What's New on the Painters Palette?
Car Color Trends for 1998 December 1997 While we've only had a glimpse of the new car colors of 1998, indications from the OEs and the refinish industry are beginning to show us trends in color preferences by consumers and designers. But judging by what's on the streets, you begin to wonder whose preferences the auto designers had in mind. The warm greens and teal shades, which seem to have had their run, are being replaced with the color of a popular children's television dinosaur. There haven't been so many grape-flavored cars since Chrysler introduced Plum Crazy in the late '60sHowever, demographics are changing, so the tastes of the baby boomers are not necessarily what's steering the design groups of the auto and coating manufacturers. What seems garish to one, is leading edge to another. And it's not just me noticing this. Martha Hindes, an automotive writer for the Detroit Journal, also remarked on the trend. Her column in the April 7, issue of the publication explored this development. The Importance of Color
While buyers generally pick a car first, and then choose a color, automotive marketing departments understand the influence a particularly appealing color has on consumers. Color may not be the first thing on a car buyer's mind, but it's not the last, either.And despite stereotypes, it's more important to men than to women, at least among those under age 35.The Dohring Company of Glendale, Calif., conducted a survey of adults intending to buy a new or used vehicle. Sixty percent of men and 51 percent of women between the ages of 18 to 34 said color was an important factor in their car decisions.Colors have what could be termed as a life expectancy. Since there really aren't any honestly new colors out there, we see them recycled every 20 years or so. The color schemes of the '50s two-tone era appeared dated during the '60s and '70s, which is why the hot rodders were anxious to repaint their '55 Fords in more contemporary colors, such as the metallic and candy shades. But today, however, we are seeing the custom painters going for that retro look with the two-tone greens and pastels again. And for some reason, whether it is nostalgia or the aging of the beholder, it works.Emerging Earth Tones
PPG's Marilyn White, who heads their Advanced Color Styling group says, "We are forecasting oranges, browns and golds, as the earth tones emerge into the [automotive] market."As a member of the Detroit Color Council--a consortium of the paint and trim suppliers--White is one of those people who attempt to track the market and forecast taste preferences. Like the designers of clothing, who each year tell us what fashions are "in," the Detroit Color Council fills the automaker's palette with those colors deemed popular.I wonder if these people are descendents of those who brought us the black Eldorados with red crushed velvet guts?White has been known to frequent the show car circuit. Like wild game, she captures custom colors on the hoof and introduces them into the PPG's paint lines. She says, "We see the most innovative use of color on the street rods and custom cars."Controlling the Trends?
Like hemlines, consumer tastes shift. Or are they being shifted for us? You never know for sure. Julie Wojtanowski, color manager for DuPont Automotive Finishes says, "We are seeing more tinted clears, especially in the red family. Champagne gold is becoming more popular. It's a spray-sensitive color that calls for precision when making a repair. In general, there are more golds, more coppers--earthy colors.""More OEM plants are using water, and there is a distinct color difference between waterborne and solvent-borne OEM finishes. The waterborne flake is brighter, the color cleaner. With the rise in sport utility vehicles, we're seeing more car colors on trucks. Even heavy duty truck manufacturers want more of a car look," Wojtanowski adds."Tri-coat pearls have stabilized. There are about 28 of them, and there were approximately that many when they were introduced nearly 10 years ago. Also, single-stage metallics are almost non-existent. Everyone is going to base/clears."Wojtanowski says that these trends extended to their non-automotive OEM customers, "More manufacturers, such as bicycle makers, are moving toward specialized pigments that create dramatic hue shifts."Back to Business
Brian Spencer, color manager for Spies Hecker, whose eyes are focused on the body shops says, "Essentially, there is nothing dramatically new for '98. Color trends favor white, black and red. We're also seeing a decrease in solid colors, with an increase in pearls and metallics.""One trend is certain, however, and that is the increase in underhood colors. Our customers duplicate that with our 5,100 tinting surfacer mixed with the top coat. The problem is that the OE's are inconsistent, for example, they don't always use the same undercoat for use with a certain topcoat finish. Consequently, it is difficult to standardize these things. A lot of painters want to use a primer surfacer for this application, which is not really a weather-resistant coating. In order to properly protect the vehicle, and to accurately duplicate its appearance it has to be topcoated with a color mixed with a matting agent," he says.From Whence It Comes
