Design Corner
FinishWorks Color Trends
Some things in life are black and white - except when you’re looking for that perfect shade of black or white, or red, or blue. Open any fan deck and you’ll find dozens of options. You think you’ll know it when you see it, but what do you do when none of them seem quite right?
As the Director of Color Styling and Interpretive Design for the RPM Industrial Coatings Group, Rodney McFalls and his team are passionate about bringing the vision of the customer to life. With their custom finishing solutions, they work to bridge the gap between inspiration and reality by offering customers the latest in color trends, applications, and design.
"The ultimate success of any color or finish
is the passion it creates."
- Rodney McFalls
Director of Color Styling and Interpretive Design, RPM Industrial Coatings Group
"Chemistry makes it work.
We make it pretty."- Connie Hallyburton
Color is an integral and vital part of our daily life, involving everything we do and everything that surrounds us. McFalls and his team understand that power and aim to bring it out in every finish, for every customer.
"We don't follow trends.
We influence them."- Keith Jones
McFalls and his team rely on substantial market research to reveal how demographics, current events, and economics might be driving collective emotion. His team knows where and why certain color palettes are popular. They know how to incorporate a trend, while also considering its history and its life cycle. This all adds up to a team who not only anticipates trends, but actively participates in creating them.
"Inspiration, for me,
is our customer base."- Phillip Pritchard
The Color Styling and Interpretive Design team have a broad customer base ranging from residential furniture and kitchen cabinetry to RV and specialty markets. “Their distinct needs and challenges require us to always be innovating,” says Phillip.
From trend presentations and color palette assessments to designing exclusive finishes, Rodney McFalls and his color team offer an unmatched level of service. With over 100 years of collective experience, they are passionate about bringing the vision of the customer to life, even if the customer hasn’t quite realized that vision yet.
“Often folks come to us asking for something they’ve never seen before,” says McFalls. “Being a leader in our industry requires that we strategically position ourselves to be the best at listening, learning,
and doing.”
The team utilizes its color design studio in Hickory, NC to showcase the range of possibilities, and will soon be expanding this resource to other locations across the country. McFalls concludes, “We must provide the advantage that our industry, and more importantly our customers, didn’t even realize they needed.”
"We're not just making great coatings,
We’re showing you the full range of what you can do with those coatings, and that is what makes us unique."
- Rodney McFalls
The RPM Industrial Coatings Design Team
From left to right: Keith Jones, Color Stylist Mohawk | Phillip Pritchard, Project Manager & Mohawk Technical CS | Rodney McFalls, Director Color Styling & Interpretive Design | Connie Hallyburton, Color Stylist | Fernando Ortega, Color Stylist | Hovie Nestor, Senior Interpretive Color Stylist | Not shown: Andrew Loetz, Color Quality Engineer