20 May 2011 A FRESH TAKE ON FUTURE GLOBAL TRENDS
Inspired by a 12-month global design journey of more than 4,000 miles, Fresh 2 is a new range of ten surface trends that will shape products and styles across the furniture and interior sector over the coming year.
Created by the design-centric team at Kronospan, the new wood surfaces are style predictions based on current international trends following intense research.
The Fresh 2 surface design palette is complemented by a collection of seven unicolours - from baby blue tones through the spectrum to olive greens and chocolate browns - carefully chosen to balance solid colour with the intimate wood statements.
Paul Duddle, Kronospan's product development and marketing manager, says: "Our Fresh 2 trends are informed by an exhausting mission to immerse ourselves into the global design industry. We use this research to forecast future trends and give our customers the opportunity to keep pace with the surface design 'catwalk'.
"Fresh 2 looks to where interior trends will develop from the current bitter-sweet yearning for nostalgia and vintage; the desire for natural materials, form and tactility; the wish for a more modest home; and an increasingly family-minded consumer who craves unpretentious and welcoming interiors."
As part of the journey, Kronospan also held a pioneering consultation event called The For(u)m at its Centre for Design Excellence in Chirk, North Wales. The For(u)m was an exclusive opportunity for the industry's leading manufacturers, designers, shopfitters and distributors to shape Fresh 2 trends.
The Kronospan design team open the new collection with a bold statement. The rich Santana Oak and the blond Fabric Ash possess a rough Sawn finish that takes the current trend for tactile, deep, natural textures a step further. The surfaces are inspired by the outdoor/indoor trend for unpolished and intimate surfaces that can be explored through touch.
A more contemporary take on the desire for textured surfaces. D6595 Rigoletto is an opulently rich chocolate colour with a fine linier grain. Uniform and consistent in a natural way, the surface is irresistibly tactile, warm and welcoming.
The heavy use of white during the boom years will continue to diminish and instead wood grain juxtaposed with block colours will bring warmth back to interiors. Limed, white or negative pore wood surfaces still allow for light and airy interpretations and the softened grain aids integration with statement colours.
For the reason Kronospan has added D6596 Swiss Elm Light to its Limed decorative trends and paired it with its new uni-colour U7179 Light Blue, a subtle grey with a gentle hint of blue. The effect is a contemporary look that still manages to embrace the traditional grace and rustic origins of wood.
The economic forecast will continue to drive the desire for unostentatious aesthetics. It is a growing need to get back to basics with soft colours and austere beauty to appeal to both our heads and our hearts.
So, Fresh 2 launches three new trends to sit within its more traditional Elegant range. There is the deeply grained D6597 Swiss Elm Dark, the understated D8311 African Walnut and the graceful simpliciity of D8333 Roxy Elegant.
Taking the current craving for unpolished rustic character further, Fresh 2 adds Odessa Oak to Kronospan's Vintage collection. This trend is warm and golden in tone and liberally scattered with an intense grain, pips and knots. The trends for vintage is about reclaimed materials and furniture that has a naturally pure beauty. Set against organic feeling surfaces the style features Chesterfield seating, faux fur throws and eclectic pieces.
The use of wood inspired surfaces will continue to get bolder and will be a major design element used in flooring, panels and feature walls. This audacious use of wood grain will be tempered and broken-up by subtle, soft and matt uni-colours. Fresh 2 has been given seven carefully selected block colours to work perfectly with the new wood grains. From the delicate U7179 Light Blue through to the self-assured U7184 Colorado, each uni-colour has been assigned to a recommended Fresh 2 trend for guidance.
All Fresh 2 decors are partnered by matching laminates and edgings. Confident that Kronospan's designers have tapped into future market trends for surfaces, our distributors have already committed to stocking the new Fresh trends.
For samples or a Fresh 2 brochure, speak to your Kronospan representative or email marketing@kronospan.co.uk.