Prepare for more thoughtful — and creative — directions in color trend forecasting.
Color is infused in every facet of our lives. Color paints us, our loved ones, and our surroundings — and it has the power to command our emotions. But if it is already an stunning, all-encompassing and enduring facet of our days, it may be difficult to imagine how it will inevitably morph to meet the future.
We asked five leaders in color innovation — from computational science to cultural activism — to dive into the depths of their color expertise and come out with predictions for what we can expect for the future of color.
Examples of Adobe Stock’s 2021 color of the year, Mood-Boosting Color. Adobe Stock photo credit from left to right: Wizemark/Stocksy/Adobe Stock; Maria Louceiro/Adobe Stock; VISTA by Westend61/Adobe Stock; Wendy Laurel/Stocksy/Adobe Stock; Westend61/Adobe Stock
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Color trend forecasters pinpoint what hues consumers will be most attracted to before they even know it. And as a research-based practice, trend forecasting is certainly not about announcing predictions in haste— there are a multitude of processes conducted and analyzed before any one color prediction is determined, often under the leadership of specialized experts. At Adobe, we turn to Brenda Milis, principal of creative and consumer insights for Adobe Stock, to lead forecasting.
“My role is to constantly investigate what is rising,” says Milis, whose general process consists of collecting data charts and consumer insights, conducting conversations between experts, and a whole lot of research. Throughout her life, she’s maintained a natural curiosity for how varied pictures can be, fostered by a background in art history and a resume that includes many years of experience as a photo director. In an effort to expand Adobe’s trend forecasting beyond images, Milis also works across departments to partner with multimedia experts in 3D, illustration, and motion, as well as external collaborators for industry-specific research. “When I'm gathering information, I kind of take a deep dive, qualitatively and quantitatively across a lot of sources,” she explains. “It’s across industries, across different platforms and channels. Where do I see the overlap? It’s looking for patterns.”
Milis’s usual procedures for color trend predictions proved to be especially challenging over the course of 2020. As the world grappled with the onset of COVID-19, she noted, many companies issued a string of homogenous ads. “A lot were saying the same thing: ‘We’re Here For You.’ I thought, ‘Where is the creativity?’” The trend was quickly followed by a rainbow of colors commanding digital media, which made Milis confident to declare brilliantly saturated technicolor, dubbed Mood-Boosting Color, Adobe Stock’s 2021 visual stock trend. “Not just bright colors, but a full spectrum of color in any single one single image, which isn’t too mysterious,” Milis says. “While we’re stuck at home, vibrant hues for our monochrome days can make all the difference. That's why it's so powerful — because visual trends can pretty much be understood by almost any level of creative, and impact anyone’s mood.”
Think about color from a socially conscious angle to create a better future.
Intisar Mahdi is the co-founder of Browndages, a bandage brand that subverts the stereotypical interpretation of “nude” colors. Event photo credit: Iris Mannings Photography.
Because color constantly surrounds us, we may not always be aware of its impact. Consider the color our society generally considers to be “nude” or “flesh” in a wide range of products, from undergarments to beauty products, and even crayons. While both words describe bare skin, they are predominantly centered around the color of Caucasian skin without acknowledging the spectrum of human diversity. If a child sees a crayon labeled “nude” that does not match their skin tone, for example, it can raise feelings of inferiority — that may only be just the start of their exposure to persistent racially skewed labeling. That’s where Intisar Mahdi got the idea for Browndages.
Mahdi and her husband, Rashid, developed Browndages in 2018 as a response to the singular pink-beige tone that commands bandage aisles. “Growing up, I just took what I could get, but then my husband and I started talking. It was a lightbulb moment to see that representation for such a small thing can possibly help us all see the bigger picture,” Mahdi says. “Those standard bandages don’t match anyone in my family, so why not produce a product that is inclusive of everyone?” Later that year, they unveiled an assortment of four bandages to match an array of Brown and Black skin tones, followed by an additional shade variation. “The idea is that people can start with the assorted pack to find their shade. Then, the next pack they purchase can cater exactly to what they like,” she explains.
