Handmade

With muses such as arts and crafts, artisanal items, made by the hand, and presented with heart, Handmade is filled with inspiration.

This rich, chocolaty brown, with both yellow and red undertones, connotes artisan craftsmanship and a connection to creativity. With a hue inspired by such disparate origins as confections, handcrafted pottery, hand-tooled leather, and architectural accents, Handmade emerges as a true “makers” color. Originating during Color Marketing Group’s Asia Pacific meetings in 2018 to emerge in 2020, Handmade is a hue to suggest all things that come from the hand and heart.

With a desire for warmth and security paramount in interior home, Handmade meets the call with a hue that is familiar and friendly. It has a richness that creates a sense of comfort and can appear simple or sumptuous depending on materials and finishes. It is a new look color for architectural paint as Handmade is natural, inviting and evokes an Arts and Crafts legacy in architecture.

Often derided in fashion and “boring brown,’ Handmade is celebrating a new life and gaining momentum, especially as an accent color for accessories. It is a classic for shoes, bags, and business cases, it is staking a claim as a more modern alternative to black for the ability to more easily show its workmanship.

Auto interiors in Handmade suggest the custom work of past vehicles. It is a welcome relief to ubiquitous black and grey and adds the warmth from home to redefine automobile interiors. Handmade’s rich brown is reminiscent of luggage and travel, and while that may be curtailed for a time, the stitching details, padding, and rich textures of vintage travel cases conjure a sumptuous effect that will enhance the automotive interior, whether driving in the city or cruising the highway.

Handmade is inspired by many things, which is part of its colorful charm. Cuisine is often an inspiration for color and that is certainly true of chocolate. The allure of chocolate is irresistible to most, from its use in main courses to, of course, sweet endings. The mere mention of “chocolate brown” is enough to stand taste buds at attention and elicit a longing known best to those who adore the cocoa bean’s power. Artisanal confectioners have introduced a new world of “handmade” chocolates and sweets, Handmade celebrates its origins.

Somewhat charming, filled with meaning, and inspired by many origins, Handmade is a modern, on-trend take on brown that finds comfort and acceptance in almost any application.

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August 2020 CONTRIBUTORS:  Sandy Sampson, Mark Woodman, Samantha MacLean, Judith van Vliet