FAF 2024. Colour trends, trend colours: 2024 is all earthy hues and soft pastels

With FAF FARBWERTE, the FAF trade fair is dedicating a special area and even its own award to the topic of colour and material trends. We took a look around FAF exhibitors and spoke to Markus Schlegel, Professor of Colour Project Development in the Colour Design competence field at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim. One thing became quickly clear: the (colour) journey in 2024 is heading towards pastel, natural, earthy tones. Always depending on how and where the colour is intended to be applied. For the façade sector, Sto says: "Façade paints in white and neutral colours such as black, grey or beige are still in vogue. Natural and earthy colours are particularly popular. No wonder: because the most beautiful colours are of natural origin."

For interior applications, Caparol sees "honey-gold" as this year’s trending colour, a shade "that can brighten up rooms and at the same time lends warmth, envelops and grounds. Honey gold - at home in many colour worlds, perfect for combining!"

The colour trends 2024 issued by KEIM are a bit more differentiated, with no single colour becoming "Winner of the Year". Nevertheless, pastel shades take centre stage here too. In the KEIM Avantgarde colour series, for example, we identify delicate ochre, muted light grey and pale reed green, while the Exclusive series is complemented by colour notes that we would most likely describe as old rose, sage green and fine, almost Parisian grey. All very understated. very restrained. The colour experts at KEIM know: "Colours have a psychological effect on people by triggering emotions and moods in us: they can have a calming or stimulating effect, promote concentration or contribute to our human orientation."

Also very much on the psychological side is the current RAL Colour Feeling 2025+ trend report, which identifies 15 colours. Under the umbrella term "Care & Collaborate", these colours pay tribute to properties such as resonant, stimulating, robust, supportive and inclusive. RAL explains: "The focus on the circular economy, ethical consideration and regenerative design is a model for a future society that is already worth working for now." Accordingly, the spectrum of these trend colours ranges from invigorating shades such as garlic beige, fox red and summer blue to calming colours such as opaline pink, sea green and light violet as well as grounding hues such as brick yellow, apricot brown and crimson red.

Markus Schlegel, Professor of Colour Project Development in the Colour Design competence field at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim: "At a time when we are talking about change, reorientation and rethinking everywhere, and this transformation is also – amongst other things – reflected in new requirements for spaces, it is the task of designers to offer solutions for this. In this context, we therefore see companies not only as manufacturers of materials, but above all as creative partners who provide design offerings alongside their products and services."

Finally, the IIT Institute International Trendscouting of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim, commissioned by FAF to conceptually design the FAF FARBWERTE special area, has determined a zeitgeist-oriented range of 15 colours for the trade fair under the direction of Professor Markus Schlegel: the FAF FARBWERTE Design Futures. The professor explains: "These are based on research into megatrends and their influence on our lives, on actions, on design in general, on living and the expectation of design in space." FAF exhibitors were invited to provide themed material samples, which IIT HAWK curated as installations on the 250 square metres of FAF FARBWERTE. In this way this special area brings together the design expertise of trade, industry, basically the entire business sector and makes it possible to experience it up close. An independent jury will select the three best of these interpretations and present the FAF FARBWERTE AWARD powered by AIT-Dialog on the opening day of the trade fair.