“And then my son scraped his knee,” Mahdi adds, and it was then that she got the idea to make a kids pack. Mahdi hired an illustrator to produce images in the likeness of their children in their dream careers — such as an astronaut or a veterinarian — and the product has prompted many of her customers to have valuable conversations about careers and racial issues. “For my son to be able to go about his day without being asked about his injury, because it’s so noticeable if the bandage doesn’t match his skin, makes him feel that much more confident in all parts of his life,” Mahdi explains. “It’s those little conversations. It’s the little things, like new bandage colors, like changing the names of colors, that add up to make the big changes we need in this world.”
Question the way our minds process color in the age of everyday technology.
As a leader in color perception science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Mark Fairchild experiments with color adaptation, pixel displays, and the bounds of Electronic Theatre Control lighting.
Ever buy a can of wall paint, only to bring it home and see it magically take on a different hue? That’s not magic, it’s color perception: the phenomenon of how we process chromatic signals to create a symbolic representation. It all begins with the stimulation of photoreceptors when light enters the eye, and one man leading the way in the science of color perception is Mark Fairchild, a color science professor and the graduate program director for the Munsell Color Science Laboratory at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
For the past 35 years, Fairchild has committed his research to advancing our knowledge of color perception, as well as the way we use that knowledge to enhance our world. “Anything you’re going to buy — whether it’s clothes, a car, paint, a phone, or a computer — has a color scientist working on it,” Fairchild explains. “Someone is working hard to match a sleeve to the body of a shirt.” The specialized world of color science and perception, as Fairchild explains, is not only pervasive but constantly advancing. “Looking at how our visual system adjusts to different environments, different lighting, different displays, and how that affects the way color looks, was a big deal in the ’90s,” he notes. “The whole idea of desktop publishing was to make computer displays match what is printed. There were a lot of perceptual issues, which meant a ton of interesting problems to solve.”
When it comes to the future of color perception, one of the most popular questions Fairchild gets is: “Will we be able perceive more colors?” The answer, quite simply, is no. “My current TV is HD with 4K resolution and that experience is something I didn't see until the last few years as a television, but there's nothing on it that I couldn't have perceived before,” he explains. Instead, the future of color perception will focus on acclimating to advancing technology. “Our technology is requiring us to have a better understanding.” For an example, he points to a faculty member who is working on improving augmented reality. “There are perceptual issues with augmented reality right now,” he says. “We’ve evolved and learned how the real world works and how light interacts with objects, but when we suddenly put this transparent apparition that mimics the real world in front of people, our brains are trained to ignore it.” Now, Fairchild says, it’s about finding a way to perceive the colors of an augmented reality in the same way we perceive the real world. “But 35 years later, I still love solving these kinds of problems.”
Call for a more intuitive, personalized color photography experience.
Examples of what the new Color Grading tool for Adobe Camera Raw can accomplish, courtesy of Max Wendt and Adobe Camera Raw Senior Principal Scientist Eric Chan.
Color as related to digital photography is a complex topic: It’s utilized for a range of reasons that are ultimately shaped by individual preferences. One photographer may prefer hyper-saturated colors; another may opt for more natural lighting. And now there are more photographers than ever before. “Even if they can't articulate it, even if they can't explain what they're doing — thanks to handheld tech like social media filters — people can now better recognize if a picture doesn’t look right,” says Max Wendt, a computer scientist for Adobe Camera Raw, and who has been with the brand for nearly 24 years. “Users today have a more sophisticated knowledge of color.”
The democratization of photography means there is also an increased need for technological advancements in order to make user-friendly tools like Adobe Camera Raw — software that allows photographers to import and enhance raw images on Adobe Lightroom. “The opportunities are endless, but it’s also about balancing choice,” he says. “If you’re doing an outdoor portrait on green grass, surrounded by green shrubs, fair skin might get a green cast. Getting rid of it can be tricky, but I want to see more tools that can do that kind of correction for you.”
Wendt and his team recently introduced Color Grading to make color editing even easier. “Color Grading was just the logical next step to Split Toning, which had been part of Camera Raw since it premiered,” explains Wendt. While Split Toning offered an opportunity to add tones to shadows and highlights, Color Grading introduces a “third color tone to the midtones” by presenting three standard color wheels for users to manipulate. “It’s about developing software that can allow you to create default color settings prior to shooting.” Wendt says. “These subtle changes to color could totally change the mood of the composition or layout.” And he’s already onto his next (top-secret) addition to Camera Raw to further improve the way users play with color.
