We caught up with our 2019 Colour In Design Award Winner, Zelma Balode, to find out why colour is a necessary element to her design practice!

It is clear that colour is an integral part to your design process, tell us – what does colour in design mean to you?

Colour means joy and happiness to me. Colour creates endless possibilities for investigation, which can lead to unexpected journeys and later discoveries.

Choosing a colour palette not only enhances the design but can entirely shift a mood or perception. How do you go about curating this experience for your audiences?

This is true, colour is a powerful tool! In my own work I like to use colour to play with people’s perception by creating knitted fabrics that change colour depending on the angle they are viewed from. In this process the placement of colour in a fabric structure is integral as well as the contrast between the different shades and tones of it.

Do you have any predicted trends for 2020?

I wouldn’t go as far as to call them predicted trends, but the colour palette I am going for in my new project ‘Mirage’ involves a lot of colour blends – going from pastels and muted colours to bright and intense tones, then juxtapose them together to create unusual combinations of colour and powerful contrast.

Creative block is just the worst, what are your tips and tricks for smashing through this wall?

I know this will sound like a cliché, but the best way how to get through a creative block, is to change your surroundings, to go for a walk, hike, run, visit exhibitions, museums, even just for a couple of hours or a day if you can spare one, do anything that can give you new ideas and refresh your look upon life.

A world without colour! Tell us how you would cope?

It would be a miserable existence indeed, but I would try to escape it by exploring all the shades of grey that are possible.

Hypothetically, if your studio was a blaze and you could save ONE thing, what would it be?

My camera. Photography is such an integral part of my work I couldn’t live without it.

 

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