An Editorial on Color Trends

Google the words "color trends 2010" and over 3 millions links pop up. It seems that everyone and every industry has their own ideas on what the color trends for 2010 will be. So who's color tends should an artist follow? To tell you the truth I don't know but I can tell you what I do. I choose the top one or two sources in the industry that I am concentrating my design efforts. I check to see what colors are similar and use those for designing SOME new art. However, beware the colors predicted by the experts are not always accepted by manufacturers or consumers. For instance, several years ago bright red and chartreuse green were the "new" Christmas colors so artists rushed to use them. When licensees showed interest in the art, the artist was requested to alter the colors to the traditional darker red and green. Thus, I think it is better to design mostly in the color pallet that suits your art style and follow color trends sparingly.

But if you feel that using color trends is important in creating your art, read an interesting article on tracking your own trends titled Trend Spotting and Tracking - Chart Your Own by Jacqueline Gikow (Polymer Clay Polyzine, April 2002). And read articles by two top color trend forecasting organizations - Pantone Color Institute and Color Marketing Group.