It's always a good idea to keep a paddle in the custom car shows to stay abreast of the new uses of color. Increasingly, the custom car painter's palettes are influencing the new vehicle designs. One can drive away in a brand new Ford with a candy apple finish to rival the brilliance of the cars that rolled up the boulevards of Southern California 30 years ago. This trend extends to the two-wheeled market. In fact, the color set-ups on the new Harleys are worth the price of admission. With their fat fenders and tanks done in pastels and pinstripes, one is hard pressed to distinguish a '97 from a '57.While visiting the annual Street Rod Jamboree held in Macungie, Pa., in August, I ran across a stunning '39 Ford coupe. Its owner was looking for that nostalgic mild custom look reminiscent of the '50s, and a chose a creamy salmon for its exterior color. The interior, however, was done in an olive green. While that sounds funky, it worked remarkably well. He told me, "I was going to use a maroon leather or saddle color for the inside, but my wife--who is an interior designer--suggested we go to the opposite side of the color wheel. This is what we came up with." 100 ABRN December 1997Purple Reigns
You expect to see purple on Easter baskets, spring lilacs and wine for Passover. But automobiles? While it won't push out green as a wildly popular color any time soon, purple's appearance on the automotive scene doesn't surprise color experts. Check the color-scheme forecast from the Alexandria, Va., based Color Marketing Group. In the palette is "perplexed--a rich, red purple, ethnic and exotic." It is among 16 colors commercial designers are expected to offer in 1998 for everything from interior furnishings to clothing to, yes, automobiles. Chrysler Corp., executive vice-president and design honcho Tom Gale had a slightly different preference when he lobbied for purple as the "only" kickoff color for the 1930-ish, retro-look Plymouth Prowler hot rod that goes on sale in a year. The color? "Prowler purple," of course."Purple has been a color used throughout the history of hot rodding," says Chrysler spokesman Jason Vines. "We wanted to make a statement, and obviously this goes to the roots of classic hot rods," Vines says. Typical hot-rod colors are unusual and sometimes outrageous, he adds-- bright yellows, reds, blacks and purples.But while hot rods typically sport robust colors such as Prowler purple, a rich mid-tone shade, traditional passenger vehicles show trends of their own.Luxury vehicles tend to be muted in tone. Compacts and sporty vehicles often are done in brighter shades. For instance, Mazda's hardtop concept Miata M roadster, introduced at the New York Auto Show, comes in "mica yellow."Green has become so popular for everything in recent years that automakers now consider it as much of a basic vehicle color as white, black or red."Green was one of those surprise colors that came along about five years back," says Alan Eggly, senior creative color designer for General Motors Corp."Currently GM is starting to work on the year 2000," Eggly adds. The colors for future models are a closely guarded secret, so GM and others wouldn't talk color futures. "The automotive industry works further in advance than anyone else, so green for me is something that is really old," Eggly says.And colors evolve from year to year. Forest green and other popular greens are giving way to newer hues. Among those proposed for 1998 by the Color Marketing Group are greens in sage, "clean ... mid-tones," "liquid turquoise" and even a lime-yellow reminiscent of the '50s.Determining color trends is an exacting business, if not an exact science. Under the auspices of the Color Marketing Group, color experts from various industries meet twice each year to determine how influences as diverse as pop music, politics and social trends affect colors' popularity. For example, the preference for green emerged along with environmental concerns, several color analysts say.The latest predictions, announced in mid-March, are for a "brighter, cleaner palette," with richer shades and more primary hues, in 1998 as people be-come more comfortable with advances in technology."In the interior and exterior, we see a warming of the color palette," says Jim Parker, color studio design manager at Chrysler. "ForPurple Reigns
