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CMF Colour Finish Industry Expertise Material Trend

WE WON GOLD at the GERMAN DESIGN AWARD 2024!

WE WON GOLD at the GERMAN DESIGN AWARD 2024!

Today I am celebrating that our RAL COLOURS Trendbox 2025+ including our RAL COLOUR FEELING 2025+ Trend Report has won the German Design Award Gold in the Excellent Product Design, Material and Surface category. Company/Client: RAL COLOURS, Design: Institute International Trendscouting at HAWK Timo Rieke and Alina Schartner

For the fourth year in a row, Timo Rieke and I were responsible for the research, colour selection and content of the RAL Colour Feeling series. Our mission has always been to inspire colour education for all. Our tools help designers and architects to make well-informed decisions for contemporary colour design with long-term value that is purposeful and inclusive.

It’s a pleasure and honour to work with and for RAL COLOURS.

Thanks to everyone on the project team for RAL COLOUR FEELING 2025+ (alphabetical order): Markus Frentrop, Martin Kern, Meike Kettenuß, Laura Kilian (RAL), Beate Breitenstein, Sabine Hirsch, Melissa Lindemeyer, Timo Rieke, Alina Schartner, Markus Schlegel and Lina Schmidt (IIT).

I’m so proud of our teamwork! How nice to end my business year on such a high!

Read more about our award-winning project here: https://www.german-design-award.com/en/the-winners/gallery/detail/48616-ral-trendbox-2025.html


Categories
CMF Finish Industry Expertise Material Trend

Finish Insight Dutch Design Week 2023

Finish Insight Dutch Design Week 2023

#DDW is a great place to discover designers and brands developing or working with fascinating finish effects. In previous years there has been a strong focus on matt finishes worldwide. After the pandemic, there is a renewed interest in tactile experiences and visual excitement. This year, super glossy and gritty surfaces stood out.

5 excellent designers and their dreamy CMF Colour Material Finish projects (clockwise from large image):

Rinke Joosten – Beautifully reflective textured detail of Momentum, a collection of blown glass objects.

Agnieszka Mazur – One of the wonderful finishes from the Memory of the Sea exhibition, a fantastic interplay of raw shells and shiny glue.

Renault x Sabine Marcelis – A masterclass in playing with transparency, gloss and colour in this reinvented Twingo concept car.

Cristina Nan – Poetic computer-generated clay surfaces that have a lower CO2 impact than concrete, steel or glass.

Studio Guilty – I immediately fell in love with these sophisticated gravel sculptures.

What’s your favourite from this selection?

Send an email if you need feedback/support on your brand’s CMF direction. I’m now open to discussing potential collaborations in 2024.

Categories
Industry Expertise Material Trend

Material Insight Dutch Design Week 2023

Material Insight Dutch Design Week 2023

#DDW is always an inspiration for material direction. This year I noticed more projects working with industrial and agricultural waste or simple raw materials. Designers showed that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel to be innovative. This was an interesting change from previous years when there was more of a focus on new bio-composites. I found it fascinating how everyday materials were elevated to something aspirational.

Some of my favs (clockwise from large picture):

Studio RENS x Tarkett revealed the hidden side of linoleum. Such a clever way to update this often underrated material. Did you know that its main ingredients are linseed oil, pine resin, ground cork and sawdust, calcium carbonate and jute? 

Rik van Veen‘s sculptural bench made of welded plastic tubes was a real eye-catcher. A great example of how collectables don’t have to be made from precious or scarce materials. 

Studio WIES beautifully upcycled discarded vinyl tiles.  MATERIAL IDENTITY CRISIS’ was a fitting title. Vinyl is always defined by the texture it is printed on, as Wies van den Maagendberg points out. Lovely work seeing non-recyclable waste as a resource instead of sending it to a landfill.

Collectif MONO has made wool sexy. They used local wool from Swedish farmers. Felted qualities are naturally water-repellent. Unlike materials derived from fossil fuels, microfibres from sheep’s wool do not harm the planet. Fantastic to see more designers rediscovering the positive qualities of #undyed natural fibres. At Milan Design Week 2023 I was already raving about Formafantasma‘s research project for Tacchini on the benefits of working with (merino) wool. 

orange or red featured rattan in its purest form. I loved how it added texture and interest to this side table sculpture. Isn’t it beautiful how you can still see the wood texture through the transparent bright green glass? I have been a fan of designer Marieke van Heck ever since I saw her at Rossana Orlandi‘s gallery during Milan Design Week.

