Automotive Colour

Client Name

BASF Coatings

Year

2021-2023

Project Details

Surface Design & Biodesign

Project Scope

explorative automotive colour concept

How can colour in the automotive industry evolve towards a more sustainable future? In collaboration with BASF Coatings, I explored the potential of bacteria-based pigments, an innovation rooted in my Living Colour project. This approach reimagines colour and surface design, offering a biogenic alternative to conventional automotive coatings.

Working with the BASF Coatings design team was an opportunity to push the boundaries of automotive colour. I developed a concept for a new colour, Lividum Lilac, for the trend book, including material research and prototyping for demonstrators for their clients. The goal was to explore a colour concept that could become part of BASF’s Colour Trend Story 2021-2022.

This collaboration was not just about developing a new material but about shifting perspectives, rethinking colour beyond the standardised, industrial palette towards something dynamic, renewable, and uniquely expressive. Could bacteria-based pigments one day redefine automotive coatings? The journey has only just begun.

A New Perspective on Colour

for automotive design

Bacteria-based pigments offer a radical departure from traditional colourants. Instead of synthetic or mineral-based pigments, these colours emerge through a natural fermentation process, where bacteria metabolise nutrients into striking hues. Depending on the bacterial strain, the pigments can be harvested and refined for uniform application, or cultivated directly on a substrate, creating organic, one-of-a-kind patterns.

While bacteria-based pigments hold great potential, they also present challenges. The automotive industry requires coatings that meet rigorous durability and performance standards, and as this is still an emerging field, much research is needed to bring such bio-based colours to market. However, projects like this help set change in motion, opening new dialogues between science, industry, and design.