NCS White Paper on Colour Trend Forecasting

The NCS – Natural Colour System®©, a Color Marketing Group (CMG) Partner, shares the importance of colour systems and anlaysis in the colour trend forecasting process.

Colour Trend Timing

Colour trends are important! It is the understanding of what colours our customers prefer at a given time in the future. If we do our job correctly, we will sell a lot, thanks to the colours we choose. If not, we will not sell. Simple.

How do we come the conclusion of what colours will sell in the coming years?

Firstly, we need to understand what colours are preferred today. Then we need to understand in what direction our colour preferences are moving and why. Lastly we need to conclude where our colour preferences will be at the time we have defined and why.

The Thinking Behind Colour Forecasting

In the process, we need to consider the logics of the way our brain, our psychology works, independently on the exterior drivers and influences.

Studies show that colour trends is a repetitive cycle, once our brains get tired of being exposed to domination colour areas, we want to have colours from the opposite extreme of the colour space.

Once we understand this, we can understand in what directions the trends most likely will go.

Colour Trends 2019+ White Paper CMG_Sida_3_NCS

Study made by Dr. Leonhard Oberascher

Even though the steps overlap, this makes colour trend forecasting much more accurate. Without a proper analysis in to the visual colour space of NCS – Natural Colour System®©, it becomes a much more subjective and intuitive observation.

Colour Trends 2019+ White Paper CMG_Sida_5_NCS

An analysis of trend colours over the last three years.

After that we need to understand which micro and macro drivers will push our colour preferences in certain directions.

Colour Directions

Colour trends are seldom about single colours. They are about what colour areas people prefer, what hues and what nuances. A colour trend is not an isolated phenomenon, it is a consequence of a ste0-by-step shift of our preferences in certain directions. To define colour directions we need to have a colour space. Preferably, that colour space should be based on our visual perception so all of us can understand. The plot above shows the forecasted colours for 2016, 2018 and 2019. You can clearly see the movements in nuances and hues over time.

In colour trend forecasting, one of the biggest challenges, is to define, communicate, discuss, and agree on what colours and colour areas will be preferred.

Benefits of the NCS System

The NCS System was researched and created precisely because of the need to understand colour and the need to be able to define, communicate, discuss, and agree on colours. NCS is the only existing colour language that is based 100% on how we perceive colour. NCS describes the colour we see and allows everyone to understand.

The balance of our experience, our intuition, and feelings, with a rational analysis in the colour space, assures a much more precise conclusion of the colours we will use in the future.

Colour Analysis in Colour Trend Forecasting

If we have identified that brown colours will become trendy, the question arises; what brown colours? The analysis below is a conclusion of a group of people asked to define what their perfect brown would be.

Colour Trends 2019+ White Paper CMG_Sida_2_NCS

Once we have clearly defined the colours, colour areas, and the colour directions, we should communicate this information to the market and industries so that they can base their colour decisions in the defined colour areas are the most suitable for their products.

Colour Trends 2019+ White Paper CMG_Sida_4_NCS

S 5040-B10G is the forecasted colour

Accurate Colour Selection Pays

Colour is far more important than most people realize and we need to treat it as such. Wrong colour decisions based on inaccurate colour definitions cost a lot. The success of a colour forecast shall always be based on our experience, our expertise, our intuition, and on the corresponding rational analysis. NCS does not forecast, it is the tool to confirm that we make the correct decisions.