Blog entries tagged with Colour

Last week a very attractive show opened in Antwerp's Mode Museum (MoMu). Its focus, black and its impact on fashion and costume through the ages. As a colour, its significance to the very city which plays host to the exhibition is profound. Through the 17th and 18 centuries Antwerp was at the centre of the fabric dying industry and famed for its ability to dye textiles black.

As production of the colour was so expensive, it was the reserve of the upper classes and remained so up until the early 19th century, when improved manufacturing improved to reduce costs and open it up to the masses. The exhibition uses textile examples, textures and methods to follow black's development through this period, which culminated with the pivotal Little Black Dress from Chanel.

As well as establishing its historical relevance, MoMu's exhibition also places its cultural significance in the modern fashion industry. Again, Antwerp's own fashion credentials shine though; for it was here in the early 1980's that the Antwerp Six emerged from its Royal Academ of Fine Arts. Numbering Dirk Bikkenbergs, Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Marina Yee,  Dirk Van Saene and the reclusive Martin Margiela (the six were also joined for a short spell by Ann Demeulemeester), the influence of these six designers was profound bringing about a new level of minimalism to the fashion industry.

Indeed some of the work from these individuals is on show at MoMu to highlight the colour's use in stripped-back silhouettes. The show also features examples from Raf Simons, Comme des Garcons and the UK's super-talented Gareth Pugh.  

With the exhibition running well into the Summer, it's another fine reason to visitone of the most culturally appealing European cities.

www.momu.be

Swedish paint company Alcro has linked up with the world's foremost trend forecaster and ex Eindhoven Academy Chairwoman, Li Edelkoort for its tenth collection of design-specific colours. Called ad.10, this collection continues Alcro's work with designers and architects from across the globe in its capsule collections for its specialist line, Alcro Designers.
"An army of dark neutral colours will revolutionise interior design, making it more abstract and minimalist, like a Japanese rock garden," says Edelkoort.
ad.10 features seven colour families numbering four in each, with three extra contemporary colours taking in gold and matte-black. They are suitable for surfaces and indeed can be used in any interior space. "The end of an era of individualism has come. We rely on each other, network and collaborate. This important change in society will give us the uniform colours inspired by the pigeons that flock together in the dark, grey areas. Green, blue and purple accents give life to base colours while concrete-grey becomes a key colour in interior design," the forecaster continues.
It's a good looking colour collection this year from Alcro, really harnessing the key colours which are working well at the moment this year. It's not groundbreaking though by any means, accents against grey always work well but it's by taking the edge of these accents that Edelkoort's collection works so well. It's not aggressively 'poppy' which gives her accents more longeivity and the aility to remain relevant for more than a single season.

 

The Colorix.com iPhone application is a new application from Swiss company Colorix, developers of hand-held colourimeters. Used across the design and architecture industry, its new application is sure to be a winner in the eyes of its many users.
The application allows users to instantly apply NCS colours directly onto a picture taken with the iPhone camera. Colorix says that it takes as little as two minutes to modify an image - making it perfect for last minute presentation adjustments or ad-hoc changes to a project when a client needs it. The Colorix application contains all NCS 1950 Original colours together with the corresponding Lab, CMYK and RGB values.

For more information visit www.colorix.com or click here to see a film of the application in action.

Jotun Powder Coatings, the leading power coatings arm of NCS Patners Jotun, has just released a unique range of powder coatings designed to reduce heat absorption in aluminum extrusions. Utilising heat reflective technology the new range, called the Cool Shades Collection, considerably reduces the amount of heat absorbed by buildings which spend much of their time exposed to direct sunlight.
By reflecting the infrared energy from the sun the Cool Shades coatings reduce the temperature of the aluminuim (one of the the most active metals in terms of heat transference) thus reducing cost associated with keeping big buildings cool in the sun. The Cool Shades Collection take in a range of colours suitable for applications including window frames, curtain walls, shutters, wall panels and louvers. The new collection is also available in 'industry-leading high-performance polyester powder coatings Corro-Coat PE-SDFSuper Durable, as well as the standard architecture grade Corro-Coat PE-F Facade.'

