Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, announces the release of ColorForward 2020, the 14th edition of the annual color forecasting guide for the plastics industry.

While consumer preference has been trending toward warmer tones in recent years, Clariant color-trend watchers see a shift to cooler blues and greens in the palette they developed for 2020. In fact, of the 20 colors in the latest edition of ColorForward, five of them are different shades of green. Some are genuine and natural looking, while others seem more artificial or "digital."

That doesn’t mean the 2020 trend colors don’t include some warmth, said Judith van Vliet, ColorWorks designer and a leader of the ColorForward team. There are a range of reds, yellows and even a couple of oranges. These tend to be bright and, in many cases, translucent or tuned up with special effect pigments.

The ColorForward workshop was held this year at the Clariant ColorWorks center in Singapore. An international team of Clariant specialists came together for a week-long series of creative exercises aimed at defining four global trend themes that can be  expected to influence consumers in the near and mid-term future, and selecting colors or color combinations that evoke an emotional response related to each trend.