and strategy for the creation of applied value. He currently holds the role of Communications and Brand Awareness at MoCDA (Museum of Contemporary Digital Art), head of MoCDA - The Foundry, cultural populariser of the Crypto Art scene, he is collector and collaborator of Artribune and has a column on Crypto Art.
Unlocking Color Talent with Marianne Shillingford
If you are not yet a color enthusiast, you will once listening to this joyful episode with ambassador of color, Marianne Shillingford. Marianne will reveal what role color trends play in decoration and how you can apply color to enhance wellness in people's lives. As Founder of the Colour Design Awards she is now planning for the next event in June this year. Marianne furthermore explains how her search for emerging design talent comes about and what she believes is true color innovation.
Marianne Shillingford has over 30 years of experience in the interiors industry as a decorating and colour expert. As Creative Director of Dulux at Akzonobel she works closely with many creative disciplines from designers, architects and professional decorators to global colour experts and of course the Dulux Dog. She is a passionate expert and skilled communicator with experience in TV, radio and journalism. Marianne is also the founder of the Colour in Design Awards, which recognises and rewards outstanding use of colour in design by emerging creative talent.
Complex Design Realities with Formafantasma
Together with Formafantasma's Simone Farresin we talk about GEO-Design, the design of the future, what design skills are increasingly important and how the two designers are trying to create awareness about true sustainable design and more importantly, bringing along solutions to businesses that can create the much-needed change in design thinking. What role does color play in this new era of design? Lastly but not least how can smell influence new design thinking?
Formafantasma is a research-based design studio investigating the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping the discipline of design today. Whether designing for a client or developing self – initiated projects, the studio applies the same rigorous attention to context, processes and details. Formafantasma’s analytical nature translates in meticulous visual outcomes, products and strategies.
Since founding the studio in 2009, Italians Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin have championed the need for value – laden advocacy merged with holistic design thinking. Their aim is to facilitate a deeper understanding of both our natural and built environments and to propose transformative interventions through design and its material, technical, social, and discursive possibilities.
Dutch Design Thinking with Piet Hein Eek
Piet is famous for his reclaimed design that travels the world and during my interview with him he reveals in detail his design philosophy, his view on sustainable design and how he selects colors while using the materials that he is surrounded by. How did his Dutch upbringing influence his designs and how come he works in an opposite manner as the rest of the world, never knowing what the end result of his designs will be like? Listen to our talk and find out also who was the main inspiration for his new paint color range!
Piet Hein Eek was born in the Netherlands in 1967. He graduated from the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhoven in 1990. While at the Academy, he gained attention for his exam project “Scrap Wood Cupboards”. He sold all of the cupboards and used the money to start his own design studio in 1992. The following year he went into partnership with fellow designer Nob Ruijrok, establishing Eek en Ruijgrok v.o.f. Today, they continue to work in a 10.000 square meter multi-purpose space in Eindhoven, which includes a restaurant, a shop, a gallery, a showroom, and a studio.
Piet Hein Eek has built his business around old materials, saving discarded pieces of wood and working outside the circuit of mass production. His instantly recognisable work considers the tension between modernity and tradition, waste and sustainability. Piet Hein Eek’s work is sold in numerous galleries worldwide.
He has exhibited at venues like the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Milan Furniture Fair, Italy.
Let Color Surprise you with Mark Woodman
As a great storyteller, Mark takes us all on a journey of color aha moments, color misperceptions and some color stories that marked his career. We will talk about getting the color right for a client as he reveals some interesting tactics. As a writer, he is very much involved in naming and describing color, an intriguing process that is more demanding as it may seem at first yet very fun!
Mark Woodman, a passionate designer, trend-spotter, educator, writer and speaker, designs interiors, consults on diverse product lines, and contributes to the pages and airwaves of media, and the stages of international exhibitions.
Mark consults for individuals and international corporations. including Corian® Design, Mid-Mark, Canadian Tire’s Premier Paint Collection, Blackfin Realty, and more. Mark Woodman’s aesthetic understanding as an interior designer of “real-life” balances his approach to design, color, and product specification. He is former president of Color Marketing Group, serves on various color panels, and is an accredited CEU educator.
A spirited speaker, Mark frequently lectures on color and design and his unique perspective allows him to weave narratives and solutions of design and color from influences as diverse as cuisine and fashion, to home décor.
The Sweet Side of Color with Ramon Morató
Ramon is the first person on my podcast who is not a color expert or a designer, yet his creativity in the world of chocolate and pastry is highly inspiring. He will teach us how he uses color in his daily life, where he finds inspiration for his creations and what food trends he sees coming. We will discuss the challenges of colouring food naturally in a world that requires healthy food yet still wants to indulge. How can color innovate a bonbon, how is the world of desserts changing through our past experiences and what are important life lessons for young chefs out there?
Born in Manlleu, Barcelona into a family with no connections whatsoever to the world of confectionery, after completing his studies, Ramon Morató began his training in a number of different establishments.
He combined his studies with numerous courses offered at the school of the Barcelona Provincial Confectioners’ Association. During a period of stages at several of the best Spanish confectioners, he also went to important schools and technical centers such as ZDS Solingen, Germany and the Richard Conseil School in Lyon, France.
As the result of these years of work, his experience and his ongoing desire for innovation, he published “RAMON MORATO Chocolate”, which won the Best Cookbook in the World on the subject of Chocolate in 2007 at the distinguished Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
More recently, in December 2016 he published the book “Four in One” together with chefs Raul Bernal, Josep Maria Ribé and Miquel Guarro, on the occasion of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Chocolate Academy in Barcelona.
The possibility of connecting with many professionals in different fields gave him ample knowledge of the sector and helped him to realize his passion for teaching, researching and creating products related with the world of confectionery.
