The Case for Color: A Portable Color Swatch with AkzoNobel Powder Coatings ― 

AkzoNobel Powder Coatings Greece creates color swatches tailored to the local market, and transfers knowhow to architects and developers on the specific features and potential of each powder coating color. Color is much more than a visible finish on metal surfaces: Being a polymerized, thin organic film to protect and decorate, it is an essential component of each metallic architectural element and asks for proper specifications for its right application.
With our new, portable color swatch, The Case for Color, including 60 curated powder coating colors manufactured with the Interpon D2525 superdurable technology, we want to facilitate powder coating selection, and to provide detailed information on each color to help with its proper specification, in a simple, straightforward manner.
The case-shaped color swatch allows the comprehensive view of all 60 powder coatings, presented in coated samples which are removable for easy, focused observation. Firstly, the color shades are divided in four families: Natural, Light, Opulent, and Dark. Beyond shade, each color has texture: it is Smooth or Sablé (with the texture of fine sand). Further, it has luminosity: it is Matt or Gloss. Finally, color may feature special effects, being Metallic: such colors have visible metallic pigments, which highlight curved geometries in powder-coated metal architectural components. After being acquainted with each color’s shade, texture, gloss, and special effect, more detailed information is provided on its anti-scratch properties, aesthetic value, and value range.
The design of the Case is the collaborative product between Color/n Architecture and Georgia Harizani with Filippos Fragkogiannis, creating an immersive environment for powder-coated color samples, which highlights their properties. The Case cover is clad in black, textured special paper, reminiscent of the celebrated Sablé texture by AkzoNobel. The slotted base which holds the samples is a smooth gloss black, almost mirror-like, demonstrating that the two “blacks” are completely different colors. Typography is straightforward and rational, visualizing the properties of the colors included in the Case in a way that produces a pattern. The visualization of those properties is summarized in the geometric graphic gracing the cover, suggesting an immediate, intuitive dimension in color selection, which is informed by a detailed, analytical outlook provided in comprehensive information. The coloring of the case subdues the color feature we mostly tend to associate with color proper: tonality. The case features black, white, and 50% grey, all being mostly displays of absolute light and absolute dark, rather than colors. Thus, the Case, as a three-dimensional, tactile object, draws attention to the other color features we usually don’t notice: texture, gloss, and special effect. Those stand out prominently in the powder-coated color samples, supported by typography. We are confident that such comprehensive knowledge of color will make all the difference in architectural design.
The Case will facilitate color sampling both at the office, as well as, at the construction site: it is lightweight, easy to use, and easy to carry. It includes 60 superdurable powder coating colors, from various Interpon D2525 Collections by AkzoNobel:

01 RAL 6003 Structura YK303F
02 RAL 7006 Structura YL306F
03 RAL 7037 Structura YL337F
04 RAL 7040 Structura YL340F
05 RAL 8014 Structura YM314F
06 RAL 6009 X-Pro Matt YK209F
07 RAL 7006 X-Pro Matt YL225E
08 RAL 8014 X-Pro Matt YM257F
09 Brisbane Sablé Y2303I
10 Brun 2650 Sablé YW366F
11 Mars 2525 Sablé YX355F
12 Innoko Sablé Y4306I
13 Gris 2800 Sablé YW356F
14 Gris 2500 Sablé YW358F
15 Beige 2525 YW276I
16 Toledo YW271F
17 Steel Blue Platinum Y2207I
18 Tijuka Sablé Y2306I
19 Tasilaq Sablé Y2304I
20 Ordos Sablé YW387I
21 Steel Bronze Precis Y2M02I
22 Dark Bronze Precis Y2M01I
23 Anodic Bronze Y2214F
24 Golden Beach YW255F
25 Steel Bronze 2 Y2217F
26 Oia Silky Texture YL316I
27 RAL 9016 Structura YA316F
28 RAL 7030 Structura YP330F
29 RAL 7035 Structura YL335F
30 RAL 1019 Structura YD319F
31 Cream 13 Precis Y2M07I
32 RAL 9016 Smooth Matt YA216F
33 Yazd Sablé YW370F
34 Gris 2400 Sable YW373F
35 RAL 9006 Structura Y2328F
36 RAL 9007 Structura Y2329F
37 Grazalema YW266F
38 Detendre Y2214I
39 Silver 2525 YW206F
40 Natural Shimmer Precis Y2M05I
41 Soft Silver Y2203I
42 Anodic Ice YW201E
43 RAL 9005 Structura YN305F
44 RAL 7022 Structura YL322F
45 RAL 7016 Structura YL316F
46 RAL 7039 Structura YL339F
47 RAL 7012 Structura YL312F
48 RAL 7015 Structura YL315F
49 RAL 7021 Structura YL321F
50 Anodic Black YN205E
51 Ral 7022 X-Pro Matt YL280F
52 Ral 7016 X-Pro Matt YL216F
53 Ral 7021X-Pro Matt YL221F
54 Noir 2100 Sablé YW359F
55 Noir 2200 Sablé YW360F
56 Noir 2300 Sablé YW383I
57 Gris 2900 Sablé YW355F
58 Blue 2600 Sablé YW361F
59 Pyrite 2525 YW207F
60 Champagne 2525 YW281F