For more information visit Jotun Powder Coatings

Fancy a peek at what happens when the world's leading colour system for design teams up with the best contemporary trend forecasting studio? Well, if you're in London during this year's design festival you can take a gander at our collaboration with Global Color Research, textile company Kvadrat and Modus Furniture.
UK-based Modus has created a real eye-catcher of an installation for this year's Design Festival in which 36 PLC chairs by PearsonLloyd will appear in one-off colours plucked from Global Color Reserch's Mix Trend forecast. Each chair will be upholstered by Kvadrat while we have taken care of the colour matching to ensure that the PLC frames will be exactly the right colour from top to bottom.
The chairs will be auctioned off during the festival with lucky winning bidders taking their own bespoke PLC into their homes.
If you are reading and want to know more about our colour matching service simply drop us a line. Don't forget that NCS Colour can give a precise notation to any colour on any material, surface or application.

Visit www.modusfurniture.co.uk for more information on the installation.

Looming large on the horizon, like a large, action-packed, colourful spectre is this year's Stockholm Colour Day. Following in the footsteps of last year's International Colour Day, we have created an event catering specifically for our Scandinavian-based colour enthusiasts. So all of the talks and presentations will be in Swedish this time around.
The Colour Day has a packed schedule and is loosely themed around seeing colour in a new light. Expect to hear about colour in food, new takes on colour in architecture, smart textiles, colour in art, how to deploy colour for the best results in marketing and a presentation from our very special guest, architect Tom Holtmann from Norway's Snöhetta.

21 October 2010, Hotel Birger Jarl, Stockholm.

Click here to download this year's program in Swedish.

Earlier this year Raf Simons tore into a menswear collection which demonstrated how intelligent use of colour is one of the most devastating techniques in any designer's toolbox.

Ranging from subtle accents to expansive colour blocking, Simons showed no signs of following trend and sticking to monochrome or the greyscale.
At this fall's Milan, showing his womenswear collection for the inventive Jil Sander, Simons took his impeccable eye for colour and left the gathered fashionista in no doubt as to who owns colour in fashion.
Perhaps it's because we're in Sweden, where fashion is dominated with watered down accents and the greigescale (yarn or cloth in its undyed or unbleached form) but looking at the Jil Sander S/S 2011 collection is like being visited by aliens.
Taking things apart, for the past few seasons Simons has moved steadily away from the staple colour combination techniques - taking a dark base and adding a splash of colour for detailing (70:30 works as a percentage between the two but never more than about 30% accent). This year it's almost like he has begun at the chromatic end of the spectrum and moved around the colour circle in random fashion. But it's the balance of chromaticity which almost cancels out the brightness of the colour. Harsh at first to look at but then it tones itself down, quite brilliant and utterly uplifting.
Underlining the briliance of the colour work displayed Simons gives the viewer some colour reference points to root the collection, lots of International Klien Blue (the most beautiful colour in existence - if you ask certain parties in this office) and pure reds. According to this interview in the New York Times, Simons already knows where he will be steering Jil Sander next year. It's hard not to get a little excited.

