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HAS ANYBODY CLEARED THIS WITH PINK?

“Think pink this year, interior designers say”

  

  

  

  

 

 

 

“What do the next 12 months hold for interior design? 

The answer is, in a word, pink.”

Whew!!! PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER has been loosing sleep as to what the next year holds for him and his chosen profession. Good thing Pantone is out there to set me straight….or gayly forward.  I know color forecasting is a major industry and color is a major aspect of the visual environment….I get that but come on it is decoration and it is based on fashion and trends- PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER believes this is another point of distinction between those who simply care about how things look vs. those who are concerned with how long things last, where they came from, where they are going and whether they are an essential component of an interior environment that actually improves people’s lives and/or livelihoods.  That’s why PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER’S favorite color is clear!

No wonder people do not take us seriously.

“Pink is intense and focused on the now. It’s young, but not too young.”

“…pink ‘elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.’”

“Flirtatious, light-hearted and girly cute,”   Aaaarrrrggghhhh!

source: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110106/LIVING03/701069995

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2013914040_honey14.html

“Just be prepared for a fling rather than a long-term relationship, Bayer cautioned. “I think it’s going to be a short-lived trend.”

WORD!

Michael Dudek

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8 responses to “HAS ANYBODY CLEARED THIS WITH PINK?”

  1. Designer Extrodinaire Avatar
    Designer Extrodinaire

    I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now and find it very refreshing. Nice to know someone else pukes over reading articles like this and of course that pillow article too. Totally stunned that was even written. But just like the National Enquirer there are people who actually read this stuff. I’m an Interior Designer in Florida and we have a lot going on here with the whole Decorator vs. Designer title and licensing issue. However, I’m one of those you described in a previous blog that belongs to the ‘I’m too busy doing my job too care’ group. Just perusing the internet one last spring I stumbled onto the lawsuit. Found out that I belong to a cartel and now I have to watch my back because there is a lady wearing pink boxing gloves out to get me. Maybe that’s why I don’t like pink anymore. Anyway thanks for your blog, keep up the good work.

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  2. Michael Dudek Avatar
    Michael Dudek

    hey thanks for the note- yeah I did not think about the connection with the pink boxing gloves…good grief she is going to feel even more empowered.

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    1. Color Theory Avatar
      Color Theory

      Yes, Patti Morrow and her Pink Boxing Gloves is a bit of a cartoon character, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that color IS IMPORTANT in Interior Design. You just can’t dismiss all of the aspects of interior design that require taste and natural talent and call them “decoration”. So what if Pantone picked Pink this year. After all they are in the business of helping designers choose colors.

      Some Designers have been using vibrant colors for years such as Jamie Drake, and Jamie is a Professional Member of ASID so I assume he has some type of Design Degree. I think he went to Parsons.
      http://www.drakedesignassociates.com/

      Michael, I’m curious as to what you think of Jamie Drake’s portfolio?

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      1. Michael Dudek Avatar
        Michael Dudek

        Thanks CT..I appreciate the comment. I wholeheartedly agree that color is important in interior design. I did not mean to devalue it’s importance-much as it is important in the automotive industry (which ultimately sets the major color trends but I digress), nature, fashion, advertising, wayfinding, athletics, branding…the list goes on. But I think much like anything to do with marketing and pop culture these days the celebration of one color as the trend is really much ado about nothing. Utlimately what it represents is fashion, a fad, a trend to be painted over next year by the new de rigueur color of the moment. Frankly if I painted a clients walls pink just because it is the so-called color of the moment I would be doing my client a diservice since it will be passe’, and oh so ’11 by next Spring. It is a sorry cycle of fashion over substance…have I made my point? Now had the article touted the actual physiological affects of pink and cited research confirming it’s ability to relax muscle tissue and how and where this color may best be implemented I would not have started the thread. But they didn’t. NOTE TO MS. MORROW: Boxing Gloves are red for reason-Pink boxing gloves maybe a good substitute for Valium but not much else.

        Now to Jamie Drake. I think Mr. Drake has an incredible sense of color pattern and texture. He is an incredibly talented INTERIOR DESIGNER. But I bet he thinks Pink is passe’..the color not the singer.

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  3. Michael Dudek Avatar
    Michael Dudek

    P.S. Pantone said it…not interior designers…arrrgghh!

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  4. Maureen Soules Avatar
    Maureen Soules

    Mike, I love your blog; really I do. I just wish you would be a little more thoughtful in selecting your initial words so you would need less time explaining them or apologizing for them.

    That being said, I must call you out on your “gayly forward” comment. It comes across as a pretty snarky and homophobic… and unprofessional; something I’m sure you would like to avoid. Pink is a tint of red which is indeed a masculine color afterall.
    Color plays a huge part of the psychological impact of a built environment and affects personal interaction and performance, so to denegrate color as a topic only decorators would be concerned with is narrow-minded and unfair to those of us designing spaces where color is critical, like mental health, dementia/alzheimer facilities, prisons, childcare/educational…. I could go on and on…. I think what you are really ranting on is that pink is not your favorite color, and that this article was written from a decorator’s point of view, not a designer’s. A designer would have spoken about the pscyhological impact, not the “girly-ness” that you site. I agree, this is very disappointing, but who is the author’s target audience? Not designers. We already know this stuff. They are targeting the HGTV suckers who like pink…. and pillows.

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  5. Michael Dudek Avatar
    Michael Dudek

    Maureen thanks for chiming in. The only thing I will apologize for is that my acerbically arid sense of humor sometimes get’s in the way of my point. I find that sarcasm helps me deal with the inanity of the interior decorator vs. interior designer vs. interior architect debacle. When I am wearing my academic garb I take the issue very seriously and will continue to do so. However this blog is anything but scholarly. Yes the interior design professional identity crisis is serious but it is impossible to take these issues seriously 24/7. This is my outlet and I appreciate your visits.
    I am anything but homophobic. You would have to drive with me to appreciate my preference for heading gayly forward instead of left, right or straight. You would not believe how many times I have bit my tongue, lip and tonsils holding back from commenting on the stereotypecasting that is rife in this profession- l try to avoid the low hanging fruit…… (D’Oh! there I go again with the inappropriate metaphor). I appreciate your sensitivity though.
    Finally I like Pink (the color and the artist). My problem is that if this is the public face of “interior design”, and it most definitely is, then we all get slimed….by a bilious yellow gelatinous slime..ahh the descriptive power of color. I am sure the people who study the psychological and physiological effects of color find the preponderance of color as meaningless fashion trend equally frustrating.

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  6. Maureen Soules Avatar
    Maureen Soules

    Mike, you always keep us on our toes! Thanks for that. I must commend you one one thing: You have the guts to write and say what many of us are already thinking but are too conservative to post. Those of us just starting out in the world of academia (with rose-colored lenses) appreciate looking at our profession through your sometimes jaded lense.. albeit an accurate view sometimes. I like rose and jade together. Afterall, they are complementary colors on the wheel, don’t you think? Gee, I think this might be the topic of my next blog….. Thanks for your inspiration!

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