Powerful Vision Wins Plascon Top Award At Decorex Durban
The décor, design and media industries have spoken! Voted by a panel of independent judges, Plascon was awarded the best overall stand at the Decorex Best Stand Awards held in Durban on Wednesday night. The paint manufacturer transcended the three main categories in Best Plan and Build, Best Décor and Best Kitchen and Bathroom to emerge as the best overall stand amongst the event’s leading décor, design and lifestyle exhibition showcases.
Applauding the striking Plascon stand, iconic Durban fashion designer and judge, Kathrin Kidger commented, “The stand’s bold beautiful colours and ergonomic, curved design drew me in while it was also true to the consumer with its individual approach. We could sit with a colour specialist and take away a lovely mini pot of paint to try at home. The whole concept was very clever and appealing.” The other judges included lifestyle and arts journalist, Estelle Sinkins, brand consultant Nicola Ashe and Angela Rossouw from the Change Design Studio.
Ergonomic design, bold use of colour and interactive spaces are celebrated in Plascon’s stand design
Designed by leading Cape Town business curators and brand builders, Platform Creative, the stand moves away from linear, hard surface interiors toward soft, feminine and curved interiors where colour is pulled through to create a joyful experience. Honoured to design the Plascon stand, creative director Cathy O’Clery said, “We moved away from an interior designed scheme that focuses on furnishings and instead concentrated on the power of paint as an agent for change.” Using detailed research and analysis on how paint is being used globally, they adopted the new trend for monotone or one colour application. With the open space designed with curved walls and suggestions of living spaces, people could feel embraced by the paint. O’Clery said, “Good design and great paint go hand-in-hand and in addition to winning the award, we are thrilled that there has been phenomenal engagement by the Decorex visitors – a true sign of a job well done.”
Criteria for the awards included; first impressions and the ‘WOW’ factor, merchandising, branding and product, customer orientation, a balance between display and demonstration, consumer engagement, layout, design and originality. Decorex General Manager of Sales, Angela Chatfield said the paint manufacturers trumped all the categories.
“Their visual appeal and accessibility was outstanding and demonstrated their commitment to answering people’s needs in an accessible and interactive way. They met all our award criteria and brought the concept back to paint and helping the consumer.”
Tickled ‘pink’ Claire Bond and Angela Chatfield aglow with Plascon’s accolade
“When conceptualizing our stand we went back to basics by ensuring easy engagement, accessibility, authenticity whilst aiming to be on trend and inspirational. Centred around our 2018 Colour Forecast, the stand reveals how we have a colour story to match life’s different stages. Plascon is transformative, allowing us to create new spaces on all the blank canvases that surround us. We believe in a life less ordinary. That the mundane can and should be transformed into amazing. The most amazing things in life come with just a simple change, ” says Plascon Group Marketing and Creative Designer, Toni Alexander.
Good design and great paint can make a life-changing impact
As individual cultures give way to a more homogenous, politically correct global culture, people are striving to find their individuality. Plascon’s ability to manufacture coatings in every colour imaginable in every finish possible and for every feasible surface, enables people to use colour and paint to express their uniqueness through their surroundings. “Herein lies Plascon’s transformative power; to help people understand our products and use colour in a way that intuitively reflects their individuality and enables them to live a life less ordinary. Last night’s humbling award demonstrates our customers’ receptiveness to our user-friendly approach to paint for their own ultimate enjoyment and benefit,” says Katlego Kondlo Head: Decorative Business Unit Consumer, Professional and Colour for Plascon.
Continuing with their intention to place the individual at the heart of the painting process, a fun and interactive addition to the stand is Plascon’s ‘So Me’ competition which will have visitors surveying a series of rooms and choosing their favourite looks through dedicated iPads and a newly designed digital game. One of five finalists will receive two 20 litre tins of paint in one of Plascon’s most loved brands. Alexander says, “Whether bold and fearless like Tropical Heat (R7-B1-3) or a class act like Rhine Castle (54), the competition will reveal a little about their personalities so we urge all the colour and paint enthusiasts or anyone looking for some inspiration to come past for a little life-changing colour therapy.”