Stockholm played host to Hem & Villa, the biggest show for Nordic interiors (but then every interiors show which opens its doors in Scandinavia says something like this) or something similar.
While some of its content was a little dubious, with lots of building materials and companies with detergents to clean your windows quicker than ever before, there was a host of really well put together trend installations, discussions, seminars and stands all dripping with the beauty of NCS Colour.
Upon entering, Svenska Moderådet (the Swedish Fashion Council) had created a huge display dedicated to the beauty of wood. Beautiful it was too, with lots to take in, small details, a mix of established and young designers and a scattering of crows for good measure.
Following our trip to London for the Design Festvial it was a good reinforcement of our opinion that one of the main colour trends for the close of this year is in fact an absence of colour in favour of letting the natural beauty of the grain do the work. That's not to say that colour still be used to lift a design, far from it - many of the best work from London used a very low-chromatic accent or uphostery. It was very very effective. See this post on the epically talented young Swedish upstarts RVW for a little more on how to deploy subtle colour against woods.
Finally peeling away from the wonder of wood, we strolled to another of Hem & Villa's key installations by Paula Malm of Trend Union (an affiliate of the mighty Li Edelkoort). 
Comprising of four colour trends, each notated with NCS Notations, it was a wonderul installation which had the crowds enthralled. The installation was a really good example of how to get the best out of displaying colour, setting each palette against a complementary grey background. Malm also showed just how incredibly flexible and accurate NCS as a system is. Opting to move away from the Standard NCS Collection, each colour was annotated specifically for the installation as you can see in the images, proving that, once again, NCS is the only colour system capable of giving any colour its own discriptive reference.
We opted not to settle on listening to the trend seminars for too long to ease around the corner from where they were being held. It was here that designer Synnöve Mork had undertaken another installation. Citing the old favourite, 'The kitchen is the new living room,' cliché, Kitchen Life was full of interesting uses of materials including zinc and concrete, interplaying with classic and new utensils and concepts. There was also a huge version of one of the pages from an NCS Index which was a lovely surprise.
So, yes, it was a little small, the lighting was awful and the floor could have had a little more love but Hem & Villa carried the torch for colour and its power to lift a space to another level. See more images from Hem & Villa Below.

Dutch furniture company, Quodes, is the latest in the vast number of design companies using NCS as the base for colour use in the design process.
Its Satellite range by British design stars BarberOsgerby is a striking blend of subtle form highlighted by delicate colour combinations built aound the NCS System. The range of cabinets and drawers can be created in any combination of NCS Colours which gives the client an almost endless range of colourways.

This year the London-based designers have focussed on quieter colour blends, which still hint at a freshness and personal expression. The images below also reveal at one of the unique elements of NCS Colour, its ability to form a link between any combination of colour systems, with some of the highlight colours stemming from other systems.
Using NCS in this way brings a stability to the design process, giving a designer a reliable way to express themselves without concerns of losing colour integrity. For more information on how to get the most from NCS in your colour design process get in touch with us and tap into the collective conscious of over 30 years of colour design experience.

You'd have to be living in a cave here in Sweden to have avoided the buzz around the forthcoming collection by Lanvin for H&M. The collection will be launching in a couple of weeks and looks set to sell out in one day. Yes, one day - if those at H&M HQ are to be believed. However, Tuesday saw the press view for the collection and it's looking pretty damn sharp and deserving of the hype. Colour plays a big part (as it does in the French fashion house's own collections) with this being very much geared around a classy palette of deep rich accents.
It's all about getting glitzy for the festive season and there's lots of key seasonal reflections in the images we've seen so far including this quick selection from the menswear options. Clarets, olive tones and zingy deep blues show up on the trademark oversized Lanvin bowties.
Most of the key accents are centred around 20-20 percent chromaticness - a phase of accent colouring that is beginning to seep into the design sector too so perhaps something to keep an eye on. Alber Elbaz has also used a base range of neutral tones which probably help to keep the costs down, cunningly adding colour in the detailing. Will it sell out? Almost certainly. Is this another example of the selling power of good colour selection? Almost certainly. See you in the queue...

This week's colour is big and its red and its a thing. Shanghai and Rome-based architects 3Gatti have given a new office building something of a talking point in the form of A Red Object, which houses a a couple of meeting rooms and a cafe.
Situated right in the middle of the office building, formerly an old factory, the object is imposing and yet works well with its surroundings which are simple monochrome. The architects have drawn parallels with a variety of different sources as to why red was chosen and not another colour. The one we like best concerns red as an underlining of a specific point of interest on a piece of text.
Historically, red, white and black have always sat well together but it is wise to consider that you are dealing with three very powerful colours so balance is important. 3Gatti have achieved just that with a perfect deployment of bold colour.

