The Clerkenwell Post, September 2015

I wrote The Whole Spectrum for the September / October 2015 issue of The Clerkenwell Post – a preview of 100% Design with a special focus on their theme of colour and local exhibitors. (All copy as submitted.)

As the London Design Festival approaches, Katie Treggiden talks to the trend forecaster behind 100% Design’s 12 Colours for 2016 and shares her picks of Clerkenwell-based exhibitors.

100% Design will be celebrating its 21st anniversary in its new location, the Grand and West Halls of Olympia London 23 – 26 September 2015. “It’s another exciting year for 100% Design. We’re set for the most visually dramatic edition yet,” says show director William Knight, referring to the show’s Colour in Design theme, focused around 12 key colours identified by trend-forecasting agency WGSN.

Lisa White was part of the team that selected the 12 colours for 100% Design from the colour palette already identified as globally important for 2016. “There were over 100 colours in our global palettes that we had to boil down to 12, which was no easy task,” she says.

Lisa, who has 20 years experience, says that trend forecasting is half based on quantifiable data and half on gut instinct. “It is most often our intuition that first identifies a design trend,” she explains. “I knew we’d reached the right colours when I could see that they worked as a palette, but also knew each one was also important from an individual standpoint. For example, Dove Grey is getting big at a mainstream level, but it still looks innovative as a cool, sophisticated tone, as Lee Broom demonstrated in his show in Milan last April.”

The 12 colours will be brought to life across the show through specially commissioned editorial features, seminars and live content, and the 400 exhibitors organised by colour on the 100% Design website.

The show’s talks programme includes WGSN’s senior editor Gemma Riberti explaining the agency’s colour forecast in more detail, headline speakers such as Ilse Crawford, Morag Myerscough and Naomi Cleaver, and a Pecha Kucha hosted by founder Mark Dytham.

Other highlights of the show are the Half-Three Café by Fabrica’s Daniel Rous, featuring an installation of hand-blown glass vessels containing different shades of tea, and the auditorium designed by textile artist Anne Kyyrö Quinn, incorporating her signature bold colours, rich textures and wool felt motifs.

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Clerkenwell-based exhibitors to keep an eye out for at 100% Design.

1. Vitra will be demonstrating flexible workspaces that facilitate a variety of ‘work modes’ such as education, work and events. Highlights include Hack and Konstantin Grcic’s All Star and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec’s Workbays.
2. Isomi will be launching Concrete, a new collection of desks.
3. Look Closer by Reclaimed Flooring Company will include a texture station and magnifying glasses to encourage people to get up close and personal with the firm’s collection.
4. Buizzispace will be launching their first furniture collection upholstered with Kvadrat fabrics.