London-based Graphic artist Sam Coldy has taken home a gong at the first ever Dulux Let’s Colour Awards for his groundbreaking hyper-colour lenticular artwork. The winners were announced at a glittering ceremony which rewarded the most original and exciting uses of colour in the creative industries and beyond – where Sam’s artwork scooped the ‘Best use of colour in the Arts’ award.
Held at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London and hosted by fashion commentator and esteemed journalist Hilary Alexander, the awards comprised seven hotly contested categories and honoured those companies, people and places whose innovative use of colour helped to make our lives a brighter experience over the last twelve months.
Sam Coldy is a graphic artist and art director living in London, whose winning lenticular artwork recently graced the cover of the self titled album by British band Carousels. Inspiration for this series comes from how thermochromatic pigments move and change colour with heat, where his technique is to overlay patterned vectors onto a 2D canvas to create the appearance of 3D textures. These colour-saturated abstracts have proved popular in the music world, with Coldy’s client list already includes Columbia Records, EMI, Moshi Moshi Records, Polydor and Red Bull. Louise Smith, Dulux Senior Global Colour Designer, who nominated Sam for his award, said:
“Many abstract artists display a fascination with colour, but Coldy’s work has a fresh feel and for me really captures the intriguing idea of hyper colour. The palette is strong and in your face, but the technique creates a soft and cocooning effect which is a lovely juxtaposition.”
Other accolades in the creative industry categories was young Chinese design duo W&Q, who won the ‘Best use of Colour in Homes & Interiors’ award for their debut collection of chairs – a colourful, contemporary take on traditional bamboo handcrafts. Scooping the ‘Colour Innovation in Technology & Design’ award was global technology brand Philips, which was praised by the judging panel for the innovative ‘Hue’ light bulb, customisable with 16 million colours to suit your mood and is iPad compatible.
Dulux brought on board a stellar judging panel of industry and media experts for the first year of the awards, tasked with nominating the shortlist and selecting the final winners. Their varied backgrounds reflected the diversity of the awards and included Kat Hannaford; Editor, Gizmodo, Elliot Wagland; Group Picture Editor of Huffington Post and AOL UK and Jimmy Macdonald; Founder of design event TENT London.
Shortlisted nominees for the Best use of Colour in the Arts award were:
The Balloons Project – for its multi-sensory use of colour, using vibrant balloons to convey the values of the 2012 Games
Colour based on Nature by Irma Boom – a beautiful book of colour by graphic designer Imra Boom with each page inspired by a different global UNESCO World Heritage Site
Sam Coldy – for his abstract ‘Lenticular’ artwork in hyper-colour as featured on self-titled album of British band, the Carousels
Kristjana S Williams’ series of butterfly artworks – for this magical series which combines Victorian engravings and contemporary illustration to startling effect (HIGHLY COMMENDED)
Lomography – for their retro gold and champagne editions which transform cameras from purely functional to a stylish must-have item
Maud Traon – for her fantastical jewellery collection showcasing imaginative use of materials and textures to flamboyant effect (HIGHLY COMMENDED)
Times Ten by Wallace Sewell – a super sized exhibition of the textile designer’s intricate multi-coloured weaves
Penguin Classics – for its English Library Series of exquisitely coloured book cover re-designs.