Children engage with colour like no other group of consumers. It excites them, the bolder the better. Tegu's magnetic coloured bricks are not only fun to play and build with but the company only uses mature tropical hardwood trees, handpicked in local Honduras forests to keep environmental impact to a minimum. The company also ensures that it operates an active green policy, replanting forestland and working with locals to protect its local resources.
This particular range of bricks is called Tints for obvious reasons and they are very appealing on the eye. The video on the site itself also shows how the bricks snap together with a very satisfiying sound. Oh to be a child again...

This year if there is one thing which fully exploits the beauty of colour it's the world of cycling. With a particular slant on the small nichè markets like BMXing, Fixed Gear and Urban Tricks. If you really think about it the use of colour on an individual level is staggering when you consider the surface area of a bicycle in relation to the space it actually fills. Plus, when complete with rider, most of the cycle's frame is covered by the blurring of legs pumping like pistons to turn the pedals.
Yet, despite the restrictions there are countless blogs and websites dedicated to exploring the personal tastes of the world's bicycle riders. In fact, one of the world's most influential websites, Copenhagen Cycle Chic, is dedicated to the pursuit of cycling in a stylish manner.
This particular image stems from the US and a small handmade cycle frame manufacturer called Geekhouse Bikes and some images of one of its fixedgear builds.
What you'll often see with such examples is the perfect balance of base tones and accenting on such bicycles - base tone on the frame with an accent popping out on the fork and other detailing elements. In this case some extra detailing has been bought out by lacing three pink spokes the wrong way around on this a radially-laced front wheel. Utterly delightful.
If I ever get stuck in terms of colour inspiration you're likely to find me sourcing images of custom-build cycles rather than heading straight to the trend books. It's my guess I'm not alone in this venture.

Reading a recent post about the use of colour in retailing it seems that the number of outlets and online stores using colour as a key part of the shopping experience is growing fast. Online stores like Etsy have a great colour search function in which the user can sort products according to colour. Other online stores are allowing users to identify a specific tone or shade in a product and then search for other complementary items to buy.
Almost 50% of the top 100 online retailers now offer some form of colour search, with companies like Picolor making the process one which is easily integrated into an existing website.
Last year our own NCS Navigator received thousands of hits, many by companies using the ability to move around the NCS Colour Space to engage customers and provoke instore business.
So as we head into a new decade, perhaps it is wise (if you have not already done so) to investigate how NCS Navigator can help your own instore or online sales.

At the moment we are hosting a few days of workshops organised by Swedish 'colour boutique' Colorama who are taking advantage of the conditions we have in our office. We've got a variety of different spaces, each featuring perfect simulated daylight conditions, which makes colour assesment and colour design absolute bliss.
Of course it's not only the lighting which makes for a productive session - you'll have access to our library of colour materials, colour samples and colour tools including NCS Colour Scan 2.0 to help in your work. We'll even clear up for you!
For more information on the spaces, costings or arranging a visit just drop us a line.

 

