To develop the perfect shade of blue, Alena Gersonde, Senior Designer at Mazda, dyed different textiles. This clearly shows that craftsmanship also plays a decisive role in the Japanese manufacturer’s search for new body colors. Gersonde and her team also rely on the proven combination of expertise and a willingness to experiment in their forays into the world of colors.
At Japanese car manufacturer Mazda, the development of new body colors is also closely linked to the brand’s typical passion for craftsmanship. »In this day and age, it’s easy to lose touch with the manual production of objects,« says Alena Gersonde, who, as Senior Designer for Colors, Materials and Finishes, is intensively involved in the search for new colors, among other things. »But the colors and materials we develop are real; they will surround the drivers and passengers in our cars. That’s why we improve the design process when we work with real materials. Even though it is not possible to use self-dyed fabrics in a vehicle, exploring this tradition was a unique source of inspiration.«
This special combination of expertise and willingness to experiment is the breeding ground on which new colors are created at Mazda. Alena Gersonde is currently working with her team on a new shade of blue for future Mazda models, she explains. She was inspired by traditional Japanese denim production, among other things. In the development process, various fabrics were first folded, sewn and bound in different ways before being dyed with indigo or dipped in the dye. To create a unique vehicle color from these indigo hues, the design team painted several sheet metal samples using Mazda’s proven three-layer paint system.
A shade of red with a lot of soul
However, the search for new colors not only takes the Mazda design team deep into the history of craftsmanship, but also out into nature. In order to learn about the origins of the color red, which was one of the first colors produced by humans, it was essential to visit the famous ochre rocks of the Luberon, for example. For more than 300,000 years, people have been using ochre to produce colors, including shades of red. And the epicenters of ochre production have always been the impressive ochre cliffs of the French Luberon mountain range.
With all its different connotations – from ardent love and passion to power and raging anger – red is one of the Japanese manufacturer’s central and most popular body colors. The strong emotional component that emanates from the color plays a central role. With the introduction of the “Kodo” design philosophy, which is based on the powerful and irresistible beauty of natural movement in a still object, a new chapter began for the already popular body color: »Soul Red« was developed – a vibrant and highly saturated hue, perfectly aligned with the design language.
Driven by the goal of creating a red that glows in the light and appears rich and dark in the shade, the search for the perfect shade of red was not yet over. »I wanted a deep shade of red like the translucent red of rubies or red glass,« Senior Creative Expert Keiichi Okamoto once put it in a nutshell –and his team got to work. The result was »Soul Red Crystal«, which was launched in 2017.
Melting Copper
As in so many creative fields, the perfect balance between quickly recognizing trends and the search for timelessness plays a crucial role in automotive design, according to Alena Gersonde, who expects new materials and technologies to push the boundaries of creativity in the future and redefine automotive aesthetics as a result. »The intersection of sustainability, advanced materials and changing customer preferences opens up exciting possibilities,« she summarizes.
The search for new colors is also characterized by the aforementioned balance between emerging trends and timelessness. With the color »Melting Copper«, which is used for the first time in the new Mazda CX-80, the design team tried to answer new questions with old materials and processes. They took their cue from metals such as bronze and copper, which have been used for thousands of years, but bathed them in a new light. To achieve the nuanced shades of »Melting Copper«, colorists and sheet metal model makers created a block beaten from real copper as a reference.
All good things come in threes
At Mazda, color is perceived as an essential element of design. This is expressed, among other things, in the fact that the subtle yet dynamic surfaces that characterize the Kodo design philosophy are accentuated by the color scheme. A strong contrast between light and shadow as well as a smooth surface are the hallmarks of Mazda’s so-called Takuminuri colors. The term is made up of the Japanese words for master craftsman and paint. All Takuminuri paints have a three-layer structure: a reflective layer, a translucent paint layer and a clear coat.
Alena Gersonde emphasizes that the search for new colors in the automotive sector is far from over. This is also due to the fact that trend researchers assume that in future there will be an even greater focus on the physiological and psychological effects of colors – on shades that have a calming, energizing and even unifying effect. And, of course, there are constantly new studies that show just how big a part colors play in the success of a product. One thing is also certain: Mazda will continue to be inspired by the art of craftsmanship and nature in its search for new colors, as well as relying on its proven combination of expertise and experimentation. [Red .]
