Marianne Shillingford
So, Marianne, tell us what does a day in the life as the Creative Director of Dulux look like?
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The only routine thing about my day is a morning run, strong coffee and marmite on hot buttered toast. After that everything depends on what’s happening out there and what color and paint demand of me. There are always questions to answer, features to write, new colors to launch and new possibilities to explore with paint and decorating. I work with all of the teams at Dulux from our global and UK Color experts to R&D, plus the brilliant Dulux Academy (where I get to have hands-on fun with paint whenever I want). I also have the privilege of meeting some incredible people in the creative industries from young designers to well established design heroes. Every day is jam packed but that’s where the similarity stops because no two days are ever the same.
That sounds amazing! Being at the forefront of the industry, how do you feel the way we are using color has changed over the last 10 years?
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Instagram and all social media platforms that combine inspiration with the opportunity to share ideas has made us all much more confident about using color. Being able to see how it’s going to look before we specify it or dash out to the DIY store also helps. Free technology you can download onto your phone, like the Dulux Visualiser, seems to make us much happier to break away from off whites and safe neutrals. Trying out something new is no longer a leap of faith – it’s a considered confident choice.
We couldn’t agree more. We love incorporating color into the palettes we fashion. When looking forward… where do you first start to see new color trends emerging?
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We see them emerging in all the usual places you would expect like new materials, product design, technology and social media sharing platforms but probably most importantly we see it in what people consider to be important. What we value in terms of the things and ideas we are willing to spend our time, effort, emotions and money on. In the past few years, this more human centered approach to identifying color trends has been hugely successful. It is less tangible but far more interesting and accurate – that and you don’t end up with exactly the same (or a slight variation) of the same color story everyone else does.
Are there certain areas of life that you feel most inspired by when pulling together new color concepts?
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When talking to people and being tuned in to what’s going on in the wider world. We talk to experts in all areas of design as well as people who understand what we want and need from the places in which we live and work on a holistic level. It's only when you communicate, listen carefully and look at things in fresh ways that you have something new and interesting to offer.
Do colors have cycles of popularity like we perhaps see with styles in fashion?
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Absolutely! The eye doesn’t suddenly discover ‘new’ colors because they are always there, it's just that we notice them again and the heart responds to them in different ways when the time is right. Color captures the way we feel just as much as it reflects a period of history or the resurgence of a popular material, light quality or design style.
The Dulux Color of the year 2020 is, of course, Tranquil Dawn, but are there any other colors that you think will begin trending through the year?
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It will be palettes of colors that capture the way we feel and want to feel right now that will be more important than single color trends. Soothing chalky pastels for places in which we need to relax and recharge, uplifting zesty brights for family spaces and gutsy, rich creative palettes for bedrooms and living rooms will come to the fore. Color blocking, painting the ceiling with color and splitting colors across walls will rise in popularity throughout the year.
Do you think the emotive language of color should play a part when selecting colors for the home?
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The name of a color should ideally reflect the way it looks and the way it is going to make the space ‘feel’ when you are in it. Choosing color and using it on the walls of our home or workplace is also a task that we emotionally invest in, so to unveil your masterpiece and announce it as simply ‘light blue’ or ‘pink’ just feels like you’re drinking warm flat lemonade.
As there is a huge focus at present on wellbeing, are there any colors which you would suggest to bring calmness during chaotic times in our lives?
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Wellbeing in design and interior decoration is everything. From the correct height of your office chair to the quality of light and air in your living room. It includes considerations about the provenance and sustainability of what we choose to buy and how effective it is at performing the task it is intended for. ‘Wellbeing’ has become associated with mindfulness and good mental health in recent years and for good reason, but wellbeing is much deeper and more fundamental than that. I can hear myself starting to rant… so back to the bit of wellbeing I really know something about... In color terms, it is the shades that give us what we need for the situation we find ourselves in right now that will offer us the greatest sense of wellbeing. The soft greens and blues of nature that reconnect us with the outside while we are stuck indoors. The deep rich colors of the night while our sleep is disturbed by worry and dreams are not the flying kind.
What would your 'Top 5' hacks be in relation to color? Whether that be selecting, pairing or even painting!
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I have a constantly changing top 100 but here are 5 that seem important right now.
1\ Look for the colors you love in the things that are around you and use these as inspiration for your walls. There is free tech on your phone, like the color picking tool on the Dulux Visualiser, that will help you pick and match colors as well as create palettes that work together beautifully.
2\ Learn how to tint bits of old paint you have left over from other jobs into colors that you do love for little projects and art work. Invest in an 8oz tester pot of primary colors - Red: Monarch, Yellow: Goldcup, Blue: Oxford Blue, Black and Vandyke Brown. Add a big tin of white. These are the color equivalents of flour, eggs, pasta, salt pepper and olive oil in your kitchen cupboard.
3\ Use dark shades to make things stand out in a room and pale ones to make them step back
4\ Pops of bold color in a room are fine but they act like naughty children when there are too many of them. Two or three are more than enough.
5\ Invest in good paintbrushes and rollers and learn how to clean them out and look after them. Good tools make light work of all jobs. I have brushes that are older than my children (the oldest is nearly 30…).
And finally for our last question, we must ask, as an expert in color… What is your favorite color?
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Orange… It makes me happy every day!
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