Next week our series of seminars kicks off at this year's Stockholm Furniture Fair, the week in which Sweden and its capital city becomes the focus of the world's design media. With anticipation firmly placed on the Fair as a key indicator of forthcoming trends (Maison&Objét being something of a disappointment this year - according to our sources) we thought we'd pop along to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (taking place here in Stockholm this week) to take a peek at some of the catwalk trends before we apply the findings to design.
While it's hard to peek at a fandeck in half-dark we need not have bothered. For, as these images show, our new NCS Insight is bang on the money where this year's trend colours are concerned.
Whyred showed what some to consider to be a return to form and its strongest collection to date. Eschewing trends in terms of cut and form yet featuring many colours highlighted in Insight as being key this year. While its ongoing obsession with British Mod culture continued to rear its head through well cut suiting with tight proportions, its womenswear was more concerned with mixing loose and tight. As with the other early shows this year, the wide legged trouser is the current order of the day. Pictured here are a brace of looks playing off a single tone of pink which appears in Insight while men get a flash of green and blue accenting, again all popping up in Insight. (Obviously we would normally give you NCS Notations for all but then you wouldn't need Insight would you..?)
Rodebjer gave onlookers a treat in terms of colour as well yesterday with plenty of action in the family we like to call red. Again, wide or tapered trousers swishing down the catwalk in fine, light materials to keep things flappy not stiff - one of the keys to working the wide silhouette. As much as it might be loosing its impact, colour blocking was in abundance with this particular look positively singing out from Insight with its deep plummy mineral tone.
Queen of layering, texture and all things classically neutral, Carin Wester, gave away more of NCS Insight's base collection of colours. Reseved, yet always intelligent, Wester's menswear was subdued and preppy, with some nice cropped jackets while her womens' collection had some interesting prints which reminded us of Eley Kishimoto and Zakee Shariff in London circa '02.
Want to get your hands on all of the colours from this year's NCS Insight? Pop to our stand AG:10 at the Furniture Fair or head to one of our seminars where we will delve deeper into the trends which went into the 30 colours contained in this unique trend resource from NCS.

With firecrackers and champagne, the opening of our new colour laboratory at the head office in Stockholm was held on August 26th. This means a further increase of NCS Colour Sample accuracy as well as new services, products and higher capacity.

The lab complex consists of four lab sections – reference lab, creative lab, measurement lab and wet lab. This means that colour matching, colour specification and colour measurement can be performed on an even higher level than before, while further improving the working environment for our lab technicians. The lab also enables a more direct cooperation with our clients with consultation on site with our colour specialists. We are excited about this step forward, both from a long-term client perspective but also because our roots within research & development can continue to grow. You are welcome to contact us for use of our lab and our expertise.

 

THE BERLIN GRAND OPENING
As previously reported, an opening of our new showroom in Berlin took place in June – now it’s time for the official grand opening. We are located in the new Aufbau Haus/Planet Modulor centre and the mayor of Berlin will cut the ribbon for the new building on the ceremony. During these two days we will host an Open House with inspiring seminars and activities such as the “Safari” - creative workshops in cooperation with all companies within Planet Modulor. The doors are open between 10a.m.-6p.m. local time. Come and experience NCS with like-minded people.
SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 1, 2011
 

MEET US IN LONDON AT 100% DESIGN
London’s leading design event 100% Design will take place this month, during the London Design Week. Meet us in booth E105 together with Global Colour Research, the company behind the trend publications Mix Magazine and Mix Trends. At 100% Design you will find new material and innovative design, furniture, lighting, textiles and interior. You will also find a variety of interesting exhibitions and events in the city. The event will take place during four days and we will be there all days. Welcome to our booth, get inspired by NCS and take a look at future trends.
SEPTEMBER 22-25, 2011 

 

SPECIAL PRICE ON COLOUR TOOLS – EUR 767 NOW 500
To start off the autumn season we are offering a special price on the colour tools NCS Colour Scan 2.0 and NCS Index 1950 Original. Buy them both for only 500 Euro+VAT (regular price: 767 Euro+VAT). The NCS Colour Scan 2.0 is a handheld colour measurement tool. Place it over any surface and it will show the NCS Notation of the selected colour. It can also isolate colours within a multi-coloured pattern, allowing you to create matching colour palettes and has a memory. NCS Index is a practical fan deck placing 1950 colours in the palm of your hand, a perfect complement to the Colour Scan 2.0. You are welcome here to place your order. CAMPAIGN PERIOD: SEPTEMBER 5–OCTOBER 7, 2011

 

COLOUR - A CORE ASSET TO THE BRAND
According to data from CMG (Color Marketing Group) 85 % of the reasons people buy a product or item can be the colour. Architects, designers, marketers, etc. invest heavily to find the right colours for their items with the goal of creating a unique appearance and strengthen their brand. Vodafone, one of the world’s largest communication companies, is one of many global companies that rely on NCS and the expertise of NCS Colour in their colour communication. With specially designed colour tolerance tools for the most frequent Vodafone colours, they now have a way to coordinate and control their various suppliers worldwide to the right colour. 

