AKZONOBEL DEBUTS NEW GLOBAL DESIGN CENTER

AkzoNobel Specialty Plastics announces the debut of their new Global Design Center at their Americas Region headquarters in Lancaster, South Carolina. The new Global Design Center includes 20,000 square feet of studio space for 30 employees hired over the last year including graphic designers, color stylists, customer service, marketing and R & D support. The Design Center also includes a new lab for product samples, research & development, and added capability for producing performance coatings. Now automotive designers can work with AkzoNobel to create their own version of a color, specific feel, or unique special effect ‘on-the-spot’ to differentiate their brands and bring added value to their products. 

The Global Design Center is featuring The 6th Annual Global Color Trends Presentation from Foresee, AkzoNobel’s world renowned color and design group, to assist designers and inspire their creative processes. “Foresee tracks global trend shifts utilizing multiple trend houses as well as our own research and global resources to pinpoint the latest and coolest trends epitomized in automotive, wireless, ID, IT, fashion, furniture, art and architectural designs” said Deirdre Van Deuren, manager of the Foresee Color and Design Group. “That information is simplified and
offered first to our clients as a multi-media presentation and collective tray of 3D samples that set the standard in the coatings industry,” continued Van Deuren. Their first part of the major trend story 

SYSTEM REBOOT is available online http://www.foreseedesignteam.com.

SYSTEM REBOOT illustrates how consumers have begun to “Reset” and abandon much of the extravagant non essentials to cling to what is essential in life. Part of their motive is to rediscover what really matters in the pursuit of life (Nurture), and part is just a bitter reaction to all that is wrong in the world (Militant). This process is the driving force behind SYSTEM REBOOT. 

The Americas Region Global Design Center is a state-of-the-art extension of AkzoNobel’s Global Design Center and world renowned Foresee Color Trend and Design Group near Antwerp, Belgium. 

Foresee is made up of graphic designers, industrial designers, color stylists and special effect stylists. Foresee is an extension of a customer’s design and research arm delivering product branding and styling solutions with highly relevant colors, color combinations, graphics, textures and special effects based on global research, trend identification and analysis. 

Great Eye Candy For Designers 

The multi-media presentation and collective tray of 3D samples are organized by four macro trends and three micro trends within each of those identified through their collective pool of research. Core leadership at Foresee then selected a palette of six colors, and created three special effects, and three optimum color combinations that best characterize each micro trend story. To sum up the math, that’s a total of twelve samples for each of twelve micro trends for a total of 144 different samples. Each sample is in three pieces for a total of 432 samples per presentation. 

This year’s 6th edition Global Color Trend Presentation features: 

• SYSTEM REBOOT: Inside Out, Shock Resistant and Back to Blue
• METAL MORPHOSOS: Archeo Logical, Chlorophyl and Chrysalis
• THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Mad Hatter, Cirque Dreams, Drink Me
• SECRET LUXURY: Gold Standard, Old Money and Fabulux 

The new Global Design Center and Foresee’s Global Color Trends Presentation fortify AkzoNobel’s ‘one-stop-shop’ advantage as a company specializing in multiple decorative finishing technologies for many products. The portfolio includes liquid performance coatings, award-winning Soliant paintfilm and bright film (chrome alternatives), digital image printing systems, metallics, pearls, tricoats and new 3D effects. AkzoNobel Specialty Plastics has patented and pioneered many of
today’s most exciting advances in coatings technology including reflective printing films, soft-feeling coatings, UV and special effects and continues advancement with new technologies. 

For more information on the Global Design Center contact:
Deirdre Van Deuren, Manager of Foresee Color and Design Group + 32 036 202 122
Or AkzoNobel, Soliant, 1872 Highway 9 Bypass, Lancaster, S.C., 29720, 803.285.9401
www.akzonobel.com/sp/; www.paintfilm.com; www.akzonobel.com