Chrysler, that seems like a good trend because of our softer shapes, from both an interior and exterior standpoint."Troy's DuPont Automotive Finishes develops 250 to 300 colors each year based on predicted trends. Only 10 to 20 percent are considered by vehicle manufacturers for actual use on their products, says Robert S. Daily, Du Pont's color marketing manager.All colors must pass auto companies' durability tests--about a two-year process--so that paints will last for a vehicle's expected lifetime. Expense can be an element in determining what color a vehicle will have. An exterior paint can cost from $2 a gallon to $60 or $70, according to Chrysler's Vines."You obviously would expect a $30,000-something car to have more expensive paint than a $12,000 car," Vines says. But that's not always what happens, given the efficiencies of manufacturing.U.S. manufacturers have developed a rich landscape of hues, textures such as dappled "pearlescent," and multiple layers of color that can change with the light or viewing angle. They are possible because of advances in mixing and applying the organic and inorganic materials used to create those finishes.No matter how sophisticated technology becomes, there's no substitute for the human eye for the final choice, according to Mimi Vandermolen, director of Ford Motor Co.'s trim, color and graphics design, who oversees the selection of about 18 new vehicle colors each year. Ford paints some vehicles in the colors under consideration and parks them where designers and others can see them."We definitely view them in daylight," says Vandermolen. "We leave them outside for about three months in a huge courtyard where everyone can view them."As colors become exotic, so do their names. These are some OEM names for their car colors:* Apache - rich red.* Cortez - brown-based apricot.* Desert Sun - golden yellow.* Mantis - acidic lime-yellow.* Palo Verde - ethereal sage.* Expearment - mid-tone green.* Zuni - liquid turquoise.* Phoenician - Mediterranean blue.* Too Blue - red-based blue.* Purplexed - rich red purple.* Frontier - red-based brown.* Hi-Ho Silver - silvered grey.* Black Tie - sueded black.* Fool's Gold - greenish blond-gold.* Ghost Town - powdered white.* Camelback - yellowed beige.
Car Color Trends for 1998 December 1997 While we've only had a glimpse of the new car colors of 1998, indications from the OEs and the refinish industry are beginning to show us trends in color preferences by consumers and designers. But judging by what's on the streets, you begin to wonder whose preferences the auto designers had in mind. The warm greens and teal shades, which seem to have had their run, are being replaced with the color of a popular children's television dinosaur. There haven't been so many grape-flavored cars since Chrysler introduced Plum Crazy in the late '60sHowever, demographics are changing, so the tastes of the baby boomers are not necessarily what's steering the design groups of the auto and coating manufacturers. What seems garish to one, is leading edge to another. And it's not just me noticing this. Martha Hindes, an automotive writer for the Detroit Journal, also remarked on the trend. Her column in the April 7, issue of the publication explored this development. The Importance of Color
While buyers generally pick a car first, and then choose a color, automotive marketing departments understand the influence a particularly appealing color has on consumers. Color may not be the first thing on a car buyer's mind, but it's not the last, either.And despite stereotypes, it's more important to men than to women, at least among those under age 35.The Dohring Company of Glendale, Calif., conducted a survey of adults intending to buy a new or used vehicle. Sixty percent of men and 51 percent of women between the ages of 18 to 34 said color was an important factor in their car decisions.Colors have what could be termed as a life expectancy. Since there really aren't any honestly new colors out there, we see them recycled every 20 years or so. The color schemes of the '50s two-tone era appeared dated during the '60s and '70s, which is why the hot rodders were anxious to repaint their '55 Fords in more contemporary colors, such as the metallic and candy shades. But today, however, we are seeing the custom painters going for that retro look with the two-tone greens and pastels again. And for some reason, whether it is nostalgia or the aging of the beholder, it works.Emerging Earth Tones
PPG's Marilyn White, who heads their Advanced Color Styling group says, "We are forecasting oranges, browns and golds, as the earth tones emerge into the [automotive] market."As a member of the Detroit Color Council--a consortium of the paint and trim suppliers--White is one of those people who attempt to track the market and forecast taste preferences. Like the designers of clothing, who each year tell us what fashions are "in," the Detroit Color Council fills the automaker's palette with those colors deemed popular.I wonder if these people are descendents of those who brought us the black Eldorados with red crushed velvet guts?White has been known to frequent the show car circuit. Like wild game, she captures custom colors on the hoof and introduces them into the PPG's paint lines. She says, "We see the most innovative use of color on the street rods and custom cars."Controlling the Trends?
