By Judith van Vliet
Welcome to The Color Authority™, the podcast that dives deep into the fascinating world of color design and trends, hosted by none other than Judith van Vliet, your guide to unlocking the full pote
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The podcast currently has 62 episodes available.
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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.
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Anna Starmer talked to TCA about her vision on the future of color being more value-based where homogenous colors have no place and we select colors that fit our values, that are beautiful and endure the test of time.
Anna Starmer has been guiding brand colour direction for over 25 years. Her colour library, client palettes and Luminary colour publications reveal the future thinking that will shape the future of colour and materials. She is a board member of the British Textile Colour Group, Intercolor and Interfilliere Salon de la Lingerie Paris. And sits on the colour futures panel for Dulux Paints.
Beyond her books, Anna works directly with brands and retailers, manufacturers, organisations and universities. She understands the technical language of colour, from materials for Dualit or Volvo, to colours for Triumph Lingerie to Ikea. Communicating and visualising colour for brands and manufacturers, Anna has developed colour libraries for clients, from Manolo Blahnik to Marks and Spencer.
Luminary Colour is the bi-annual publication and colour library, founded and created by Anna Starmer. The books and colour swatches are hand made in the UK to an exacting technical standard. Luminary has evolved organically from a future colour forecasting service with a 2-3 year ahead season, into a non-seasonal platform of inspiration and innovation; today we collaborate with botanical dyers, wild dye plant foragers, waste food pigments, waste material specialists and bio-colour innovators – featuring emerging colour swatches in every book.
Colour and material futures sit at the heart of our creative practice, yet beauty is so much deeper than surface level. Our stories have deep rooted connections to the origin of colour and long-term future intentions, way beyond a single season. Our work visualises a regenerative future, exploring a wiser, more intuitive ways of making and creating.
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With Zuzanna we talk about just everything that is strategic design thinking to how to get out of our comfort zone to color-matching in plastics, to being the only woman in the room and how businesses need to understand that their brand is made of people. And all that while being brutally honest.
Zuzanna started her career in 1998 at Philips Design and for years she contributed with SignalS of Change analyses to international visionary design projects. Then for almost 15 years she was involved in Design Management & Trends consultancy at a leading Dutch design consultancy Vanberlo (today part of Accenture Industry X.O). Since 2014 she has been a founding partner of 360Inspiration, working for clients from various industries, including many blue chips and market leaders. Zuzanna's core expertise areas include Up-Front Innovation, Industry’s Cross-fertilization, SignalS of Change and Strategic FutureS Thinking. Her research and consulting activities concentrate on 8 crucial industry fields: CE, DAP, Home, Healthcare, Mobility, FMCG/Retail, Urban and Finance. She works closely with CEOs and decision makers on strategic scenario’s development as well with R&Ds/in-house creative teams on specific projects. With almost 25 years of experience Zuzanna skillfully translates her knowledge into actionable innovative programs, using many of her own, self-developed tools. Simultaneously, she has been engaged in promotion of creative industry as Member of the Board and then Advisory Board member of Dutch Design Week as well in the international design education, as a lecturer at TU/e University in Eindhoven and at Parsons School of Design in New York. She is a co- founder of School of Form – a design academy in Poland.
Skalska has been a jury member at many prestigious design competitions like IF Design Awards and a keynote speaker at many recognized business conferences and economic summits. She is an active journalist and contributing editor to leading design and lifestyle magazines. In addition, together with her partners Greenhat Innovation and Blue Media/Autopay, she publishes an annual book - a comprehensive volume on SignalS of Change research.Her professional and public activity has been often recognized not only by the prestigious world’s design awards. In addition, in recent years she has been granted prestigious titles, such as one of the 50 most influential women of Eindhoven region, one of the strongest contributing expats in Eindhoven or one of the best professional speakers in Poland. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Zuzanna has been living in the Netherlands since 1992.
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It is always super fun to talk to fellow Dutchies. Lidi Bus talked about her journey as an artist, how she came about her inflatable design and their colorful combination but also about vulnerability and her quest to break free from average.
Born Dutch, Lidi designs and fabricates unique inflatable props and set pieces, definitely not modern art to be stared at in silence. Her creations are striking expressions of applied art aimed at fashion, interior design, product presentations, photo shoots and events. Inflatable items with specific dimensions and colors can be created on request. Break free from average is her motto and she certainly does.
Lidi Bus inflatables serve as an extension for storytellers to help them create eye-catching presentations. They resonate with creators who see value in an exceptional approach, and seek to stand out from the crowd. Exclusive, bold and unique. Lidi embraces extraordinary projects, far removed from the mundane, making a statement: average is simply not enough.
The very essence of her work is based on a mix of observation, gathering useful and interesting working materials as well as ongoing research into the technical details, including the inflation system and intricate details of finishing. It is from this playful approach that the rough ideas emerge and are then carefully filtered: from broad to narrow, making room for the true concept and final result.
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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.
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In this podcast, Ghalia will talk about how she is creating a platform for the under-represented narratives in the design world in her region, the Middle East and how she is keen on breaking design stereotypes. How can color be used as a tool to surpass digital censorship so designers may speak up and communicate what they stand for?
Ghalia Elsrakbi is a design professional, researcher, and design educator. After obtaining her a Master's degree in Design at the Sandberg Institute, Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, she joined the post-academic interdisciplinary program " Design Negation" at Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. Her research was dedicated to the investigation of populist politics from the perspective of design and theory.
