Color is too integral to the emotional connection of a product to be a last step —an afterthought — in the design process. As a multi-disciplinary designer, researcher, and educator with a background in fashion, footwear and CMF design, Color Strong: Integrating Color Early in the CMF Design Process is a methodology that underlines the importance of color playing a prominent, strategic role early in the CMF design process. The method is rooted in the idea of color as material, supported by relevant research, observation, experimentation and intuition leading to color-forward projections. Putting color at the forefront highlights the challenges of communicating color across languages, cultures, and disciplines, ultimately teasing out the nuances of color as informants of change. Through this presentation, color will be the first thought — discoursed through forecasting, sourcing, and production to define the palettes of the future.

Melanie McClintock is a multi-disciplinary designer, researcher, and lecturer who leads the MA/MFA Color and Materials Design program at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. She has spent over two decades working in the fashion industry and academia in New York, San Francisco, Qatar, Indonesia, and Detroit. Melanie recognizes, through her own practice and teaching, the importance of integrating science with design. Her recent study, The Ruderal Material Project, presented at Cumulus 2022, observes ruderal flora for signals of adaptation to initiate conversations on new color and material applications. Her Point of Origin project focuses on the materiality of color to create interactive landscapes and community engagement through place-based pigments. Melanie's research interests include Sense of Place, the Materiality of Color, Creative Archiving, Making as Research, and Trend Futures. Melanie is currently a contributor on Color Hive's Mix Magazine Geographic Focus Panel for North America.