Red, Hot or Haute?

When thinking in colors in terms of their color temperature red is at the top of the scale for being a really warm hue. It is commonly referred to as the color of fire and flame and it sizzles in terms of sensuality. It is a romantic valentine or a sweet smelling rose on one level and a feared rash or sunburn on another level. There is nothing wishy washy about red, it makes a statement no matter how it is used. It says “stop” one minute and can indicate “come hither” the next.

This color has risen in the ranks of popular colors rather quickly in the last few years. There was a time when a paint dealer sold a quart of red a month and now they sell it by the gallon on a daily basis. Why is this? What happened to make this hue move to the top like the mercury in a thermometer? One factor in it move to the top is the preponderance DIY shows using it as a makeover color. The one thing a makeover show wants to provoke is a reaction from their participants and their audience, whether it is a good or bad response, it needs to be controversial to be memorable. It enjoys a love/hate reputation that one can’t deny is dramatic and thought provoking. Because red was highlighted often in these shows it gave confidence to consumers that they could achieve dramatic results in the easiest, least expensive method, a gallon of red paint.

Our connection to certain colors is based on our memories of past experiences or recollections of objects featured in that color. We may have had loved a color because it is the hue of a favorite flower, you may hate it because it was a color overused by a not so favorite neighbor. Looking for the most common pleasant memories is significant in the selection of colors for products and because of this packaging often uses red to boost the sales of certain products. Red can’t and won’t be ignored and it will remain in the limelight for years to come.

Red, HOT or Haute??

The Ladd Carriage House

The Ladd Carriage House Comes Home

The Ladd Carriage House was designed by architect Joseph Sherwin in the English Stick Style, the 1883 house is the last remaining building from the once expansive Ladd Estate.  Constructed at the NW corner of Broadway and Columbia Streets in Portland, Oregon, it housed twelve horses, William Ladd’s personal carriages, a hayloft, and residential quarters for the estate’s coachman and gardener. The Ladd family owned and maintained the building until it was converted into small shops and offices in 1926. The building later housed architects such as Van Evera Bailey, civic institutions such as the Portland Civic Theatre and major employers such as Hoffman Construction.

William Ladd was one of Portland’s pioneer entrepreneurs responsible for creating the eclectic city that Portland is today. Ladd arrived in Portland in 1851 when the city was little more than a ramshackle trading post. He grew a single product store into a thriving business and within three years was elected Mayor or Portland. In 1859 he co-founded Portland’s first financial institution, the Ladd & Tillton bank. Throughout his life Ladd continued to expand his influence by serving on numerous boards and was a vocal advocate for Portland’s business community.

A devout Presbyterian, Ladd felt duty bound to give back to the community. He provided offices for the Portland Library Association and left a generous endowment upon his death. Other institutions such as the Oregon Humane Society, the Ladies Relief Society Child’s Home and the San Francisco Seminary all received support during his lifetime.

In October 2008, the Ladd Carriage House was moved down Columbia Street and back to its original site after a sixteen month absence. Relocating the Carriage House was part of the first phase of a redevelopment project which includes Ladd, a 23 story residential apartment  building located in the heart of Portland’s cultural district. To help retain the history and character of the neighborhood, Opus Northwest, LLC worked with a number of local partners including The first Christian Church, the Friends of the Ladd Carriage House and Ankron Moisan Architects to create a revitalized mixed use block that will prominently feature the Ladd Carriage House. Construction requirements included an underground garage that necessitated the moving all 350 tons of the carriage house to a temporary location in June 2007.

The Friends of the Ladd Carriage House are actively engaged in preserving and restoring the iconic Ladd Carriage House by serving as advocates  for the buildings retention and integrity. For over three years the Friends have worked diligently with their partners towards the goal of producing an economically viable building that will enrich the Ladd redevelopment site and downtown Portland in perpetuity.

Painting contractor Schiller and Vroohan painted the building using Miller Paint. Colors were selected by Opus Northwest based on their suitability for the style of the building and to also fitting into the surroundings. They are a combination of subtle neutrals much like the colors of the era.

There is More than Bland Behind Beige!

