History of Color Analysis and Evolution

Each year our colour forecast offers a snapshot of trends for the forthcoming year and it is fascinating to see how tastes have evolved and changed over the years.

The key colour in each colour family gives a clear direction as to where each hue is moving to and has travelled from. Gold, mustard or lemon: where will this year’s yellow take us?

Reds: from strawberry to deep damson this is an ever popular colour family. From 2010 onwards their tone has been consistent, with the exception in 2014.

Oranges: we see a shift from more yellow oranges in the earlier years to a more red-orangey tone in the last six years.

Yellows: we have seen yellows travel the full spectrum over the years from fresh citrus to burnt ochre and this year’s favourite is a beautiful soft gold.

Greens: the most diverse of all the colour stories, green has taken us from palest, almost yellow to deep teal and everything in between.

Blues: in 2013 indigo made a splash as the colour of the year but since then we have seen deep blues with a green undertone and this year’s is even darker.

Violets: the violet key colour has been deep, dark and mysterious over the years, but for 2015 it was a pale sugary tone. This year we pick up where we left it in 2014.

Cool neutrals: the family of cool neutrals has been “everywhere” in its spectrum. But, after many years of gentle greys we see a dramatic change this year.

Warm neutrals: since 2011 we have seen the domination of mid tone and light neutrals with a grey tone, but this year we return to a more traditional warm neutral.