CLINTON, TENN., November 5, 2021 –– For the third year in a row, Techmer PM LLC, a leading North American compounder and materials design firm, is partnering with Color Marketing Group®, the premier international association for color design professionals, to help companies reach their circular design goals. The Clinton-based Techmer PM is providing samples of the 2023+ World Color Forecast™ Key Colors using innovative, sustainable materials.
Color is elusive and often hard to understand. Color is everywhere all the time. It makes its way into your world in the products you buy, be it a car or a candy bar. It is the color that attracts or repels you, the color that communicates that this is the perfect product for you. But have you ever wondered how product colors coordinate with one another?
CMG, founded in 1962 to promote “high standards in the color marketing of products and services …”, helps to answer that question. And it is doing so again in collaboration with Techmer PM, which has hosted two of CMG’s ChromaZone® Color Forecasting Workshops in Chattanooga, Tenn., since 2018. At these meetings, attendees gather to discuss their research on the latest color drivers, mega- and micro-trends, and the colors that are emerging in multiple industries in the coming two to five years – hence this latest effort being called the 2023+ World Color Forecast.
“Designers and marketers use color and material samples in their design process,” notes CMG President Peggy Van Allen. “CMG can now provide our World Color Forecast™ Key Colors in innovative materials to our members because of our partnership with Techmer PM and the expertise of their color, materials and finish (CMF) team.”
The following colors offer a glimpse of future color directions, while using sustainable material samples that help to reinforce the vital need to promote a more circular economy going forward. Meet the 2023+ World Color Forecast™ Key Colors:
CMG’s 2023+ Key Color E.V., forecasted in Asia Pacific, is color matched in Unifi’s REPREVE®, a recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) material made mostly from recycled plastic bottles for use in textile applications. When using REPREVE®, a high-quality and versatile fiber-grade material, your products actively divert plastic from going into landfills.
CMG’s 2023+ Key Color Revival Green, forecasted in Europe in 2021, is matched using 100% bio-based polylactic acid (PLA), one of the most widely used, renewably sourced bioplastics in the world. Meeting the ASTM D6400 compostability standard, PLA breaks down naturally. It leaves behind biomass, carbon dioxide and water and is a prime choice for design applications requiring industrial compostability. By composting your PLA prototypes, even your design process becomes free from plastic waste.
CMG’s 2023+ Key Color Mirada Alegre, forecasted in Latin America in 2021, is color matched in polypropylene (PP), one of the most widely recycled plastic resins. PP allows for multiple re-uses of the same material and requires lower processing temperatures than PET and other high-temperature resins, thereby reducing total energy usage during production.
CMG’s 2023+ Key Color Bohld, forecasted in North America in 2021, is color matched with NanoXplore’s GrapheneBlack™. Graphene can deliver a host of benefits to various plastic formulations, to include boosting the strength of recycled resins, improving electrical conductivity properties, enabling lightweighting, and enhancing both barrier effectiveness and chemical resistance. The addition of graphene helps to maintain some physical properties when processing requires multiple heating events. This allows for higher levels of use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin to meet or exceed sustainability goals.
“Techmer PM believes strongly in close collaboration with diverse partners to help bring about fresh and on-trend materials for all involved,” said Steve Loney, the firm’s director of market development. “We welcome the opportunity to engage with CMG and its members in a productive and meaningful way, and we’re excited to underscore a vital sustainability message via our innovative materials with this year’s color directions forecast.”