So to sum up, there is still a lot of potential to work with tried and tested, mundane materials. Another bonus is that recycling facilities are already in place for many of them.

Categories
Colour Industry Expertise Interior Design Material Trend

Dutch Design Week 2023 General Analysis

#dutchdesignweek is always one of the events that give me hope for people and the planet. Here designers are increasingly offering solutions to major global problems such as the waste pandemic, toxic pollution and social inequality. It is one of the most influential springboards for design graduates and new(er) design studios. This makes it a rich source of innovation. But the input can be overwhelming.

What is shown in Eindhoven is diverse. Design in all its forms is covered; from the ultra-conceptual to the commercially scalable, and from the personal to the systemic. For many, it is difficult to find the information and inspiration that is relevant to them. In my design consultancy work, I filter the insights for my clients (drop me a line if you are interested in this service).

It’s worth noting that Dutch Design Week has a reputation for being very concept-driven. However, #DDW23 was also surprisingly inspiring in a very tangible way. Woven through the indicators of emerging/growing macro and micro trends (tendencies in culture, technology, work, lifestyle, etc.) were many wonderful examples of where colour, material, finish and shape are heading. As my focus as a consultant is on interior design and CMF, I’ll be writing more about this in the coming days. I’ll also share more on key themes.

However, my verdict for this year is that several exhibitors tried too hard to load things up intellectually. This does not make the design more valid or accessible. Frankly, I question whether it’s an efficient design proposal if you have to read the full project description to understand what it’s about. Some have even topped this by expecting a high level of design/trend education from the reader.

In the coming year, I’d like to see more contributions to designing fair supply chains, creating local recycling facilities, and mending and repairing. It would also be great to see many more practical, affordable, robust yet sustainable solutions that make life easier for the millions of disadvantaged people around the world. Let’s face it, too much design innovation is focused on privileged audiences. It’s time to change that.

In conclusion, Dutch Design Week continues to be a leading event for learning more about global issues and design direction. I went there to broaden my horizons and the show made that possible. Soaking up fresh ideas, discovering cutting-edge aesthetics and meeting top creatives was a fantastic experience.

Categories
Colour Industry Expertise Interior Design Material Trend

Milan Design Week Report 2023

My Milan DESIGN Week REPORT 2023 is out! Carefully curated, it is a comprehensive yet compact summary of the key takeaways on colour, material, finish, style, shape, construction, design details, innovations and overarching themes.

I developed my report for brands/creatives who weren’t able to attend MDW themselves or don’t have the resources to distil relevant best practice examples. It features many quality brands, over 100 pages, with a minimum of 3 inspirational images on each page (1 page = 1 theme), in deliberate contrast to the many 200+ page reports that exist.

More time has been spent on selection/analysis to help brands quickly understand what really matters. Additional images are available on request and this report provides a valuable, solid basis for informed decision making.

Email hello(at)alinaschartner.com for your preview and all you need to know about how you can get my report.

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Colour Material

Colour in Context: Ultramarine Blue

Colour of the day: Ultramarine Blue
Simple description: a deep vivid blue

Notes for usage: Ultramarine blue is high energy. Its vibrant, mesmerising glow is so powerful, that it even adds zing to shady spaces. This colour is always a statement. Consider softening it with chalky white for small spaces, to avoid an overwhelming effect. Even little amounts of this colour will draw attention.

For a straight, graphic look try pairing it with crisp white and black. Small accents of Ultramarine next to gentle pinks make the colour seem more approachable. The brave add a colour pop with crimson red or neon orange; however, I would recommend sticking to homoeopathic doses, unless you know exactly what you’re doing.

Made globally recognised by artist Yves Klein, who described the colour as the expression of ultimate freedom, it has never lost its edgy appearance since the 1960s. Historically, ultramarine blues were won from ground Lapislazuli, meaning they were extremely expensive for centuries. Synthetic ultramarines are cheap, which make them popular choices for mixing wall paint or neutralising unwanted yellow tinges from paper to bleached hair.

For surface design, I prefer ultra-matte, dry-looking finishes for these shades of blue, to not take anything away from the depth and intensity of the colour. Glossy ceramics can work well though, particularly when handmade effects are still visible. High-shine surfaces can seem artificial and but also visionary. Admittedly, Ultramarine Blue is not the easiest colour to work with on a large scale, but sometimes that is exactly where the serious excitement starts.