In 2009, she co-founded with South African designer Lauren Alexander Foundland Collective, an art and design practice based between Cairo and Amsterdam. Foundland’s projects explore under-represented political and historical narratives by working with archives via art, design, writing, educational formats, video making, and storytelling. It aims to critically reflect upon what it means to produce politically engaged work from the position of non-Western artists working between Europe and the Middle East.
Ghalia is an Associate Professor of Practice in Design at the Graphic Design program at the American University in Cairo. She is a co-founder and the Artistic Director of Cairotronica, Electronic and New Media arts festival in Cairo.
Ghalia received a nomination and was a finalist for the Dutch Prix de Rome prize in 2015 and the Dutch Design Awards in 2016. She was awarded the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship in 2015/2016 for research in the Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington DC.
Ghalia has lectured and exhibited widely in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, including Centre Pompidou (FR), The Rotterdam International Film Festival(NL), ISPC (NYC), Ars Electronica, Linz (AT), IMPAKT Festival (NL), London Art Fair (UK), Beursschouwburg, Brussels, Fikra Design Biennial (UAE), Porto Design Biennial (PT), Amman Design week (JOR).
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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”.
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This is a conversation every designer should be listening to as Jessica Bantom and I address the elephant in the room, designing inclusively for a more equitable world in which culture, identity and humanity is honoured. But how may you start that conversation at work or with your client? Jessica speaks from her own experience and research when she says, listen and just ask the questions to that person that indeed is so different from you. What role does color play in honouring identity?
Jessica Bantom is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) practitioner and workplace strategist whose mission is to enable individuals to take immediate actions that create meaningful outcomes for historically excluded people. A graduate of the University of Virginia and Marymount University, Bantom is a skilled management consultant with over 20 years of experience, a compelling speaker, and a certified facilitator and coach with a passion for helping people and organizations activate the values of DEIB to become more culturally competent and thrive in our increasingly connected global economy. Bantom is also active in the interior design industry as an interior design and color consultant and as an engaged advocate committed to promoting DEIB in the industry and in practice. You can learn more about Jessica and her book, Design for Identity: How to Design Authentically for a Diverse World, at JessicaBantom.com.
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How does our past influence the perception we have of our world today? Where does color stand in our daily perception of things and more importantly, how do we select the correct colors that truly make us feel good? Andreea Hartea will explain how we perceive color and how to select the right color for ourselves and our clients.
Andreea Hartea was born in Romania and currently lives and works in Italy where in early 2020, she established RAH Colour Consulting Studio collaborating with architecture firms, interior designers, and international companies. She studied Visual Arts at NABA and completed a two-year program in Dynamic Hypnosis and Analogical Psychology at the CID_CNV Institute in Milan. To deepen her expertise, she pursued additional courses on color by "Max Luscher," attended seminars on meditative and hypnotic practices, while she researched topics like neuromarketing and neuroeconomics.
Her research primarily draws inspiration from psychology and consciousness, focusing on the mechanisms of unconscious and emotional perception. Her fascination with the human experience fuels her exploration of the inner universe as a means to comprehend our surroundings.
She derives great satisfaction from assisting individuals in their daily lives and uncovering the underlying reasons behind their experiences using the power of color.
Her primary objective is to educate people on approaching color from a more intimate, authentic, and conscious standpoint, acknowledging that color affects each individual in a very unique manner. Currently, she is devoted to promote the concept "subjectivity of color” as she has been privileged to deliver lectures to prominent companies and international platforms such as Edison, PPG, Archiproducts, and TedxRoma.
Having moved from theory to practical application, she developed the RAH Colours test, which aids professionals closely engaged with end clients in addressing the challenging question: "What color should we choose?" Whether it involves materials, products, or surfaces, this question invariably arises in interior design and often proves a point of frustration for both professionals and clients alike.
She provides guidance on implementing this methodology, and currently works on creating a platform that will provide professionals with their own personal color consultant.
Moreover, she collaborates with studios and boutique agencies specializing in brand identities, particularly for small-scale brands.
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What is happening in the world of fashion, what colors prevail and where does Mexican fashion stand in all of this? Claudia Cándano talks about her passion for fashion and how she incorporates color at ELLE while she is key on taking fashion to a broader audience.
With more than 14 years of experience in the world of fashion and lifestyle journalism, Claudia Cándano began her career at InStyle Mexico as Fashion Editor, where she headed one of the most successful and proactive fashion teams in the Mexican publishing industry. This experience and the consolidation of her own iconoclastic style led her to the direction of the fashion area of ELLE Mexico, and later, as Editor in Chief of ELLE Mexico, as well as ELLE Decoration and ELLE Man where she has given an important turn to the communication of the media. She has built a team recognized as one of the best in the Mexican publishing industry. Claudia has also excelled as a stylist for various celebrities and has given creative advice to designers for the creation of their collections. She studied Graphic Design at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and her unmistakable signature has been continuously perfected with renowned courses, such as Fashion Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, in New York. Art Direction for Fashion and Fashion Journalism, at The University of the Arts, London Central Saint Martins, in England.
Claudia led for 4 years the efforts of the successful project Mexico Diseña by ELLE, as project director and jury leader of the TV series with the same name. From her efforts in different platforms, she created Hablemos de moda #ELLEPodcast, the first fashion podcast in Mexico.
Thanks to her trajectory, she continues as Editor in Chief of ELLE, but also serves as Editorial Director of Grupo Expansión's soft news brands, being in charge of media such as Quién, ELLE, ELLE Decoration, ELLE Man, Aire and Life & Style. She is also in charge of the group's Branded Content area.
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The podcast currently has 62 episodes available.