AIC Annual Report 2015

The climax of the AIC year in 2014 was the interim meeting in Oaxaca, Mexico, hosted by Amexinc (see page 9). It was colourful, chaotic and memorable for the range of activities, the venue and the great efforts of the organisers. It is one of the admirable features of the AIC that it enables participants to meet people from many different backgrounds and disciplines, and to travel widely to experience different cultures.
Thank you to all member societies who have contributed reports on their activities. It is a special pleasure to welcome Norway as a new member, under the able leadership of Prof Jon Hardeberg. Highlights of this Annual Report include: a huge Festival of  Colours in Canada (page  15); analysis  of  façade colours in Helsinki (page 18); celebration in Germany of the 40th anniversary of DfwG jointly with a major DfZ conference ‘Colour as Experiment’ (page 20); award of an official coat of arms to the Colour Group of Great Britain (page 21); histogram analysis of flag colours in Slovenia (page 29); celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Swedish Colour Foundation (page 31); and inspirational methods in colour education (page 40). There is also a special report on activities for International Colour Day.
Another special event for me in September was to be invited to present the opening keynote talk at the 10th Annual Conference of the Italian Gruppo del Colore in Genoa (page 23). With the large number of delegates representing many countries, and the high quality of material presented, this conference can make a good claim to be the European Colour Conference. It reflects great credit on Prof Maurizio Rossi and Prof Alessandro Rizzi, who over a decade have steadily built up both their organisation and their annual conference to its present high level of excellence.
Looking through the reports from the member societies, it is apparent that one of the major themes is environmental colour design. This is evidenced not only by the strength of the Study Group SG‐ECD (page 41) but also by the number of projects being undertaken in many countries. It seems that a new type of professional is emerging, the colour practitioner, who can combine design skills with knowledge of colour psychology and colour science to find innovative ways to apply colour in architectural and urban environments. This is a lucrative commercial field (page 36), and one that will continue to be a strong focus of activity for AIC in years to come.

– Lindsay MacDonald, Editor