Now that it’s finally spring here in Boston, with bright sunny days and tulips in every garden, it seems like a great time to talk about the IDSA Northeast conference that I recently attended. I was particularly excited because the theme of this years conference was color! Although I regularly attend color and trend focused events, they aren’t normally from the perspective of fellow industrial designers, so I was looking forward to hearing how other designers approach color.
Color excites me; it’s what catches my eye and draws me in. Little shifts in hue have a profound impact on my perception of design, quality, and brand. Often times color is difficult to translate through the design process and we are relegated to ‘safe’ colors. Chris Murray, of Bresslergroup,
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presented an almost scientific approach, a way of removing the emotional factor of color and making the color decision process more rational. On the opposite end of the spectrum was our friend and frequent collaborator, Karen Reuther, who in my opinion best expresses the joy of color. She talks about the power of color to connect to users, and presents it as an opportunity to further reinforce a brands relationship to their customer. Although of seemingly opposite approaches both speakers grounded their decision making process in a rich understanding of the user.