In recent years, this has brought him to teach courses, seminars and conferences all over the world, as well as special endeavors such as a collaboration project with Harvard University through the Alicia Foundation.
Currently he is Creative Director for the Cacao Barry brand.
The Fast and Furious with Dominik Eisend
Dominik Eisend steers & drives Merck’s global Pull Marketing activities within surface solutions, always focusing on design & technology at automotive OEMs. He introduces new trends and stylings and listens closely to what is needed in the market to be able to present the right creations at the right time.
Dominik has a background in transportation interior design focusing on materials and CMF. Prior to his role at Merck he has worked for several OEMs such as Mercedes-Benz, AMG and FORD as well as for a German-Chinese automotive start up called BORGWARD where he was leading the Color&Trim design team.
He loves to work with materials or to experiment with new technology to generate material driven design experiences. He looks at color and surfaces to play an incremental role for good product design. In his eyes the material design will play the most influential role in the future of mobility. Dominik currently resides in Stuttgart, Germany.
Exploring Color Cycles with Montaha Hidefi
Montaha will shed a light on her international background and how this has influenced her color career and the many color differences and influences among the regions in the world. She has been tracking color cycles from the early 2000's to better predict future trends and will highlight an interesting cycle that she has seen comeback in this year. Being part of Color Marketing Group and working on the Executive Committee as VP of Color Forecasting is what kept her going in these restrictive times, as she explains the importance of being part of a color tribe and its network.
Montaha Hidefi is a Canada-based, internationally celebrated color archeologist, writer, and public speaker. As a Color Archeologist her role involves examining and observing the past tendencies, to understand the present trends and interpret the future color forecast for business purposes.
With an extensive background in the coatings industry, color forecasting, marketing strategy and international business, she established color forecast palettes and color trend books concepts for many companies around the world.
Montaha lectured about color and trends virtually and in-person in countless trade shows, conferences, and universities, and conducted workshops on color around the world.
She participated and contributed as color forecasting panelist on many global organization committees such as the Mix Magazine, MoOD Textiles Trend Book, and Dutch Design Trend Book. Her articles on color and trends were published in trade publications such as Door Security and Safety, PCI Magazine, Powder Coating, Powder Coated Tough, Product Finishing, Rugs News andDesign, Retail Environment, and PPCJ.
Montaha is the author of Groping for Truth – My Uphill Struggle for Respect (2018), The Role of Color in Design (2019), and co-author of Colour Design: Theories and Applications (2012, and 2017).
She currently serves as VP Color Forecasting at Color Marketing Group.
Brazilian Color Fascination with Patricia Fecci
Patricia brings us on a journey through her professional life in the world of decorative paint in a very specific market, Brazil. What colors define the Brazilians, how do they decorate their homes and what color trends can we expect for Latin America in the next years. She will reveal the Sherwin Williams Company trend research methodology and the importance of collaboration when working on color palettes and harmonisation processes. Although its many difficulties, Brazilians continue to shine and the Patricia her energy during this talk reflects that.
Patrícia Fecci works as Color Marketing and Design Services Manager of the Sherwin-Williams Company in Brazil, one of the largest paint manufacturers and distributors in the world. She is responsible for all color support to company-owned stores, dealers, home centers and assists with color systems, country-specific color palettes, design trends, color merchandising, training and new business development. She is part of the Sherwin-Williams Global Color Forecast Team that tracks and forecasts color trends and design influences for the coatings industry, creating and giving color presentations to architects and designers.
Patrícia is member of the Color Marketing Group Association and Vice-President of PROCOR Brasil Association.
The Future is Here with Bridget Frizzie
In this episode you will discover what a futurist is and how Bridget herself visions the future in the world of events. She will illuminate us on her colorful Colombian upbringing and how that transformed her desire to create in beauty, bringing along her audience in her dream world of storytelling.
Bridget comes to the table with over 20 years of experience as a provocative lifestyle designer, handling everything from event ideation, interior styling, color customization, hospitality design and visual merchandising, as well as an accomplished floral designer. She is Creative Director and senior strategist of Kehoe Designs, a full service event decor and production company. She is a board member of the international association for Color Marketing Group. Her skill set includes blending a multicultural background, a passion for travel and a relentless pursuit of trend spotting. Her default is a nearly obsessive curiosity with future trends, color forecasting and scenario planning. She’s a patient hunter with a meticulous eye for finding the subtle nuances in design and innovation, and envisioning how they’re indicators of what’s next. Bridget’s style of thinking melds together seemingly unrelated facts, ideas and nuggets of information; result is trend spotting that is both inspiring and relatable.
Color Escapism with Rana Khadra
Rana shares insights on the differences but also the similarities of color use and color trends in the Middle East compared to the European region, how color is energy in its form and how we are all influenced by color throughout our childhood. During our conversation we also discussed the intriguing pull many have for her native region, the colors of the city she grew up in and where she finds color inspiration in these difficult times.
As head of the creative department, Rana is the brain behind creating enchanting colors and the discerning eye when it comes to forecasting and spotting trends for Jotun. With her eclectic experience in advertising, marketing and product management, she has spearheaded product innovations while successfully launching new products and color collections across the Middle East, Africa and India. She is a certified Color Trainer by NCS, Sweden and a member of the Color Marketing Group. Rana has conducted many masterclass in color for interior designers and architects across the region. Her infectious passion indeed for color is reflected in the hues of her vibrant personality. She has a thing for beautiful doors and walls and a longing for longitudes as she often travels the world to fill her shelves with hidden curios and stories. Rana is currently residing in Dubai.
“Excellent series about color. It’s a complex topic and Judith approaches it from a variety of angles with her guests. Always entertaining and insightful. I look forward to listening to each episode and learning something new about color and the visionaries in the color world.”
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