Touch and Transform: The Effect of Color in Our Lives

This month’s event took place at Sitio at Fintech House, where we had breakfast in the stylish café on the ground floor. The atmosphere was already buzzing within minutes of opening the doors, as attendees chatted over the beautifully presented food and queued up for coffee at the bar (all for free, as always).

After breakfast, we headed downstairs for the talk, returning to the theme of ‘Touch’, chosen by the Lisbon chapter. We were each asked to take a small paper cup containing a folded piece of paper and some colorful sweets – an intriguing start!

Our March speakers were Elizabeth Olwen and Susan Fischer. Elizabeth, a Canadian print and pattern designer, started by telling us a bit about her personal relationship to color. Although she loves her hometown of Toronto, the gray/brown tones are no match for her experiences of exploring Lisbon, which she likened to walking through a 3D color palette.

Susan is a Chilean architect, International Color Consultant, and the founder of Unbox Color. Earlier on in her architecture career, she grew sick of seeing so many blank, white, soulless rooms. This “midlife crisis” led to a rebellion, and she ended up embracing color to the point of becoming a consultant.

Susan and Elizabeth then told us about their Color Story Retreat. They’ve collaborated on an immersive creative retreat hosted in the Portuguese countryside, where guests take part in different color-led activities in a beautiful, creative setting.

We were reminded of how many color-related expressions we use in everyday life, then shown some color palettes which evoke different feelings. “Color is an opportunity for play,” Elizabeth told us, adding that it comes into so many areas of everyday life, from the way we dress to our environments, our food and the way we look at the world. Her own color story involved a childhood surrounded by patterns from the sixties and seventies: bold, retro prints which have undoubtedly influenced her work. Mustard, orange, pink and yellow are favorites.

Susan reflected on her childhood in Chile, spending hours selling things by the green gates outside her house. Inspiration came from the natural hues of the Andes, then later, after relocating there, the colors of Ireland. And she couldn’t resist adding a pop of color to her wedding dress.

We were asked to delve into some of our own color stories, by taking out one of the sweets from the cup we’d been given earlier and telling the person next to us about our history with that color. Then Susan talked us through some common color associations and how they’re also affected by our own experiences.

It was soon time to reveal the word on the folded paper in our cup: an adjective such as ‘energetic’ or ‘sweet’. “Let’s play with color,” our speakers announced. We were instructed to get into groups around the room with the other people who shared our word. The activities involved creating palettes together, choosing from a wealth of swatches in different colors and textures. The audience were enthusiastic about working together, some connecting on social media before saying goodbye.

The talk was fittingly vibrant, and the atmosphere was up there with the most popular of our events. Guests expressed how much they’d enjoyed it, and we were reminded of much we’ve bounced back since the days of the pandemic, returning to the kind of bustling, energizing events CreativeMornings is known for.

Text by  Alexis Somerville

Photography by Carla Heyworth