Color as a cultural construct. How are trends born?
He was the host and moderator of the event Konstantin Kovshevatsky, chief editor of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA. Konstantin began the solemn part of the evening with a question to the audience: "What is the color of the year about?" Every time I ask myself this question and cannot find an answer, I remember one of my favorite historians, Michel Pastoureau, namely his monograph "History of Color". In his work, Pasturo convinces that color is not a natural phenomenon, but a cultural construct that affects us and is affected by us, that changes and transforms over time," Kovshevatsky said.
Chief editor of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky
Evidence that humanity perceived color differently in different eras can also be primitive artifacts. Kovshevatsky recalled the caves of Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain, where almost the most important rock paintings in history, which scientists call the earliest art, have been preserved. On the walls of caves, ancient people depicted bison, horses and bears. "It would seem that primitive man had to depict animals with photographic accuracy. However, all images are painted in bright red and yellow ochre. Why so?" asks Konstantin.
Kovshevatsky took another example from pop culture, recalling an episode from the popular film "The Devil Wears Prada". When Andrea Sachs (Anne Gathaway), a young, inexperienced assistant, mocks a colleague who can't choose between two shades of blue, the main character Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) tells her: “You chose your baggy blue sweater because you want to look serious. But you won't even guess that this sweater is not just blue, but sky blue. You will not guess that for the appearance of this color, millions of dollars were spent and the hard work of hundreds of designers was put in," Kovshevatsky quoted the main character of the film and conveyed the word Anne of Canary, to AkzoNobel's marketing specialist in Ukraine, who told how color trends appear and how AkzoNobel chooses the color of the year.
AkzoNobel Marketing Specialist in Ukraine Anna Kanarska
AkzoNobel is one of the world's largest concerns that produces paints not only for interiors and architectural needs, but also for industry. The company is represented in dozens of countries around the world and has its own institute that researches colors and shapes trends. AkzoNobel has been on the Ukrainian market for over 22 years. Anna of Canary remembered that one of the first color trends from AkzoNobel was Sadolin paints in the color "rotten cherry" - in the 2000s, this color became explosively popular among car owners.
AkzoNobel's color trend research institute is called the Global Aesthetic Center. This is a closed institution, the research of which is classified. All research work is headed by a creative director Helen van Gent and four colorists from different fields. "Behind these people are many more specialists from different departments: laboratory workers who measure and match colors, factory workers, country managers, marketing specialists and marketing departments who work with materials, distribute information and collect and communicate market statistics at the Global Aesthetic Center," says AkzoNobel's marketing specialist.
The presentation of the color of the year was attended by famous Ukrainian designers, architects and artists
Global Aesthetic Center specialists also have access to tinting bases that designers and architects work with, as well as access to competitors' bases. In addition, the institute analyzes global trends and the results of popular design competitions and festivals. The next stage of work is the formation of color palettes and trends. At this stage, the Global Aesthetic Center team works together with designers and decorators, specialists take into account popular textures and materials, discuss trends in other areas, for example, in architecture, such as the use of clay or thatched roofs. Kanarska calls the analysis of social trends the most important factor — exactly the social moods in society and the world are equivalent to color trends.
"This is a very bright and positive color. All the positive emotions imaginable are associated with it. He is sunny, encourages active actions, inspires. This color prompts to take a decisive step"
"If you analyze the colors of Sadolin for 22 years, you can see the main trends where the world is moving. For example, 2004-2007 had a lot of cool tones. During the economic crisis of 2008, yellow tones begin to appear. If you look at the trends today, we also see more warm and yellow tones," he comments Anna of Canary and adds that the choice of the color of the year 2025 was largely influenced by the events in Ukraine: "In the presentation there were many references to the fact that the war in Ukraine affected the entire society and the world. We are not somewhere behind the scenes, we are in the center of events."
Designers Svitlana Serdyuk and Iryna Redvanska
All global trends are then systematized. After analyzing the collected data, experts form three trendy color palettes, each of which has its own idea and name. One dominant trend is singled out, which reflects the global idea of where the world is going, and this trend is turned into the color of the year.
The designers and founders of the Obrazyuk Design studio commissioned Sadolin ColorFutures 2025 to present the color of the year Olga Obrazyuk. TRUE JOY — bright yellow — became the main color.
The color of the year was presented by Olga Obrazyuk, designer and founder of Obrazyuk Design
"It is a very bright and positive color. All the positive emotions imaginable are associated with it. He is sunny, encourages active actions, inspires. This color prompts to take a decisive step - to jump forward to a bright future, to dare to change, this is its main idea," comments Obrazyuk and names the three main social trends from Sadolin and the three color palettes that correspond to them.