Like hemlines, consumer tastes shift. Or are they being shifted for us? You never know for sure. Julie Wojtanowski, color manager for DuPont Automotive Finishes says, "We are seeing more tinted clears, especially in the red family. Champagne gold is becoming more popular. It's a spray-sensitive color that calls for precision when making a repair. In general, there are more golds, more coppers--earthy colors.""More OEM plants are using water, and there is a distinct color difference between waterborne and solvent-borne OEM finishes. The waterborne flake is brighter, the color cleaner. With the rise in sport utility vehicles, we're seeing more car colors on trucks. Even heavy duty truck manufacturers want more of a car look," Wojtanowski adds."Tri-coat pearls have stabilized. There are about 28 of them, and there were approximately that many when they were introduced nearly 10 years ago. Also, single-stage metallics are almost non-existent. Everyone is going to base/clears."Wojtanowski says that these trends extended to their non-automotive OEM customers, "More manufacturers, such as bicycle makers, are moving toward specialized pigments that create dramatic hue shifts."Back to Business
Brian Spencer, color manager for Spies Hecker, whose eyes are focused on the body shops says, "Essentially, there is nothing dramatically new for '98. Color trends favor white, black and red. We're also seeing a decrease in solid colors, with an increase in pearls and metallics.""One trend is certain, however, and that is the increase in underhood colors. Our customers duplicate that with our 5,100 tinting surfacer mixed with the top coat. The problem is that the OE's are inconsistent, for example, they don't always use the same undercoat for use with a certain topcoat finish. Consequently, it is difficult to standardize these things. A lot of painters want to use a primer surfacer for this application, which is not really a weather-resistant coating. In order to properly protect the vehicle, and to accurately duplicate its appearance it has to be topcoated with a color mixed with a matting agent," he says.From Whence It Comes
It's always a good idea to keep a paddle in the custom car shows to stay abreast of the new uses of color. Increasingly, the custom car painter's palettes are influencing the new vehicle designs. One can drive away in a brand new Ford with a candy apple finish to rival the brilliance of the cars that rolled up the boulevards of Southern California 30 years ago. This trend extends to the two-wheeled market. In fact, the color set-ups on the new Harleys are worth the price of admission. With their fat fenders and tanks done in pastels and pinstripes, one is hard pressed to distinguish a '97 from a '57.While visiting the annual Street Rod Jamboree held in Macungie, Pa., in August, I ran across a stunning '39 Ford coupe. Its owner was looking for that nostalgic mild custom look reminiscent of the '50s, and a chose a creamy salmon for its exterior color. The interior, however, was done in an olive green. While that sounds funky, it worked remarkably well. He told me, "I was going to use a maroon leather or saddle color for the inside, but my wife--who is an interior designer--suggested we go to the opposite side of the color wheel. This is what we came up with." 100 ABRN December 1997Purple Reigns
You expect to see purple on Easter baskets, spring lilacs and wine for Passover. But automobiles? While it won't push out green as a wildly popular color any time soon, purple's appearance on the automotive scene doesn't surprise color experts. Check the color-scheme forecast from the Alexandria, Va., based Color Marketing Group. In the palette is "perplexed--a rich, red purple, ethnic and exotic." It is among 16 colors commercial designers are expected to offer in 1998 for everything from interior furnishings to clothing to, yes, automobiles. Chrysler Corp., executive vice-president and design honcho Tom Gale had a slightly different preference when he lobbied for purple as the "only" kickoff color for the 1930-ish, retro-look Plymouth Prowler hot rod that goes on sale in a year. The color? "Prowler purple," of course."Purple has been a color used throughout the history of hot rodding," says Chrysler spokesman Jason Vines. "We wanted to make a statement, and obviously this goes to the roots of classic hot