Susanna Cots, of the Estudi de disseny in Barcelona, is an SBID member whose philosophy in work revolves around the colour white. Below, read her thoughts about the implications of one single colour in the world of design.

“White, as a colour and concept, has been related to cleanliness and light. To purity and quietness. To all those holes of air that surround typography. To get right on the spot. To sol-fa and the white quaver. Nevertheless, sometimes white is related to a creative block, the fear of the white paper. That’s it: white is more than a colour, is a concept that goes through all the artistic disciplines in both positive and negative ways.

As a colour, white is the base and the union of all colours and it’s the starting point of any creative process. That’s why, as a designer, I’m not scared of working with it, because I believe that in the authenticity of its purity and brightness. I believe in its simplicity and sensibility and the stimulation that it provokes in our senses.

White is the colour of the solar light, that’s why gives width to all spaces. We use white as the base of all our interior design projects, because over it we can apply any other colours and we create great contrasts. We like specially combining it with black, which means “the absence of all the colours” and it helps us to create atmospheres with pure colours.

Nowadays, trends are one-colour based and it gives birth to a new style. For instance, the use of golden makes us think of baroque style. There’s no arguing about taste. That’s why people use colours depending on trends. I don’t follow this way of working: using different colours in one space don’t get to a visual harmony. I firmly believe that we need to search for a chromatic continuity to create long-term projects.

The way I understand white is very similar in other disciplines. White is the base of a painting. White in graphic design gives importance to every single space. White in fashion means freshness and happiness and make us think of good weather. Imagine the typical summer: white houses, blue sky, white linen dresses… Isn’t that enough to imagine the power of white? Gastronomy is also absorbed by white colour: cheese, cream… means sensuality. There’s even a white diet, which helps to reduce cholesterol. Apart from that, white is associated to hygiene and we prefer white towels, cloths, and kitchen apron, doctors’ uniform…

I don’t want to finish without mentioning white colours infinity of applications: not only in tonalities, as beige, grey white, dirty white, bone white… but also in textures where white can be the perfect star. White has been one of the motivations that made me design Blancollection for Camamilla Design (www.camamilladesign.com and www.facebook.com/camamilladesgin) : a collection where everything is from and for the white colours, using white lacquered wood, aluminium or dalian.”

More information:
www.suinterioristes.com
www.facebook.com/susannacots
www.twitter.com/susannacots
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