Two identical objects having the same colour but different surface gloss are often experienced as being different. The gloss level can in fact be the deciding factor for the rating of an object's overall aesthetics. For example, when buying furniture or mobile phones, the preferred gloss and the quality experience is important when making the choice. The same gloss level can suit some materials but not others. Those applying the existing knowledge about gloss will also gain competitive advantage.

Being able to manage and understand gloss and its influence is something that NCS Colour sees as a complement to choosing the right colour. In order to be able to select and analyse gloss, practical tools are needed in the form of samples which show how surfaces with various gloss measurement values look like. Therefore, we are currently developing a new gloss scale with the aim to simplify gloss assessment. The new gloss scale is useful both in the specification of gloss levels on new products and materials and gloss assessment on existing surfaces. The gloss scale is a helpful tool to use in the design office, on the field or in the production line. The launch takes place at the end of this year so keep an eye on our website and in upcoming newsletters. Offered already today are colour samples in matt, semi-matt and glossy finish that can be ordered on our website.

COLOUR OF THE YEAR AND COLOUR TRENDS
Color Marketing Group recently presented the colour of the year, NCS S 5030-R40B, a purple hue suitable for offices, homes, youth market and luxury goods, with both a masculine and feminine appeal. Read more about the trends for Autumn-Winter 2012/2013 in Mix magazine, issue 25. The complete trend book Mix Trends is also available with 2013’s tendencies for the spring and summer. The next issue of Mix magazine will be out in December and so will the fan deck NCS Insight 2012 with the 30 most important colours for the coming year, in cooperation with Global Color Research. New this year is a special Trend Colour Card 2012 with 20 selected colours for interior design, available for volume order.

 

DAS HAUS – INTERIORS ON STAGE 2012
For the past two years NCS Colour has worked with the furniture trade fair imm cologne in Germany on its trend forecast. As a leading market place for related industries, imm cologne is held in January each year and primarily focuses on contemporary furniture and interior design. This time the London based design studio Doshi Levien is invited as guests of honour to design the ‘Das Haus – Interiors on Stage’ installation, sponsored by NCS Colour. In the midst of the ‘Pure Village’ hall Doshi Levien will build an installation based on own ideas of a perfect home, using the Natural Colour System and the NCS Colour Tools in the creation, colour communication and specification. | JANUARY 16-22, 2012

 

NEWS FROM BERLIN
The Swedish Trade Minister Ewa Björling paid a visit to the NCS Colour showroom in Berlin before the official opening. Focusing on Swedish companies operating in Berlin, she came to the showroom to gain insight into the creative industries and the importance to become established in Berlin and Germany. The official opening with the Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, as guest of honour was conducted on the 30th of September. In our showroom people enjoyed seminars and workshops about colour and we are happy to recap that the house was filled with people getting familiar with Berlin’s new hub for the creative in Aufbau Haus/Planet Modulor.