rods," Vines says. Typical hot-rod colors are unusual and sometimes outrageous, he adds-- bright yellows, reds, blacks and purples.But while hot rods typically sport robust colors such as Prowler purple, a rich mid-tone shade, traditional passenger vehicles show trends of their own.Luxury vehicles tend to be muted in tone. Compacts and sporty vehicles often are done in brighter shades. For instance, Mazda's hardtop concept Miata M roadster, introduced at the New York Auto Show, comes in "mica yellow."Green has become so popular for everything in recent years that automakers now consider it as much of a basic vehicle color as white, black or red."Green was one of those surprise colors that came along about five years back," says Alan Eggly, senior creative color designer for General Motors Corp."Currently GM is starting to work on the year 2000," Eggly adds. The colors for future models are a closely guarded secret, so GM and others wouldn't talk color futures. "The automotive industry works further in advance than anyone else, so green for me is something that is really old," Eggly says.And colors evolve from year to year. Forest green and other popular greens are giving way to newer hues. Among those proposed for 1998 by the Color Marketing Group are greens in sage, "clean ... mid-tones," "liquid turquoise" and even a lime-yellow reminiscent of the '50s.Determining color trends is an exacting business, if not an exact science. Under the auspices of the Color Marketing Group, color experts from various industries meet twice each year to determine how influences as diverse as pop music, politics and social trends affect colors' popularity. For example, the preference for green emerged along with environmental concerns, several color analysts say.The latest predictions, announced in mid-March, are for a "brighter, cleaner palette," with richer shades and more primary hues, in 1998 as people be-come more comfortable with advances in technology."In the interior and exterior, we see a warming of the color palette," says Jim Parker, color studio design manager at Chrysler. "ForPurple Reigns
Chrysler, that seems like a good trend because of our softer shapes, from both an interior and exterior standpoint."Troy's DuPont Automotive Finishes develops 250 to 300 colors each year based on predicted trends. Only 10 to 20 percent are considered by vehicle manufacturers for actual use on their products, says Robert S. Daily, Du Pont's color marketing manager.All colors must pass auto companies' durability tests--about a two-year process--so that paints will last for a vehicle's expected lifetime. Expense can be an element in determining what color a vehicle will have. An exterior paint can cost from $2 a gallon to $60 or $70, according to Chrysler's Vines."You obviously would expect a $30,000-something car to have more expensive paint than a $12,000 car," Vines says. But that's not always what happens, given the efficiencies of manufacturing.U.S. manufacturers have developed a rich landscape of hues, textures such as dappled "pearlescent," and multiple layers of color that can change with the light or viewing angle. They are possible because of advances in mixing and applying the organic and inorganic materials used to create those finishes.No matter how sophisticated technology becomes, there's no substitute for the human eye for the final choice, according to Mimi Vandermolen, director of Ford Motor Co.'s trim, color and graphics design, who oversees the selection of about 18 new vehicle colors each year. Ford paints some vehicles in the colors under consideration and parks them where designers and others can see them."We definitely view them in daylight," says Vandermolen. "We leave them outside for about three months in a huge courtyard where everyone can view them."As colors become exotic, so do their names. These are some OEM names for their car colors:* Apache - rich red.* Cortez - brown-based apricot.* Desert Sun - golden yellow.* Mantis - acidic lime-yellow.* Palo Verde - ethereal sage.* Expearment - mid-tone green.* Zuni - liquid turquoise.* Phoenician - Mediterranean blue.* Too Blue - red-based blue.* Purplexed - rich red purple.* Frontier - red-based brown.* Hi-Ho Silver - silvered grey.* Black Tie - sueded black.* Fool's Gold - greenish blond-gold.* Ghost Town - powdered white.* Camelback - yellowed beige.
