About Colour Next

Overview

At Asian Paints, we've been studying colour and its varied influences on lifestyle since 2003 and year after year we are fascinated by the small and big stories that emerge out of the vibrant landscape that is this world.

Every year, our colour marketing team collaborates with experts from a range of creative disciplines -- architecture, art, interiors, fashion, sociology, media and FMCG, to put together ColourNext, a comprehensive forecast of design directions in colours, materials, textures and finishes that are relevant to the world. Over the years, ColourNext has evolved as the subcontinent's foremost, one-of-its-kind, intelligence in colour and material.

The ColourNext research is aimed at mapping societal shifts in India, which entails an in-depth analysis of consumer behaviour and sentiments, consumption patterns, lifestyle triggers and changes in tastes and preferences across demographics. News, articles, and periodicals are referred to, which are further categorised, tagged, and studied to identify emerging stories. Focus group discussions, expert interviews and multiple co-creation workshops are conducted with industry experts to gather insight tailored to industry, region, or market. Stronger design directions with relevant future manifestations are later translated into home décor themes for the upcoming year.

Group discussions & expert interviews gauge consumer sentiment and societal moods through open-ended interactions with experts from various backgrounds. The objective is to seek individual viewpoints on emerging societal culture in the Indian society. Consolidation and analyses of the insights from the group discussions and expert interviews feed into the secondary research data

Trend Workshops

Trend workshops help engage with leading experts from various backgrounds to assess, evaluate and get further inputs on societal and visual cues. The emphasis is on looking into the nuances of society and recognising consumer behaviours and needs, seeking validation and refining the previously emerged directions. Collaboration with creative visual experts refines the stories further and takes the strongly emerging design direction forward. The objective of this phase is to add a visual form to the complex cultural processes identified and shortlisted in the previous phase.

Colour Workshops

During Colour & material workshops, along with the visual depiction, colour, material, finish, texture, and pattern, palettes are defined and developed for every theme. A closed group of consultants work together to understand evolving material preferences, colour qualities, finish, and texture attributed to each design direction. An extensive CMFT research leads us to translate the societal shifts into a tangible forecast for the coming year. Over the years the research has expanded to dive deeper into materials and their properties and emerge with a detailed material forecast.