  

AUTUMN GLOBAL ACTIVITIES
After events and presentations, such as the Creative Masters Tour Conference in Mauritius, the Brazilian Day of Colour in São Paulo and the International Color Symposium in Korea, NCS Colour’s global tour continues. NCS Colour Academy will travel abroad with specially designed international colour courses. In connection with the design trade fair INDEX 2011 in Dubai, NCS Colour Academy, in cooperation with APID, will hold a seminar on ‘NCS in Interior Colour Design’. The travel continues with the workshops on ‘NCS in Colour Design’ in Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia, Berlin-Germany and Beijing-China. Click the dates to read more. OCT 24, 2011 (Dubai) NOV 23-24, 2011 (Germany) NOV 28-29, 2011 (Malaysia) DEC 1-2, 2011 (China)

NCS Colour continues to strengthen its global presence as part of our mission to support professional colour use and knowledge worldwide. On the booming Chinese market a new NCS Colour office has recently been established in Guangzhou. Besides, an ambitious collaboration is introduced with two prominent Chinese universities: Tongji University in Shanghai and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

In Shanghai a high level colour education for students, teachers and professionals has been introduced. A special colour research programme is also planned for the future. The university registers over 50,000 students participating in education on different levels; from certificate courses to PhD programmes and post-doctoral attachments. Our activities have started this month and in December the first 2-day colour course will be open for everyone to join; teachers, students, professionals and industry oriented people. In Bejing the first course "NCS in Colour Design" will take place in December. It will be carried out together with TASCII (Tsinghua Art & Science Colour & Image Institute) which is an independent Colour Support Centre. The course is an open workshop directed to professionals working with colour. It will be oriented towards colour subjects such as the construction of the Natural Colour System, how to work practically with NCS, how to describe and communicate colour, how to use NCS as tool and more.
Read more: DEC 1-2. 2011 BEIJING | DEC 4-5, 2011 SHANGHAI 

DOSHI LEVIEN
Imagine a house in the urban context of Shanghai, Tokyo or an Indian city. The houses seem to be sewn together, different but still closely connected. It doesn't seem to be conscious design, almost as if the design has been authored by the people who live in it. These are the thoughts that inspired Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien, the young designer couple behind the successful London based design studio Doshi Levien, when creating the installation "Das Haus" for the imm cologne 2012 trade fair in Germany. Using the Natural Colour System they have created the entire colour concept for their project. Their teamwork combines Indian and European, male and female and graphic and functional formal quality of design that has caught the attention of many, such as Tefal, Moroso and Cappellini to name a few. 

 

HEIMTEXTIL TREND BOOK 2012/13
The trends for the coming season have been characterised by the far-reaching events over the past few years e.g. the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, the banking crisis and mass demonstrations. Colour is now in focus and powerful, fresh tones show an optimistic view of the world. Heimtextil is the largest international trade fair for home and office textiles. Acting as a trend barometer it also launched Heimtextil Trends, a team of seven international design studios formulating the most important tendencies for the coming season. Each year a different design studio, this year bora.herke.palmisano, collects the coming trends in the Trend Book, all colours with NCS Notations. The theme is MONTAGE and it is about mixing existing elements into something new, personal and individual that has not existed before.

 

THINK INSIDE THE BLOCK
NCS Block is a useful tool when working with colour selection, colour analysis and colour identification. All 1950 NCS Original are colours arranged into 'colour areas', sorted by hue or nuance. Nine fan decks are included where each sample can be fanned out to make it easy to try different colour combinations. It can be placed against different surfaces or isolated from other colours around it. The nuance classification is especially popular among those who work with patterns and contrasts. The large sample format 35 x 104 mm makes it a handy pocket-size tool that you can easily carry with you. NCS Block Nuance | NCS Block Hue 
Current campaign: Three Unique Offers.

  

Our spontaneous impression of objects and environments is influenced by their gloss level. The perception of colour, the impression of aesthetics and even the feeling of quality are influenced. Surface properties, such as damage resistance and the difficulty or easiness to be cleaned, often depend on how glossy or matt the surface is. Professionals such as architects, designers and product developers are conscious of such relationships between gloss and surface properties. Therefore we have now further improved and created a special tool which gives clear definitions and specifications of the gloss itself and in combination with colour. The name of the new tool is NCS Gloss Scale.  

