Home Curated by Walter Rodrigues, the Color Trends International Guide presents to the world the colors that refer to Brazilianness. As defined by the designer during the presentation of the project, “color is what defines Brazil! We are Color!” One the five actions that are part of the program is Color Trends – the International Color Trends Guide – backed with research and curated by fashion designer Walter Rodrigues, who developed a specific methodology for the converted plastics market after interviews with Brazilian companies participating in the Think Plastic Brazil program.
The 2022 International Trends Guide works with the words that define Brazil in the eyes of foreign nationals – Affection, Joy, Hospitality – through colors.
The idea is to spread the colors of Brazil to the world, and the country is rich in colors such as blue, yellow, and pink, as well as shades of green and red. Each region has its own color chart – the South is more wintery, for example, while the North is an explosion of color and joy.
Walter Rodrigues works as a consultant on several projects, developing inspiration and trend guides, but this is the first time he has worked in the universe of converted plastics. Think Plastic Brazil operates in the verticals of Agribusiness, Toys, Construction, Packaging, and Housewares.
Color Trends has been divided into stages: in the first stage, Walter Rodrigues interviewed the following companies that develop products for exports and participate in Think Plastic Brazil: Astra, Crippa, Cristal Master, Fame, Nova Brink, OU, Termolar, UZ, Vem, Viqua, and Zuka Toys. He also well interviewed special masterbatch companies (which produce pigments) Cromex and Colorfix.
With this information, Walter Rodrigues presented inspirations and provided consulting for the development of the Crippa, Fame, OU, Termolar, UZ, Vem, Viqua and Zuka Toys products, which utilize Colorfix and Cromex pigments.
Inspirations have been developed for three consumer profiles: Innovators (mainly Generation Z), Traditionalists, and Pop.
The color survey according to the country’s regions broke the paradigm in which the explosion of colors generally occurs only in the North and Northeast. In fact, Brazil has plenty of color in all regions. Nature, fauna, flora, a coastline extending over 8,000 km and forest bring a fascinating and joyful color palette. Faith, religious syncretism, miscegenation, culture, popular festivals, architecture and even football use different colors, such as the red and blue that highlights the Boi Bumbá Festival, held in the city Parintins (Amazonas), based on the fans of the Garantido and Caprichoso teams, or in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where the Gre-Nal Derby takes place, featuring the football match between Grêmio (blue) and Internacional (red).
Consumers in the Innovators profile are transforming agents in society. They care about the environment, they defend nature, forests, oceans, and rivers, they love the Cosmos and wish to conquer it, they believe in circularity, redesign, and sustainable products, they like urban art such as graffiti and extreme sports, they appreciate the gender-neutral fashion, and they are minimalist and admire design combined with functionality, the Internet of Things, technology, and games.
Traditionalists, on the other hand, are pragmatic, with secure values. They like what is known, neutral colors, and classic textures. In decoration, the interior and exterior are connected (in gardens, open areas that allow one to admire the sky and landscapes). The tones are more classic and are mixed with wood and stainless steel. Sophistication comes in touches of black and red. Nostalgia and memories of past decades also provide inspiration, bringing warmth and bringing back manual techniques such as knitting and crochet, the colors of old cars, record players, and cameras, as well as tiled kitchens, but with a faucet in a modern color to provide freshness. The color chart here includes yellows, beige, and oranges.
Consumers in the Pop profile are vibrant and full of joy. The tropical sun’s luminosity enhances the country’s colors. The coastline extending over 8,000 km, from North to South, brings closeness and freedom, as the beach welcomes all social classes, teams, races, religions, and all the diversity of a mixed and plural people who, in the eyes of foreigners, make up an exotic people, full of vitality, who make popular festivals extremely joyful and visually beautiful, such as Carnival and the June festivals. Here come the colors of the architecture of each region, fairs and popular markets, fruits, handicrafts, faith, religious syncretism, the sands of the beach, and the sea. References are mixed and create new combinations of colors and prints in clothes and objects in the houses. Acerola, açaí, coffee, annatto, bananas, avocados and pink flowers appear in the color chart alongside shades of blue and blue-green.
Walter Rodrigues highlights: “Brazil is color, and just as we do with music – the instruments are the same, but we create bossa nova by playing it in a way that is unique to us – we can and must also export our colors and Brazilian design.”
Color Trends sponsors include special masterbatch companies Cromex (www.cromex.com.br) and Colorfix (www.colorfix.com.br).
Get more information and purchase the Color Trends by email bi@thinkplasticbrazil.com.
