Color Me Neon

There is current color trend in objects and fashion that consists of a hyper-real neon palette. The trend not particularly original but it has significance (hello 1950's and 1980's).



While one may be tempted to say that the vivacious palette’s recent presence is due to the upcoming spring season, which will soon thrust its way out of a brutal winter, I say the explanation is somewhat more complicated. No one predicted this winter’s harshness, so just as easily we could have ended up surrounded with more pastels; a far less cathartic rebirth. I think the plugged-in look has more to do with the relentless economic drubbing and our collective emotional malaise.






Looking through the Design Within Reach spring catalogue, I first found Frank Gehry’s Left Twist Cube poolside seats. The 2004 design was originally made in white but now they are being reproduced in new neon shades. On the same page was another set of poolside seating cubes by Arne Quinz that were also in the same palette.




I decided to check the always up-to-date Bond 09 perfumers for their spring ’11 scent and found it packaged in the same eye-bursting family of green and pink. Louis Vuitton also came out strong with the exuberant colors. While all these items are certainly packaged for the season, color choices must be made; and this year, neon is the prominent decision.




A bolder foray into this palette is the DeLonghi kitchen line previewed at the International Home and House Wares Show in Chicago. Now this is not a seasonal purchase. You are pouring money into some quality items and they are bright! You are expected to have these pieces grace your counters for years to come, therefore the palette could not have been considered lightly. It is quite a commitment to invite a lime green toaster or a mandarin orange espresso maker into your house and expect it stay for years.




Also worth notice are the Modern shapes these items are taking. Combine the comfort of a shape associated with a simpler time (ok, we will allow Mr. Gehry his signature twist) with futuristic neon colors and you have a trend that is making a comment. The Nespresso coffeemakers, while just a handful boast the neon palette, are sporting the streamlined look of a Dreyfuss or Lowey locomotive.





Covetous love for Modern style has not diminished and now we are seeing more of it sheathed in a futuristic panorama. Icon magazine recently featured a story about the Tron Legacy movie set. While the neon palette, true to the original movie, is limited to blue, the living room is furnished with some of Modernisms most iconic pieces: two Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs, the Eames lounge chair and the Arco lamp. The past and the future look great together. Now even the counter-top company, Corian, gives us a Tron inspired bedroom and kitchen.





The message seems clear. The colors shake us out of our somnambulant lethargy and the shapes remind us of a bolder, more confident time. We are witnessing the rebirth of trends that are asking us to have energy and hope.