cmf design
Color - material - finishing + pattern
CMF design
Expertise from different angles
In unique disciplines that connect everything together. A crucial link in industrial product design originating from the automotive industry. CMF design stands for Color, Material, Finishing, and, not unimportantly, pattern design. It’s a discipline that focuses on the aesthetic and emotional aspects of product development. It’s an artistic field, but its value is also determined by psychological, scientific, and production knowledge. This includes knowledge of color psychology, material science, and manufacturability. A CMF designer serves as the intermediary between designers, engineers, material suppliers, and manufacturers. To develop innovative products, expertise from various perspectives is essential. Therefore, close collaboration is fundamental.
As a designer, I collaborate with Unique Qolors for this purpose. They are a masterbatch manufacturer with their own R&D lab and production facilities. The promise of Unique Qolors: A solution for every polymer. They are specialists in developing colors and polymer-related materials.
Foresight & trends
Detective work and confirmation
Research, early detection, and recognizing patterns – that’s what it’s all about when determining and defining trends. I’m talking about foresight because it involves the intuitive way of recognizing patterns. When we talk about forecasting, it’s always substantiated by concrete and qualitative data; data confirmed. Foresight is more based on personal perception, but when you immerse yourself continuously in trends, patterns emerge in an intuitive manner. You must be particularly obsessed with what might unexpectedly become a new market or trend in 2, 5, or 10 years.
Aesthetics
Philosophy of beauty
Aesthetics, the art of perception, and in particular, the perception of beauty. We are surrounded by aesthetics – color, contrast, shape, proportion. You’re looking for the balance and harmony between the different elements. You could say that aesthetics is subjective, but what appears pleasing is also scientifically substantiated. We, as humans, have a strong preference for what is considered pleasant, and, in fact, it directly influences our emotions.
When a consumer makes a product choice, approximately 40% is determined by its appearance. With the need for a clear positioning, distinctiveness plays a significant role. Distinctiveness can be developed through the right aesthetic choices, considering identity, ethics, context, and trends.
Color design +development
The emotional and scientific value
Color, so small yet significant. Color isn’t always tangible; it’s almost taken for granted that it exists. Color is both an aesthetic discipline as well as a scientific one.
Color design
The aesthetic aspect of color design encompasses the creative and trend-based choices of color to achieve attractive and harmonious designs. This includes the psychological and emotional impact of color on people and how colors can strengthen a brand identity or evoke a specific atmosphere.
Color development
On the other hand, there’s the scientific side of color development, where we delve into how color relates. Color is determined by the way objects absorb and reflect light, which is based on their chemical composition and surface structure. The science of color, known as colorimetry, involves measuring and analyzing color quantitatively.
Color development has a strong foundation in science. For this, I collaborate with Unique Qolors, a masterbatch manufacturer specializing in the development of unique masterbatches and all things polymer-related. They have their own R&D lab equipped with advanced color measurement systems.”
CMF storytelling
Material narrative for the bigger picture
Every material has its own identity, physical properties and possibilities. Material plays both a functional role and a multisensory role that, in turn, triggers emotions. By finding the right balance, we enhance the user experience of a product or environment. In recent decades, materials have become an indispensable part of the story, driven by innovative developments and an unprecedented choice of materials, as well as the need for sustainability and circularity.
Choosing materials based on functional properties, trends, and aesthetic balance is no longer enough. Sustainability is a ‘need to have,’ and in the design process, we must also consider the product lifecycle. What happens to a product at the end of its lifecycle? When making choices, we must consider many parameters. With a native dose of creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration, we can combine all these factors to create innovative and functional products with significant emotional value.
When it comes to knowledge of material & color development, innovation, I have a close partnership with Unique Qolors. They excel in the development of polymer-related materials.
