Inspiring editorial from MIX Magazine

 

Velvety and rich, Carmine has a chameleon-like quality, strong and opulent enough to make a statement but with just enough subtlety to play a supporting role in current and future palettes.

 

 

Carmine is an intense red pigment, formed from carminic acid. This acid is found in the crushed scales of the tiny cochineal insect and was favoured by the Aztecs and Mayans as early as the 2nd century BC. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, cochineal became a prized commodity, with Carmine becoming a colour associated with high status; take the lush robes of Catholic cardinals, for example.

 

 

Carmine has enjoyed a long and illustrious history. However, the colour’s stellar role in all cinematic representations of boudoirs and bordellos has led to a certain reluctance to use Carmine as anything but an accent, hence designers opting for a judicious pillow or two rather than wall to wall treatment.

 

 

There’s no doubt that Carmine works hard in palettes, delivering on drama when needed but also balancing and consolidating colours like black, tan and brown. We can see it hard at work in our stories, not least in Coast (AW 2022/23) where Carmine was the focal red that matched the strength of the blues.

 

 

With high saturation and a degree of shading, in Fury (SS 2023) Carmine worked alongside the cleaner and even more saturated Sign Red, tempering its bolder tonal partner.

 

 

One way of updating this colour (highlighted in our story Fury), and avoiding any hint of bordello, is by mixing shades of Carmine with the yellow-cast Sign Red and its more yellow undertone base. Not that Carmine doesn’t stand comfortably as a foil for more neutral shades; it’s a colour that, seen at Acne Studios, combines well with soft mouse brown and black, or at Chloe, where it softens shades of orange and brown in woollen stripes.

 

Acne Studios

 

Carmine also brings carefully controlled spectacle to architectural projects around the world. Take Ismail Solehudin Architecture studio’s project for an Indonesian boarding house, teaming Carmine with shades of Sign Red. Or there’s Birk Heilmeyer und Frenzel Architekten’s day care centre in Stuttgart, where the timber structure is stained in this distinctive red.

 

 

Like all reds, Carmine is a singular colour; there isn’t a pale version. This singularity fosters high levels of recognition; there’s a lot of emotional weight to red, across all cultures. But Carmine’s more muted feel makes it less confrontational than, say, Signal Red. While Signal Red will always grab attention, Carmine is a colour you can rely on to work in a more collaborative spirit.

 

 

MIX Magazine is a quarterly print and digital publication by our creative agency, Colour Hive and is available as part of Colour Hive membership.

 

Duha Group is a global, industry leading manufacturer of innovative colour marketing tools. We specialise in colour matching, colour mass reproduction and colour system management.

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