Trend #1: "Leap into the unknown." Symbolizes changes in life, new discoveries and achievements that people decide on in difficult times. The color scheme that corresponds to this trend is called "Brave": it consists of bright yellow, blue, terracotta and pastel tones. In general, this gamma gives an energetic fervor, the mission of which is to push for change. "The palette gives an impetus to jump into the unknown, because in each color there is a lot of energy, charge and mood, which can stimulate making unusual decisions, moving to other countries, learning other languages and cultures, developing, moving forward," comments Obrazyuk .
Trend #2: "Be proud of human creativity and craftsmanship". It broadcasts respect for authentic handwork, handmade products and traditional practices. The "Lyudska" color palette corresponds to this trend, it contains calm, natural and pastel shades that come from yellow. This range can refer, in particular, to Ukrainian roots — to work with clay, natural materials and fabrics. The designer advises to boldly use this palette in interiors.
The presentation of the color of the year took place in the GNRTR Coworking space
Trend #3: "Enjoy and be proud of your identity". This trend calls for a return to our cultural heritage: to ask ourselves who we are, where we come from and what our self-identification is. The color palette of the trend is "Proud". It is more restrained, spacious, the colors are yellow, terracotta, light gray, beige. “This palette is about embracing your heritage, here we see very natural shades. It is appropriate to use the palette to combine modernity and our ethnic motifs - embroidery, jugs, handmade ceramics, but also the ethnicities of other cultures."
"If you analyze the colors of Sadolin for 22 years, you can see the main trends where the world is moving. In the years 2004-2007 there were many cold tones, during the economic crisis of 2008 yellow shades appeared. If you look at the trends today, there are also more warm and yellow tones," — Anna Kanarska
Olga Obrazyuk also presented options for using the color TRUE JOY in interiors and exteriors and explained how yellow can be used to create bright color accents by combining it with more neutral shades: "This color scheme is exactly for brave customers who are not afraid of bold decisions that are not are afraid of this energy."
Discussion panel: Anna Kanarska, Olena Fateeva, Nikita Vlasov, Olga Obrazyuk, Yaroslav Zakharchenko and Denys Muzika
Fall in love with TRUE JOY. What architects, designers and artists think
Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky started the second, discussion part of the event with the question: "Will it be easy to fall in love with the color TRUE JOY?" They took part in the discussion Anna of Canary from AkzoNobel and designer Olga Obrazyuk, as well as other famous Ukrainian designers and artists: the founder of the Fateeva Design creative studio Olena Fateeva, the leading architect of the company archimatika Yaroslav Zakharchenko, artist and founder of Nikita Vlasov Art Nikita Vlasov, jeweler and co-founder of VERSTAK Denys Muzyka. PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA retells the main theses of the discussion panel and the brightest quotes from the participants.
The founder of the creative studio Fateeva Design, Olena Fateeva, suggested painting architectural monuments in bright colors
Olena Fateeva (Fateeva Design): There is a lot of yellow in my projects. In my first interior, I used yellow as an accent, then this color moved from one project to another, and I very often used it in simple schemes. In general, yellow for me is the color of Mimosa salad, I feel its softness, aroma, and it seems to me that there should not be a lot of Mimosa, so it is better to use this color in moderation - for example, as an accent.
The architect of the archimatika company, Yaroslav Zakharchenko, dreams of creating a residential complex in a bright monochromatic palette
Yaroslav Zakharchenko (archimatika): We used yellow in Comfort Town. Everyone knows about this complex - it seems to me that this project has completely changed the real estate market in Ukraine. We also used yellow in the "Fina Town" complex - on one of the buildings we decided to make accent console balconies yellow.
Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky is interested in why there are so few "architects of color" in the world
Kostyantyn Kovshevatskyi: I tried to think of great architects who worked with bright color, and only Ricardo Bofill (Spain) and Luis Barragan (Mexico) came to mind. Why are there so few architects who can be said to be architects of color?
Yaroslav Zakharchenko (archimatika): If we talk about Ukraine, then, in my opinion, developers are afraid of such active (colorful. — Ed. note) decisions. It seems to me that the reason is primarily economic. But in fact, I have had an idea for a long time to design a residential complex that will be in one color, for example, beige. That is, choose beige and play with its shades — and that everything in the complex is made in this color.
Olena Fateeva (Fateeva Design): I have thought more than once how to use color to preserve the architectural value of the city. Once, while flying over Kyiv in a plane (even before the war), I thought: "How about using a bright color to mark those buildings that have historical or architectural value, and paint the new buildings in one, for example, gray-beige color?" If such a concept is implemented, then every person in the city would know: when a colored house is demolished, it is a problem. In such a paradigm, color could fulfill the function of heritage preservation.
Designer Olena Fateeva and artist Nikita Vlasov
Nikita Vlasov (Nikita Vlasov Art): The idea is interesting, but after all, this issue is complex, and it cannot be solved so easily. Because the historical building is the icing on the cake of the "Kyiv cake", these icings must be preserved and marked, yes, but there must be more complex ways. It seems to me that the color in the section of the city is skin. And the master plan is a skeleton. If there is a healthy general plan, which will take into account everything - buildings, green zones, avenues, squares, then it will be much easier to paint such a skeleton. And painting chaos is a controversial decision. Favelas in Brazil are colored, but they are favelas.
