ColorForward™ 2024

More Harmonious Colors with a Splash of Exuberance Expected to Trend in 2024

ColorForward™ is the annual color forecasting guide for the plastics industry created by Avient’s ColorWorks™ team. It presents four global trend stories that capture the emotions expected to influence consumers’ responses to color over the next few years. The result is a unique package of inspirational materials, including 20 aesthetics, to help plastic product designers and marketing professionals make more informed color choices for new products and packaging. ColorForward 2024, the 18th edition of Avient’s trend and color guide, identified the following global trend stories.

• Anything else??! Every day seems to bring another crisis. An overwhelming cloud of pessimism lingers over our heads. But, as humans, we are used to tackling challenges. Recent years’ challenges have forced us to change our behavior and discover the power of sharing and building communities by drawing from local resources rather than relying just on global ones. This switch from paying attention to bad news to acting and making positive changes happen can be seen in a palette dominated by translucent colors.
• 70.2,5.0,4 is a reference to the percentage of Earth’s surface covered by water (70%), the freshwater share out of total water on the planet (2,5%), and the share of fresh water that is not contaminated and hence usable and drinkable (0,4%). Water scarcity is a major driver of the increasing use of biotechnology, yet not the only one. Food and energy crises are also in focus. Biotech supports new ways, emerging worldwide, aiming to purify water, create efficient food-sourcing methods, and produce cleaner energy.
• Let it grow! Agri-tech is nothing new, but its use to fight deforestation and to help satisfy the food demand of an exponentially growing population is becoming more prominent. With the aid of AI, you can take tree planting to a large-scale level; you can monitor food crop growth from a distance or even accelerate pollination: these are just a few examples of what can be achieved when smarter farming is adapted to our new environmental landscape. 
• What about me? As the world slowly reopened, people began reclaiming their lives in jubilant defiance of their extended isolation. One reason is the realization that taking care of oneself first isn’t selfish, but rather the opposite: doing things that make you happy, satisfied, complete and content is a priority. Now maximalism prevails, exemplified by surrounding oneself with whatever creates our unique personal space. There may be no “I” in “Team,” but we’re now realizing that without “I” there is no resiliency, flexibility, or spirit. And without “Me,” there is no meaning or advancement. We’ve realized it’s OK just to be me.

Contact us to learn more about each trend story's color and effect palettes!