Beige is a best selling color, and to stretch its reach even farther you can include off white as a pale version of beige. Not only is it a best seller in interior colors but also in exterior colors. Its scope extends from the rich tones of tan to the grayed nuances of taupe. Beige is not a color family, only a tone in the family of Orange. Its big brother Brown is the darkest value of that tone and it is also a winner in the marketplace, enjoying a revival as of late. So what is the mysterious allure of beige? Why does it play such a key role in decorating today?

There are a number of reasons why we are inundated with beige. First of all it is a neutral, a color that plays well with others and is a great companion. In the scheme of things it is in the correct hemisphere, the warm side of the color world. Warm colors outsell cool colors by quite a large margin. They are comforting and offer refuge from an over colorful world. Color love comes from a memory of things that are pleasant, familiar and predictable. Our minds make connections with colors we see around us every day, such as our natural surroundings and objects we love and cherish. We see these warm tone colors in the trees around us, the earth beneath our feet and in the wildlife we cherish. So as humans we have a strong connection to this color family and it translates into big sales in a broad range of products from carpet to siding and from low end to high end. It looks good on flat surfaces such as walls and on textured surfaces like carpet. It is rich as a best selling metallic or pearl of automobile finishes and even on plastic wastebaskets. How can they possibly make it look fashionable and new?

Tone on tone neutrals can suggest a rich, luxurious look. High end fabrics made of silk, wool and cashmere can add ambiance to a humble  color like beige. Pair that with our memories of the familiar and it doubles its power. In today’s economy beige is a proven winner as it can live a long time in a home environment. It is easy to punch it up with a broad range of accents, both warm and cool, giving it an even longer life.

I used to call beige a chicken color, not the color of a chicken but a color for people who were too chicken to pick a more colorful hue. I take my words back, easy or not, beige is where its at!

Check our website at www.colorguild.com

What is the next color over the rainbow?

As a color designer we are asked time and time again as to what is hot? What is the latest trend? If the inquirer is designing a product it can be a very important question, but if it is a consumer, what difference does it make? Is it merely curiosity on their part or will they rush home and change everything in their homes? We can also preface our answer with, hot in what? And, hot does not mean best seller, it may mean that it is just “different” from anything out there.  Fashionable automotive colors will not tell most people what color to paint their bedrooms. Trendy interior product colors will not tell the inexperienced what color to paint their front door and there are dozens of questions that need to be answered before a definitive color solution can be determined. Following a trail of influence is essential to finding true satisfying results. Listed below is a brief overview of where to find the appropriate color origins for the elusive hot color you may be looking for.

• Is the color for an Interior or an exterior? Typically exterior colors are based on neutral and near neutral colors because they need to last a long time, sometimes as long as 40 or 50 years. You wouldn’t want to have something really trendy, and in 10 years have it look dated and out of place. Chic new colors could be used on the front door or shutters where they can be refreshed when the hue goes out of style. Exterior colors get their influence from interior colors that have lasted the test of time and then they are neutralized to give them longevity.
• If the color is for an interior then the question would be what room is it going to be used, but most of all what is in that room already? If you want the hip color will it fit into the current environment? Fashionable interior colors can derived from women’s fashion palettes, but don’t be so quick as to take them in their original context, usually they become interior colors once they have proved themselves and last more than one season. Then they may be interpreted as neutrals, near neutrals or watered down versions of the original color. Look more the color combinations in fashions, they are more likely to become evident in what you can put in your home. You would be more likely to use a stylish color as an accent wall or an item such as pillows, wall décor, area rugs or accessories, as long as they work with what is already in a room.
• Other factors that influence color trends are evident in the news, on television and most of all on the internet. What a first lady is wearing, what a sitcom has as a set design, good economy, bad economy and emerging lifestyle changes are just a few of the triggers for colors emerging in the marketplace.
• So, with all of that…..What is on the other side of the rainbow? With a glimmer of hope that the economy will improve we see brighter, cleaner colors on the horizon. We are in an era of dusty, neutralized colors for interior and exterior colors and they will remain popular but the evolution of the high chroma colors will advance, slowly but surely. 
• The question that is the answer to this all is “think of a color you have never seen”. In it the answer is, there are no new colors, just new combinations, new uses of color on existing products and new textures and effects that make existing colors look different so that we can call them “new”.