An inspiring podcast on everything you need to know about color!
Our March episode is with Australian interior designer Bree Banfield, stay tuned to learn more about Australia’s specific color preferences!
S6E02 Color Camouflage with Melania Chavarría Nuño
In this episode Melania shares her story about how she went from being too much to finding her own voice, how color became the main driver in her work and how she wants to bridge the gap between the intrinsic variety of Mexican culture and the world of the arts. Learn about how she expresses these elements through her own body and person.
Fashion and Textile Designer with a degree from Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión (CDMX) and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp, Belgium).
Born and raised in Mexico City, she works on a diverse range of projects within the creative industries, spanning fashion, arts, design, styling, journalism, and creative direction.
With nearly 10 years of experience, she has developed numerous dynamic design projects aimed at fostering and promoting a stronger fashion identity for Mexican culture from a contemporary and international perspective.
In 2015, Melania launched her design project, CDMX11000, inspired by the surreal architectural language of Mexico City. This project has evolved through social media platforms, using photography to create a visual language where local arts, design, traditions, and culture are seamlessly integrated with fashion. Through the interplay of colors, textures, shapes, and prints, the project highlights specific theories, aesthetics, and concepts.
Her continuous collaboration with other creatives led her to share their stories and projects through DNA Magazine, an innovative fashion media outlet. There, she writes to spotlight emerging talents and guide the next generation of creative professionals.
Nourishing Tradition with Laura Tofts
Part of learning about color is understanding it's many facets and cultural meanings. Laura Tofts passionately shares her perspective on color from a southern African point of view, describing Zimbabwe's color symbolism across pattern, natural pigments and minerals. Her goal is to bring global color conversations to Africa and spread its traditions with the world.
Born 47 years ago in Zimbabwe to British immigrants, Laura grew up in the Capital City Harare and completed her High School education there. In 1996, after completing Tertiary studies in Linguistics and Tourism, Laura moved to Brighton, Sussex, UK and gained experience in various Restaurants and Hotels before landing a position at the American Express Head Office in the European Corporate Travel Department.
The Call of Africa was too much, and Laura returned to Zimbabwe in early 2000 and joined Avis Car Hire as The National Sales “Lady” .... Until political events in the country saw the rapid collapse of the tourism industry and a very depressed environment. At that point Laura decided it was time for a change and whilst working as a restaurant manager in a 5-star Restaurant in Harare, studied Accounting by night. Once qualified, Laura took up a role as Bookkeeper in a Paint Shop downtown ... and that’s when the Eureka moment happened, and the passion was ignited.
The following year Laura opened her first Paint Wholesale Warehouse in the Light Industry Area, where she is still based today... 23 years later! Needless to say, Laura Tofts has extensive experience and deep knowledge about coatings and colour design. She is the only NCS qualified colour trainer in Zimbabwe, training architects, interior designers and anyone with an interest in colour. During the last 13 years, she has extended her skillset by delving deeply into specialist finishes, such as cement, texture, wallpaper, and anything else that adds dimensions to a wall. She has earned Certification from The Institute of Concrete of South Africa, specialising in cement for construction. Laura owns The Showroom (recently re-branded from Artisan), a surface design company that supplies top-quality products and creates unique finishes for residential and commercial projects. The Showroom is Zimbabwe’s main distributor of Medal Paints, Cemcrete, Earthcote, Jaxoleum and Wallpaper Inn, Eijffinger, ORAC, among others.
Laura’s Instagram Page best summarises it all “Africa forever in my Soul, Colour all around me”.
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.
“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.”
— Review Apple Podcast