For the second year in a row, the walls of Design Miami were draped in custom colors from Alkemis Paint, the design show’s official paint partner. Price Latimer, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Alkemis, joins us this week to discuss how the collaboration came together.
Photo by Danielle Levitt
Raymond Paul Schneider: What was your initial inspiration, and where did the idea(s) come from?
Price Latimer: The custom color palette for Design Miami 2024 was collectively conceptualized by myself, Grela Orihuela (Senior Vice President of Design Miami) and Alkemis co-founder Maya Crowne, emulating the “Blue Sky” theme, conceived by Curatorial Director and writer Glenn Adamson. The concept connotes the “imaginative leap intrinsic to the design practice” as well as the current need for “optimism in the face of a challenge.”.
We started working with the Design Miami team in January of 2024, ahead of the December show.
The color names (and inspiration) chosen by Adamson are as follows:
- Eileen Grey – a tribute to the pioneering Irish architect, whose “Dragons” armchair remains the most valuable 20th-century design ever sold.
- Shadow Gap – a color you might find tucked away in the recesses of a modernist home.
- Miami Beach – a sandy hue evoking the sun-splashed local scene.
- Paris Cauldron – Mathieu Lehanneur’s floating Olympics emblem was the design of the year. Lehanneur also created the entrance to Design Miami 2024.
- Bauhaus Afternoon – light strikes the white walls of the eminent German design school.
- Robins’ Egg – a nod to the founder, who hatched the idea of Design Miami back in 2005.
RPS: Describe your overall creative and design process.
PL: The color development process was collaboratively conceptualized to colorfully complement and harmonize Adamson’s curatorial narrative by a team of creatives spread across time zones. These dynamic and cooperative meetings melded creativity, technical expertise, communication, and critical thinking/problem-solving. The project began with the initial concept and vision (the team discussed aesthetic direction, mood boards, and inspiration from nature and art history), then research and development (addressing color psychology and trends, as well as cultural/geographic considerations and material/application considerations), then final color testing selection, installation, and launch.
RPS: Did you have a specific audience or theme in mind?
PL: As the global authority for collectible design, Design Miami brings together the design world’s most influential players through acclaimed fairs and its online marketplace. Design Miami attracts a wide range of attendees (almost 30,000 in 2023) including designers, gallerists, museum curators, art critics, celebrities, and collectors.
RPS: What methods, tools, and materials did you use to develop and prototype this design?
PL: As this was a collaborative project, there was a lot of synergistic idea-sharing back and forth via email and virtual meetings. We used all-natural earthen pigments (including ochres, oxides, ultramarine, cobalt, spinel and antimony that have been used since the dawn of time), paint binder, mixers, stir sticks and old school paint swatches to physically send back-and-forth to land on and finalize the color palette. Then, of course, we used the indispensable technology of Adobe Creative Suite to create digital mockups and finalized versions of each paint color. Additionally, Alkemis was thrilled to have the custom color palette incorporated into the outdoor sculpture by Nicole Nomsa Moyo and entrance installation by Mathieu Lehanneur.
RPS: Did you use any new techniques or technologies to conceptualize or create this product?
PL: Alkemis Paint is formulated using proprietary technology with sustainable raw materials and clear quartz as its foundational layer; mixes of artist-quality pigments and earthen minerals are then added to create a best-in-class, high-performing interior paint that supports a holistic lifestyle. Alkemis’ hand-crafted mineral-based paints are unique in that they are free from toxic synthetic pigments, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous organic pollutants (HAPs), alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), Prop 65 ingredients, plasticizers/phthalates, preservatives, biocides/fungicides/mildewcides and solvents — making the product safe for all living beings.
RPS: Describe your brand’s overall DNA and ethos.
PL: As one of the only Cradle to Cradle Certified® paints in North America, Alkemis is ethically produced to help customers breathe easier and live more harmoniously. Alkemis Paint provides interior designers, architects, developers, hospitality and healthcare industries, contractors, DIY home improvers and wellness advocates — and their residential and commercial spaces — with all-natural, premium interior mineral paint that promotes both human wellness and environmental consciousness. The company is proudly women-owned, made in the USA and the manufacturing process is 100% emission-free. Together we can raise the vibration of our home planet by starting with our most intimate space… our four walls.
Photography courtesy of Design Miami.
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