Last week I attended the Design Expo that is held at Texas Tech University every fall semester. It gives the opportunity to interior design and/or architecture students to connect with design professionals and learn more about what is most recently available in the design field. The Design Expo also gives exhibitors the chance to introduce products to prospective designers and to educate on the latest products.

The station that I found very interesting was the Sherwin Williams booth where they handed out a booklet with had the colors that were predicted to be popular in the year 2012. This forecast explains that a color palette does not have to stray from its roots to become a big design impact. It has been proven that colors that are analogous, or adjacent, on the color wheel are usually a dominant trend that are discovered when put into a variety of combinations. The experts at Sherwin Williams draw inspiration from color washing and ombre dying techniques to experiment with the values and hues within a color family. The sustainable landscape is also an influencing aspect of designing colors. The 40 hues selected to be in the Colormix for 2012 stay close to earth-inspired, color family groupings such as reds, blues, greens, and neutrals.

Another station that I found interesting was that of MDC Wall coverings by Candice Olson Contract. I researched the company and found that Candice Olson is one of North America’s most recognized and accomplished celebrity interior designers. Her highly regarded design skills are on display each week and have her earned her the number one prime time ratings for her television series on HGTV. At the exhibition booth were samples of her wall coverings suited for a variety of commercial facilities and applications. I like her designs because they are very sophisticated and are designs that I would use if I were designing or decorating a space.

Overall, the Design Expo showed me the latest trends in the interior design field and how new trends can be made from many unusual materials and approaches. The exhibition booths provided me with ideas that are helpful to incorporate in future projects in my Interior Design classes. I am excited to attend next year’s Design Expo to see how much has changed from one year to another.