Digital colours are making their way off line, casting their signature glow in exciting ways throughout modern interior design – IRL just got more gorgeous
FEATURE Keith Flanagan
SHOPPING PAGES COMPILED BY RORY ROBERTSON AND ELLEN FINCH
New hues
FULL OF POSITIVE ENERGY, IT’S NO WONDER DIGITAL COLOURS ARE HOT RIGHT NOW. AS IF AIR DROPPED FROM OUR SCREENS, THEY ARE HYPER-BRIGHT SHADES THAT LOOK AND FEEL GOOD
Colour effects once reserved for renderings and digital landscapes are increasingly within reach for our homes. Although true ‘digital’ colours remain locked in our screens, digitally influenced hues have a glowing quality typical of backlit graphics, where virtually every colour and intensity is possible. And while you can approximate digital colours by choosing tones with a certain intensity and saturation, transformative light is the key to dynamic applications of these shades. Caroline Guilbert of next-generation colour-coding system Coloro talks us through this exciting development.
‘These artificial tones that were confined to product and screen are now moving into the built environment with unapologetic boldness. Surfaces can take on an intriguing glow, especially with plays of ombré shifts, light and “digital transparency”, letting light shine through, or even finished with a highly reflective liquid-like gloss, layered lacquers and iridescent coatings. All of these surface treatments interact with the colour and alter its perception to achieve new and intriguing effects, whether on a single piece or on the overall space.
‘The pandemic broke open that door towards digital escapism and experiential colour like never before, and colours now need to traverse easily between these different environments. A growing meta economy will result in a wide spectrum of colours being used across the virtual world and this will accelerate the popularity of chromatic colours to impact the sensorial experience at home.’
GLOWING GREEN
One of the more visible online greens (see Spotify’s logo) is moving offline to freshen interiors with a nature-derived glow.‘Asdigitalinteractionsbecomeembeddedineveryday life, brighter greens are growing in appeal,’ says Caroline. GlowingGreen(Coloro062-72-33)hasafootinbothworlds. Spanish designer Mario Montesinos Marco used a similar greenforthisBolognakitchen.‘Ilovetouseitwithothercool temperature colours like blues and lilacs,’ says Mario.
Fun factor
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN – MINT GREEN, BLUE AND PINK ARE A TERRIFICALLY CHEERY TRIO