The standpoint of NCS is to describe the observer’s visual impressions. Based on this, the new gloss scale is a tool that shows the different levels of gloss as a gradual visual movement and can be used as reference. The gloss samples can be fanned out and can easily be placed against various surfaces that the user works with. NCS Gloss Scale includes gloss samples in four different colours: white, light grey, mid grey and black. For each colour seven gloss levels are shown which are visually perceived as forming equal gloss steps or a natural gloss flow from the very matt to the very glossy. By its extended gloss register it will allow more nuanced and more effective creations of various effects. The scale also includes the internationally standardised measurement values of gloss as well as references to several existing standards. This also makes it suitable to visually check that the requirements for the gloss level of a surface are met. As a whole, NCS Gloss Scale a valuable tool for professional users who design objects and environments.  

 

THE FRENCH RAILWAY IS STREAMLINING WITH NCS
France has the most extensive railway system in Western Europe. SNCF, the company that operates the railway, recently implemented NCS in their visual identity management concerning the trains. A comprehensive analysis was carried out on their current colours. Overlapping colours were removed and primary colour standards were set for the most common SNCF colours. To coordinate and control their hundreds of global suppliers to the right colour, secondary colour standards (duplicates of the primary colour standards) were produced. With an effective colour management, SNCF saves time and money while securing their colour communication.

 

MEET US AT THE FAIRS AND LEARN MORE ABOUT GLOSS
With the launch of our new NCS Gloss Scale we will hold a presentation about the coming trends in products and environments and what shape and gloss they will be taking. One of the talks will be held on the main stage, “Entretorget”, during the Stockholm Furniture Fair on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 1 p.m. (you can also find us in booth AG:05). But, first off is imm cologne, the international furniture fair in Germany that will take place in January 16-22, next year. We have worked together with the design duo Doshi Levien in the exhibition Das Haus - Interiors on Stage, where we are one of the main sponsors. They have used NCS and our colour design tools in the development of the colour concept of the exhibition. At imm cologne, find us in Pure Village: C025, Pure Village Hall 03.2 and you can listen to our talk about gloss there as well. Welcome!

COLOUR TREND RESOURCES FOR 2012
The recently launched NCS Insight 2012 is a trend colour selection with the 30 most important colours for the coming year. It has been developed in cooperation with Global Color Research, a world leading trend company, also behind the trend publications Mix Trends and Mix magazine (new issues out now). Discover new trends in design and architecture with lots of inspiring images in Mix magazine. Mix Trends is a book that gives you information on colour trends two years ahead of season. The latest issue focuses on colour palettes for autumn/winter 2013/14. References to NCS colours are used in all trends, making it easier for you to find and apply them.



EXPERIENCE THE NCS ALBUM
NCS Album is a complete overview of the NCS System. Divided into two parts, the first binder contains the grey colours and the hues from Y to R90B. The second binder stretches from B to G90Y. Both binders are filled with 1950 removable colour samples in A9-format. Use it to choose and compare colours or to show and suggest colour combinations by using the colour samples on drawings, mood boards, specifications, etc. All NCS Colour Samples can be ordered separately as refills. A practical storage box is included that can be equipped with a carrying strap. The tight insert pockets keep the samples in place and a matt-laminated, whiter paper gives you the best background for the colours. You will also find Colour Masks for improved colour assessment and a Similarity page that enhance colour design choices and harmony.

NCS Colour once again teams up with Global Color Research, world leading trend forecasters and the company behind the trend publications Mix magazine and Mix Trends, to compile NCS Insight. Use it for mood boards, refining your collections and presentations. Demonstrate it to your clients or even slip it into your pocket to find trend colours when you are out shopping or in different environments. However you use it, NCS Insight helps you with colour trends. NCS Insight is a trend colour selection with the 30 most important colours for the coming year. Compiled in a pocket size fan deck, all colours can be ordered as separate sheets in different sizes and gloss format. The colours can also be translated into RGB and CMYK online in NCS Navigator. Read more