PS: I had shared information about ultramarine blue before, but this colour group continues to grow in imporatance from product to lighting design.

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Colour Interior Design Material Trend

Behind the Scenes for Spring Summer 2021

© Trend Bible and snapshots from when I creatively directed Trend Bible´s Home + Interiors Lifestyle trend books

Feeling ready for Spring Summer 2021? Baked and faded tones are reminiscent of the warmth of sun-soaked days spent in laid-back retreats in Southern Provence.

‘La Belle Vie’ is one of the trend stories I developed with my team at Trend Bible in early 2019. It´s lovely seeing what we predicted to gain importance on the high street now. The palette I designed for this modern rustic look is still one of my favourites with its nonchalantly relaxed charm.

When I selected the nuances I made sure they work in various lighting conditions – not just in regions naturally gifted with more sunshine. The palette certainly still cheers me up and I love how versatile it is. You can easily combine any of the shades with each other.

#colourdesignthinking

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Colour Material

Colour in Context: Celadon Green

Colour of the day: Celadon Green
Simple description: a pale greyish green

Notes for usage: As with all colours in this series, celadon green is not a standardized colour but should rather be understood as a range of grey-toned light greens. Its base can range from neutral green (balanced between yellow and blue) to slightly yellowish greens, however, celadon greens always emanate softness and a certain elegance. They became famous through Chinese pottery, where those kinds of greenwares were highly regarded for centuries due to their resemblance of jade. The term is most likely of French origin.

Celadon green is fairly easy to use, as it works with any kind of architecture from embellished and historic to slick and contemporary. It is open to harmonising with gentle to bold and light to dark colours. A personal favourite is a combination with midnight blue and/or cognac brown. I also love a small coral red colour pop when celadon is the main colour.

What´s interesting about this shade is, that it changes its overall appearance dramatically, when paired with different coloured metals. With silver it seems airy and almost transparent, gold adds warmth and weight, copper makes it appear more dynamic and rose-gold is just dreamy. Celadon green works from powdery matte to high-shine finishes. In shady lighting conditions, it shifts more towards grey from the green but stays pleasant on the eye.

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Colour Material

Colour in Context: Plaster Pink

Colour of the day: Plaster Pink
Simple description: a subtle earthy pink

Notes for usage: This is THE colour to use if you want all the positive connotations of pink, without its stereotypical clichés. It is soft, but not sweet and more grown-up than many other nuances in the pink colour family. Plaster Pink is, well, the colour of setting plaster. Bridging the gap between beige and pink it is reminiscent of sandstone. Its constructive qualities make it an excellent architectural colour.

Did you know it was also popular during the Modernist Movement? Don´t let yourself be fooled by black-and-white imagery of the time. Le Corbusier and various artists at the Bauhaus appreciated its natural, warm and unobtrusive appearance. Back in the day mixing red earth pigments with white chalk for outdoor rendering and indoor plaster was very common. With a renewed focus on natural dyes and paints, these colourants have made a strong comeback in contemporary colour design.

With grey wall paint having long reached the mass market, we see a rising interest in chromatic neutrals. Plaster Pink is getting increasingly popular for large scale use in interior design. This chalky just-about-pink is comforting and warming at any time of the day. When it is kissed by the golden glow of a setting sun then magic happens.

Plaster pink is easy to use for surface designers, as it works well in any lighting condition. However, it lends itself particularly well for dry, matt finishes. When newness and longevity need to be paired, this is a suitable colour choice to update tech products and homeware ranges.

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Colour Material Trend

Colour in Context: Burnt Sienna

Colour of the day: Burnt Sienna
Simple description: a dark, deep orange (brown)


Notes for usage: Radiating warmth Burnt Sienna works well from dusk till dawn. Originally derived from earth pigments containing iron and manganese oxide, it is named after the Italian city of Siena, which has a rich history of producing clay colours. With a Renaissance natural colourants and a growing appetite for warmer hues, expect to see shades of earthy tones rise in popularity in the years to come. It’s visually stabilising qualities make Burnt Sienna suitable as an architectural colour on a large scale. Mixed with white, you can achieve beautifully sophisticated pastel shades. For surface design, consider juxtaposing matte and polished finishes to add interest to its naturally rustic appearance.