Tea dance and tango to set the trend for 2012

‘Tea Dance’ is the colour of 2012 according to AkzoNobel, the largest paints and coatings company in the world.

The company’s annual ColourFutures is a comprehensive guide on colour trends and patterns for the year and is created by a set of global colour experts. Every year, ColourFutures presents one dominant colour trend, forecasts themes and introduces a new colour palette, which will be in vogue for the year. For 2012, the dominant concept is ‘Possibilities’.

Talking about this, Humsa Dhir, country communications manager, AkzoNobel, India, said: "For 2012, we have identified ‘Possibilities’ as our core concept. This builds on the theme for last year, ‘Appreciation’ and encourages combining materials and colours in new, unexplored and uninhibited ways.

"In 2011, the colour mood was clean, fresh, joyful and charming, with playful, zingy pastels riding the trend. 2012 is full of take-charge optimism. This translates into a diverse colour palette ranging from full bodied hues with lots of character and meaning, to tender, hushed pastels, to chic neutrals and edgy brights, which complement each other in stimulating, new ways.”

The Colour of the year is a blushing, lively, juicy tomato red called ‘Tea Dance’. Red is a powerful mood-modifier and held in high regard around the world for its many symbolic purposes. In China, it is associated with good fortune; in India it signals marital bliss and insightfulness.

Meanwhile Pantone has named its colour of the year as ‘Tangerine Tango’.

"Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. "Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”