Colour, Material, Finish

 During the Design talk with Vikas Sethi, a Senior CMF Designer at Aston Martin, I gained valuable insights into the design process and the work of a working CMF Designer. I found it interesting that he has had a wide variety of experiences in Crafts, Lifestyle and Accessory Design, but he ended up working as a CMF Designer.

 I noticed he held a strong understanding of various materials, informed by these studies. This hands-on experience with wood, fibres, metal, and textiles is what leads someone to become a great CMF Designer.

 Throughout the lecture, I loved seeing the various examples and colour palettes he had chosen, but I just kept feeling like I was missing something. What I really wanted was to touch the samples and see the colours shift in different light. Vikas briefly mentioned the high importance of feeling a material or seeing it applied to a form.

 In an example, he showed a scaled-down model of a car with the sample attached. It really helped me understand the vision and the feelings he hoped the colour would evoke. But these feelings and my high perceived value only arose after seeing the sample.

 CMF Design excites me for this reason. It is so heavily based on human touch, emotion, and perception; without these roots in the physical, it would lose all its magic.

 This lecture, and seeing the colour sample applied, sparked a real interest in me to learn more about CMF. Vikas recommended the book CMF Design: The Fundamental Principles of Colour, Material and Finish Design by Liliana Becerra as a good place to start learning more about CMF. Another book which I have found very applicable to the CMF aspects of our projects is The Complete Color Harmony Pantone Edition by Leatrice Eiseman.

 But I get the same feeling from these books that I did from Vikas’ talk. I wish I could have the samples and feel the texture. I have started looking out for sample books and interesting textures in charity shops, as I think it would be important to have a reference library of colours, materials, and finishes.

 I see CMF as a wonderful thing which humans cannot be exempt from. I often hear that forms of Artificial Intelligence could replace aspects of a designer’s work. Still, to my eye, the human experience of touching and experiencing a certain colour, material, or form is irreplaceable and constantly evolving. The importance of physical samples is undeniable, as some things just cannot be accurately communicated via a screen.