Design Buy Build Issue 37 2019 | Page 51

A Place to Act The Dulux ColourFutures™️ 2019 Act palette is encouraging professionals to capture the mood of the moment in their design. Now in its 16th year, the Dulux ColourFutures™️ palettes are selected to help professionals make choices for a wide variety of buildings with more confidence, providing support on all steps from inspiration through visualisation, product choice and application. Based around the Dulux Colour of the Year, Spiced Honey™, the Act palette colours are a collection of bold, energising colours that symbolise a ‘can do’ attitude. Crisp and fresh, they have an optimistic appearance that encourages creative thought and action. The thought process for Spiced Honey™ and the Act palette is about creating a positive, proactive mood where people are empowered to ‘do’, to act and to take a stand. As people tire of looking to governments and corporations to do the right thing, they do not want to be the silent majority any more. There is a growing sense of individuals and communities taking responsibility, getting involved and taking action at grassroots level. On issues that matter to people, big and small, the mantra is think global, act local. Small acts can make a big difference. This applies to families choosing to buy sustainable produce or swimmers taking action against the plastics that threaten our oceans. Communities are harnessing social media to come together with like- minded individuals to start and share campaigns and petitions on the issues that matter most. Often, the most exciting plans can begin close to home and people need a place that supports them in their endeavors and spurs them on. Our built environments can be that support base, acting both as a testing ground and a springboard for action. The idea of a honey toned neutral struck a chord with the experts during the forecasting workshop to select the Colour of the Year. Honey is associated with nourishment and energy and the imagery of bees themselves perfectly captured the idea of a caring, thriving community. growing demands on our daily lives. The future of building design requires a fresh look at interior spaces, and the Act palette fulfils the need to push the brief beyond aesthetics to create environments that inspire us to take action, making the changes we want to see. The brightness of the Act palette makes it ideal for education and office designs, as well as social spaces where people interact. Alongside these exuberant tones, Spiced Honey™ acts as the ‘sensible adult’ in the room, keeping order and stopping things from getting too crazy. To decide on the Dulux Colour of the Year and ColourFutures™️ palettes, Dulux assembled a global panel of top design professionals to research trends, insights and consumer behaviours. Dulux Creative Director, Marianne Shillingford, says: “There’s a desire to reach out, engage with others, to make things better and ‘be the change’. “That change can be anything from marching for women’s rights and fishing plastic out of the ocean, to small acts of neighbourly kindness. People are ready to seize the moment - it is time to act. “This palette can help to create spaces that encourage dynamism. It’s a collection of colours that are ideal for energising occupants and to encourage them to adopt a positive, exploratory outlook.” We are encouraging design specifiers to take the time to consider how the undeniably powerful human connection with colour can be harnessed within design; to create spaces that enable people to thrive and feel productive, despite the ever 51 There were some incredible examples referred to by our experts during the trend forecasting process of people coming together and crossing divides to make a difference. One of the most poignant was the story of a Palestinian mother and an Israeli mother. Both had lost sons in the bloodshed, but came together to find understanding and reconciliation in each other. They, along with many others, are hoping to change hearts and minds so a resolution can one day be found - starting at a local level to create wider impact. The Dulux expert panel married art with science to decide on the annual colour, which is versatile and contemporary and complements a wide variety of interior styles with its optimistic range of four supporting palettes. To download a pdf of the ColourFutures Specifier brochure visit www.duluxtradepaintexpert. co.uk/colours/collections/colour- futures-2019