Often people take for granted their perceptions of color and their favorite colors. Most of our clients start out by voicing the stereotypical color preferences expected by society (“a real man wants to live in a black-brown loft,” for one).
So our first task is to bring to light the client’s real preferences. This job takes much, sometimes tedious, persistence: with my partner Anna Smirnova we hold a series of interviews, aiming to learn about the most beautiful and satisfying places that the client has experienced, his favorite movies, his most vivid experiences. We analyze this information to come up with a large number of sample color combinations, perhaps collages of fabrics and room-finishing materials based on his favorite movies. Step by step, we get acquainted with the client and come to understand the mosaic of his or her color portrait. It may be that one client loves woods and parks, large masses of soft shades of green with bits of red, while another may be an enthusiast of classic art who responds to sophisticated, carefully combined color harmonies.
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A client once asked us to do the interior of an apartment he had rented. He told us about his deep interest in Eastern religions and philosophy and asked for a restrained, monochromatic interior. After talking with him, we learned that he had lived for many years in France and that he loves delicate, counterintuitive color combinations — lemon-yellow with grey, pink with pale soft blue — not every man is eager to admit such preferences.
The client moved into the flat we had decorated for him and, six months later, bought it. Not long after he married and became a father. I can’t say that all that happened was thanks to our work with color, but an interior based on the real color preferences of the owner is undoubtedly very helpful in nurturing personal harmony.
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Colors are like musical notes — there are only three basic colors, but the number of combinations is infinite. I’m not a snob, but I believe that if you want to understand color (as a professional), you need to take classes in painting for a couple of years, no matter your level. Books, articles and experts can never reveal the significance of colors. This understanding is sensational rather than rational; it comes by way of inner experience.
In working with clients, I usually use either vividly bright pure colors or delicate combinations of pastels. This certainly falls within the range of modern Russian interior style, which is still developing but already has some typical features: Russians are conservative but love color and light. Modern Russian interior style incorporates a sophisticated range of natural or close to natural colors in combination with elements made of natural materials. All-white interiors don’t look to advantage in Russia. Such are best in bright regions where the sea is near and nature produces intense colors. Russia is not that sort of place. When everything outside is colored in infinite shades of grey, white interiors inevitably go grey as well.
Julian Suetin
Julian Suetin is an interior designer and creative director at BBDO Contrapunto (Russia). A graduate of the Stroganov Art Academy, Julian Suetin has worked as an art director for some of the world’s largest advertising agencies (Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Grey Global) and has won more than 20 international awards over the past 15 years. During all this time, he has practiced interior design as a sideline. In 2010, together with partner Anna Smirnova, he opened Vesna-Leto, an interior design business, and began working with private clients.
Orlando
Sally Potter, 1992
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We make mood-boards for every movie we like. We select the most memorable frames in the movie, explore the color schemes used, scrutinize the interiors. Throughout the years, I’ve accumulated a huge, if chaotic, collection of movie mood-boards. Absolutely the first movie that comes to mind is, of course, Orlando, an amazing film from the viewpoint of art direction, coloristics and aesthetic presentation. The art director did a really fantastic job.
At 40 I discovered that the queen
of all colors is black.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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Every region has its geographic peculiarities, and these are reflected in the mentality of the people who live there. In turn, that mentality affects the national style and national color preferences. Japanese love interesting and assertive combinations of acid colors (as in Asian movies) for their interiors; Americans love harsh color combinations (i.e., black, white and fuchsia),
and Belgians and most other Northern European peoples love sophisticated, often barely distinguishable shades of grey mixed with pale blue, beige or violet.
A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick, 1968
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A Space Odyssey is a classic for all time. The Grand Budapest Hotel, despite being overly “artificial” and “cerebral,” is still very stylish visually. My personal favorites also include Blade Runner and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
Blade Runner
Ridley Scott, 1982
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Fargo TV series
Noah Hawley, 2014
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TV series are becoming an ever more frequent source of inspiration for me. Only some five years ago, serials were still commonly thought of as a “lower genre,” but now the hierarchy is gradually changing. Prominent film directors more and more frequently are working on serials, and talented art directors follow them. In my view, the second season of Fargo (2014), inspired by the 1996 film of the same name written and directed by the Coen brothers, is visually flawless. Vinyl (2016, directed by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger) is a source of endless inspiration for the ’70s. The plot of Downton Abbey (2010) is a bit soapy, but the interiors, for all the almost too-careful deliberation that went into them, look very natural.
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Every important artist is a discoverer of color, a treasure-house of information, hitherto unknown, about color. Not until Mark Rothko did we have the aesthetic of color volumes that dissolve into each other to powerful effect. Gauguin was the creator of the aesthetic of flat colors in bright and harmonious combinations. I personally love impressionists, especially the French — that’s why I used the key impressionist colors to decorate my own apartment — lilac, lavender, bright green and grey-blue.
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A home should offer food for the eye. The interplay of colors and shades creates a feeling akin to travel, the experience of great space. The more interesting and pleasant the interplay of colors, the more pleasant every minute of the experience. Here is an apartment we made for a young creative family engaged in the movie industry.
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Small Cars — I like this work. First of all, I love small cars and, second, this selection is itself a beautiful example of graphic minimalism. The astute combination of fonts and layout keeps the site interesting, never monotonous. The delicate framing of the photos in the same colors as the cars shown in them helps highlight the key points without distracting the viewer. In sum, the author has used the simplest of means to achieve an eye-pleasing and even impressive result.
It is a large penthouse in downtown Moscow with two living rooms. The “exterior” living room is meant for parties, large groups, but the “interior” living room (see photo) is for family and close friends. The husband, who is from the Crimea, loves bright sunlight, while his wife has a more refined taste — she loves cool, subtle shades. So in the family living room bright and cheerful shades of yellow blend gradually into blues and browns.
To emphasize warmth, we also built a fireplace and made the whole space warm (initially it was cold).
Photo: theredlist.com
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