Loving pattern and color...

One-Point Perspective Rendering For a School Project

I absolutely love to use color and mixed patterns when I design. Sometimes I have a particular color scheme or pattern in mind that's not readily available on the market. You know it is always about current popular color trends when sourcing textiles. We are also at the mercy of the textile designers when it comes to the patterns of the textiles. Well I have great news for you, my fellow design enthusiasts, this is not the case anymore!


I recently attended the House Beautiful Design Institute, September 16th, at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. The keynote presentation, “Big Trends, Fringe Moments and the Color of It All” included presentations by Newell Turner (House Beautiful Editor in Chief ) and his panel of trend and color experts Judi Roaman (President of J. Roaman Inc.,Contributing Editor at House Beautiful and author of the blog The Accessorator) and  Darius A Monsef, IV (CEO of CHROMAom, Inc and the creator of COLOURlovers.com, co-founder of the disaster relief non-profit Hands On Disaster Response{now All Hands Volunteers}). The panel was funny and very informative on their various points of topic. Here's a short breakdown:

Newell Turner spoke about four of the Newest Big Trends he has noticed in Interior Design, along with great pictures on each trend:

• New Victorians ~ using the colors and imagery of the Victorian Era, also using mercury glass (glass that has a silvery appearance, no, mercury isn't used anymore), black counterpointed with white, wall coverings, decoupage (using glue to cover an object with strips of paper, fabric, flowers, etc. and enhancing with paint), taxidermy (made of resin), and industrial accents.
• The Glams ~ using blacks, silver, glass, chinoiserie (fanciful European interpretations of Chinese artistic styles), updated Hollywood Regency styles; clean, minimal elegance
• The Ruralists ~ Belgian Style, iconic shapes, humble materials (linen, cotton, burlap) used in special ways, wood planking, barn doors, outdoor living, comfort, Asian accents, soft blues or all white to break it up.
• The Accessorators ~ lots of shopping for accessories! Tribal (bold treatment), love of color, sexy animal prints (not natural colors), use of a magnifying glass (somewhere in the space), collections of some sort, elegant (with a riot of colors, patterns, textures, throw pillows), fun and entertaining.

Judi Roaman mainly spoke about not being afraid to mix colors, patterns, and textures! She showed us great pictures from her travel around the world where boundaries of colors, patterns, and textures were not an issue! Judi also spoke about sustainability and some creative ways to achieve it.

• African patterns with bright colors
• Vintage patterns with metallics
• Polka dots and stripes
• Sweater-knit and fur

Darius A Monsef, IV says he wants the whole world to find color enlightenment! He spoke about how a color theory class left him wanting more, it just didn't do it for his passion for exploring color. He searched the world wide web over and still was not satisfied. So what did he do?

• Darius created an online social community for people who love color.
• You can create and name your own color, color palette, or patterns on this site! *hint*(Pay attention to the different colored grey squares when you create a pattern, they will be used to assign colors to your pattern when its time.)
• You can also use colors and/or patterns made by other users.
• The best part is, you can even purchase your design (or someone else's) as fabric or an art print! If someone buys your fabric you get 10% commission on the purchase!
• The colors and patterns can also be used all over the web like on your blog or website.

Take some time to play with the site, you will love it! Here's the link Color Trends + Palettes :: COLOURlovers. Enjoy!