Basic Colour Aspects | Colour Trends | Colour and its Meanings | Colour and its Effects
Colours are very personal. And the colour schemes chosen can reflect the personality of the individual who is in the space, or the function of that space. There are however, colour trends from season to season.
This ‘fashion in colours’ comes and goes, and overflows from industry to industry. For instance, a lot of the time, a colour that becomes trendy in fashion is soon seen in furnishing and fabrics. In the same way, popular colours for the automotive industry such as shimmering metallic colours have become an accepted part of the home environment.
It is difficult to say who sets these trends. Designers, architects, paint companies, as well as interior decorators all play a part in determining what’s hot and what’s not for the season. Trends are also set by the season, happenings in society, and even events taking place in the public eye.
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 "The architecture of a building, its surroundings, its rhythm on the façade, gives the response of a colour harmony…Well-chosen colours can change the character of an area, or even destroy it if not carefully selected”
Beatrice Engel
Architect-Colourist
ColorPlan Pte Ltd
 “Interior designers set colour trends with the objective of fully optimising colours and its effects…Most would rather settle for whites or off-whites only. The designer's role would then be to suggest more creative colour schemes such as a featured coloured wall or a blend of colours.”
Anthony Huang
Design Consultant
ID Connect
Interior colour trend concepts vary slightly from country to country. In Singapore, for example, the main interior design concepts are:
- Balinese
- Clean cut with a touch of contemporary
- Zen (this trend is fading out)
- Simple modern
In the future, it is forecasted that an industrial-minimalistic feel will be in vogue for interior, a trend that could possibly spread throughout the region.
The current colour trend (as of early 2003) in Southeast Asia is leaning towards more of a warm, cosy tone with a mix of darker colours. Also in trend are greys together with off-whites. More interiors are also utilising a featured wall painted with a contrasting colour compared to the other wall surfaces.
Beyond trends, one must also consider other factors such as the style of living and living habits of the owner. The trends can then be personalised to each owner, or perhaps even not followed. Ultimately, those who will occupy the space must feel comfortable with its colours.
Examples of interior colour schemes:
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 Nippon Paint has spearheaded many advancements in terms of automotive colour trends. On one level, the company has led the drive to create separate uses of colour for different vehicle platform identity.
Packaging of automobile interiors and exteriors has also changed to enhance the colour harmony of the entire vehicle. Nippon Paint is also setting a trend in two-toning vehicles so as to accent cladding and revive classic commercial colour schemes.
 Over the year 2002, several colours have been popular throughout different parts of the world. Red, for example, was consistently well-received worldwide, with more car-owners in Europe preferring red than ever before. Black for cars seemed to decline in popularity globally, while the usage of blue grew significantly.
Looking across the continents, more beige, blue and black colours were used in the USA automotive market, while green's popularity declined in the past year. Pearl Metallics were also especially popular, with a 50% rise in usage for the year 2002. In Japan, silver, white/pearl and green grew significantly in popularity. In stark contrast to the American automotive market, the colours blue, beige and black declined the most in terms of usage. The Japanese also used 42% more metallic colours for their automotive coatings, while solids have declined 24% in usage. Elsewhere in Asia, metallics were also well received. In the Philippines, for example, silver metallic, beige metallic and black metallic were the most popular colours.
The European market echoed the Americans in terms of colour usage, with 28% increase in usage of pearl metallic colours. Metallic colours usage declined by a massive 53%. Blue and red were the most popular automotive colours for this market.
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