K.K.: What do you think about the fact that we don't have many architects working with color in big architecture?
Nikita Vlasov (Nikita Vlasov Art): In my opinion, in the post-Soviet space, architects were simply not taught this. We were taught that the main thing is structure, general plan, tectonics. And we did not deal with such a phenomenon as applied design, we were not taught this. Near my house on Tatarka there is an old post-war house, the end facade of which is a perfect example of a tectonically correct beautiful wall. In my opinion, this wall should remain as it is, it cannot be touched, because it is already cool in itself. By the way, this is exactly why I can't stand murals. I understand that the wall on the house on Tatarka is a tidbit for a mural. And so I decided that if someone starts painting it there, I will buy a Kärcher and clean it every night.
Valentyna Dubytska, PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA, and Larisa Tsybina, ideologist of DVRZ Design Days
Larisa Tsybina (ideologist of the Design Days DVRZ), from the hall: I don't agree. A mural can have an important social value. For example, the mural we created as part of the DVRZ Design Days built ours a community that has quadrupled this year. We first drew a sprout that grew into a whole tree: this is proof of the growth of our community.
Nikita Vlasov (Nikita Vlasov Art): I prefer graffiti. In my opinion, this is honest art, and murals are a opportunistic form. Cool graffiti contains more of a social component than a mural, it can unite, it can be someone's expression. Yes, there are murals that can be called street art, but graffiti works better with that.
K.K.: To finalize the story with the murals, I would like to remind you that in Japanese art there is a concept of meaningful emptiness - "ma". We try to fill the entire space of a canvas or a wall, because we always want to fill it with some meaning, paint, etc. The Japanese work differently - they have a small painted part that carries a certain meaning, and the rest of the canvas or wall remains blank to give the mind a place to work. That is, I am in favor of empty firewalls - they should be tectonic.
Question to Denys Muzika: What is color for you in the art of jewelry? What unusual colors and materials have you worked with?
Architect Yaroslav Zakharchenko and jeweler Denys Muzyka
Denis Music: I don't like trends, but if the Sadolin palette is going to set the trends, then the jewelry industry may gradually come to materials like copper and brass. These are metals that the jewelry industry does not like, because they do not consider them jewelry. But I see that these metals can be in such a color scheme. And I am one of those people who promote new materials, new alloys. Because jewelry does not end only with precious materials.
"We choose the color of the year, but the trend is like a wave, it lasts approximately five years. Yellow will hold the wave, it will be relevant for a long time, and these palettes will be used for a long time."
K.K.: One of Sadolin's trendy palettes supports the current trend in Ukraine of returning to the roots, to our ethnicity. Can we say that the phenomenon of Ukrainian design has already developed? If not, why didn't we use the experience of post-war Italy or the Scandinavian countries, because we are now in a similar context. If we talk about palettes and colors, is there such a palette that answers the question, what is our country?
Olga Obrazyuk (Obrazyuk Design): Projects with ethnic motifs appeared in my experience only in the last few years. But these are not banal red and black palettes. We took our favorite beige-brown shade, tried to add accent colors in the form of rich terracotta in combination with deep blue, and also added ethnic motifs. That is, Ukrainians have a lot of traditional authentic colors, take at least embroideries from different regions.
Interior designer and decorator Vitaly Kasynets and Victoria Alyokhina, founder of the Alekhina Architects studio
K.K.: Thanks for mentioning this. Because we are used to the fact that Ukrainian ethnicity is something earthy, bright red and with shades of straw.
Olena Fateeva (Fateeva Design): I want to recall the Ukrainian projects at last year's Maison&Objet exhibition — the entire exhibition was colorful and bright, and the Ukrainian stand was much brighter, calmer, and at the same time very stylish. Ukraine is much more diverse than we think. In my opinion, these attempts to find some one of our design code only limit us.
Anna Kanarska (AkzoNobel in Ukraine): The creative director of the Global Aesthetic Center, Helen van Gent, believes that color cannot last for one year. Yes, we choose the color of the year, but the trend is like a wave, it lasts approximately five years. Yellow will hold this wave, it will be relevant for a long time, and these palettes can be used for a long time. But the overall picture will look different in 10 years.
Designer Ksenia Ryntovt
K.K.: Perhaps my most powerful personal experience with color in design happened to me in Paris when I saw Ettore Sottsas's Carlton shelving unit - it just killed me. I did not understand how it is possible to work with wood, color? The design combines matte and glossy varnish, clean and decorated surfaces, bright, saturated and pastel colors - and at the same time has a fantastically current look. Then I realized that the taboo on the use of color simply does not exist. That is why, when I look at the colors that are not in my life now, I finally understand that I can add them at any moment.
Photo: Maks Drobynenko and Yuriy Ferendovych
