Earthy, calming and invigorating - this is how the new trend colors are presented by the "RAL Trendbox 2025+", which has now been awarded the German Design Award Gold 2024. The box not only comes with a color fan and uniform patterns, but also has a lot to offer in terms of feel.
Together with an international design team and the IIT Institute International Trendscouting at the Hildesheim Faculty of Design at the HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen under the direction of Timo Rieke, RAL took a close look at which color palettes will be relevant for the coming year and beyond.
"People are looking for reassurance in familiar shapes and stabilizing colors, but also dare to use lively, motivating nuances with a high degree of colourfulness," says Timo Rieke about the three different colour worlds represented by the selected trend colors. The 15-piece palette also comes with a special feature: in addition to the standard pattern, the colors were printed on a wide variety of materials, such as powder-coated metal, carpet and textiles. This type of presentation shows the versatility of the color palettes in a whole new light, makes it easier to experiment and create mood boards and invites you to use them in a wide variety of design areas.
According to the IIT, a certain timelessness should also be achieved with the color palette, so the trend colors deliberately cover a longer-term impact period. Despite, or perhaps because of the intended longevity, the concept is also convincing in detail: five sub-categories place the colors in an emotional context: the grounding palette is intended to have a warm, inviting and tactile effect. The five colors of the calming palette are intended to leave a natural, sensual and nature-loving impression, whereas the invigorating palette with refreshing blues and oranges appears very dynamic.This creative implementation also convinced the jury of the German Design Award, and the material collection therefore won the German Design Award Gold 2024 in the "Excellent Product Design" category in the "Material and Surface" section. The effort to create an "extremely useful tool and a ground-breaking aid", as the jury described it in its statement, was not only successful, but also received public recognition.
You can find more information about the RAL Trendbox here. If you don't want to miss any more news from the world of design, please subscribe to our newsletter.
Pictures: www.ral-farben.de/ral-trendbox
Text: Johanna Schmees