Design Insights - The Process of Recoloring a Go-To Pattern
By Sara Hall
Recoloring is a standard practice and a vital tool for the Xorel product line. Most color cycles in interiors tend to be between 7-12 years so we have found it to be beneficial to recolor Xorel products after about 10 years. The Strie color line has been recolored a handful of times since its introduction in 1984, the most notable was back in 2013 when Carnegie introduced it as the world’s first biobased high-performance interior textile.
Strie is an elegant solid pattern that has always been somewhat luminous with complex hues which are enhanced by inherent nuanced striations - hence the name “Strie.” Our challenge here was, “how do we create a new color line that is exciting but also reliable?” We want to be on trend but not trendy, with colors that will remain valid for a minimum of a decade, delivering longevity in color and design.
Xorel Strie new colorways from Carnegie’s Go-To collection.
One thing that is very important to us during this process is that we NEVER approach a recolor like one would a gut renovation. Laying the groundwork is always the first and most basic step of the process.
For this collection, we started by looking at specifications from the past 5 years. We did a deep dive to see which colorways were being specified by designers for projects and which were not. The top-selling colorways remained in the line, the ones with lower demand were put in the questionable pile to be evaluated later.
Then we moved on to color and trend research. During this process, we look at the world for insights. All aspects are taken into consideration – what’s happening in the world around us, what is affecting future trends and the color impacts, what’s happening in fashion, home decor, social media, and custom color requests - all these considerations help inform our way forward.
After we collected all of our research, we created our color wall as a visual reference and compass to use as we evaluated the collection as a whole.
Next, we started weaving new samples and reviewing colors together as a team. Once we felt we had a nice range of options, it was time to get some market feedback before finalizing the collection. Because we are a market-driven company, we spent a lot of time in the field getting direct feedback from designers, which was invaluable to fine tune this collection to something designers can really turn to. This part of the process is the most engaging, fun, and energizing way to collaborate on steering the final palettes!
Working directly with designers to gather feedback on Strie colors
What we found was that designers and clients were requesting a broader range of colors in Xorel biobased offerings. As the world around us evolves and designers respond to it, neutral tones remain a staple, but other, newer color requests came through as well: greens, teals, blues, and brick. Also, we got a lot of requests for “Greige” – a hue that is currently very popular.
With our design community’s help, we now proudly present Biobased Strie in a palette of 39 fresh hues, ready to be used in projects calling for high performance textiles that are authentically sustainable, beautiful, durable, and multi-use.
Meet with our design services team to help find the perfect hue, color, or pattern(s) of Xorel for your project here.
About the Author
Sara Hall is a senior designer at Carnegie.