Where there is colour, there is also form: a conversation with Christoph Brach of Raw Color about industrial standards with depth, facets of luxury in projects — and the Dutch Design Week, where the studio is designing two exhibitions for the German Design Graduates and RAL Colours.
Interview by Markus Hieke
Christoph Brach and Daniera ter Haar met while studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven, became a couple and, rather out of opportunity, founded the design studio Raw Color. Since 2007 the German–Dutch couple, together with a small team, have been developing projects across various creative disciplines. Their intangible main ingredient: colour.
Natural pigments or artificial neon colours — which takes precedence for you?
In our practice, we use both. If I had to choose, I would always prioritise natural colour. A synthetic pigment consists of only one colour. However, if you look at a natural pigment under a microscope, you will see that it contains many crystals. As these reflect several tones of the spectrum, the colour appears more complex and richer. But neon has its strengths too, and is good for creating accents.
What does your name Raw Color stand for, and how do you manage not to be reduced to just the topic of colour?
Our name came about by chance. Our first joint project dealt with natural pigments and was titled Raw Color. After exhibiting the project at Milan Design Week, we suddenly started receiving mail addressed to ‘Raw Color’. We thought, ‘Hey, people don’t realise that’s actually the project title.’ Encouraged by our friends, we adopted the name for our studio. It now conveys how we work very nicely: namely, through organic development processes. The fact that colour is central to our work is reflected in the name. However, I would like to emphasise that form and colour are always related.
“We are concerned with the interaction between form, colour and, not least, texture — and that across many design disciplines. We receive enquiries ranging from exhibition design through to branding, product and textile design, and even photography.”
What do you mean by that?
It is often forgotten that, for example, a colour sample also has a form. Looking at different objects, a cylinder with its rounded form might take a sharper colour than an angular block, which would probably be given a softer tone. We are concerned with the interaction between form, colour and, not least, texture — and that across many design disciplines. We receive enquiries ranging from exhibition design through to branding, product and textile design, and even photography
100 Years of RAL: To mark this anniversary, Raw Color developed a limited edition of the RAL CLASSIC colour collection. From 216 shades, they defined five colours representing the fan and its omnipresent fields of application | Photo: Raw Color
For RAL, on the occasion of their 100th anniversary, you developed a limited special edition of the Classic colour fan. How did you proceed?
The RAL principle is based on an industrial logic and structure that has proven itself over decades. It has remained the same until today. When RAL approached us with a request for new packaging, I was keen to do it because there was so much potential in it. So we embarked on a very analytical research project, disassembling the entire RAL fan, laying out the colours and examining the colour groups. In this way we quickly came across the history and functions of this colour collection.
What did you find out?
We all know RAL because the colours are used on road signs, for emergency stop buttons, for the painting of fire engines and much more. That distinguishes RAL from other well-known colour collections such as Pantone or NCS, which are much more trend-oriented and where new shades are added more rapidly. In the case of RAL Classic, since the last expansion in 2020 there are 216 shades. New ones are only added when a colour gains social relevance. That was exactly what we wanted to emphasise again.
How did you achieve that with the new packaging?
The packaging of the colour fan has six sides; the underside is less relevant for us. So, after practical consideration, we defined five shades from the Classic collection that underline the everyday utility of RAL colours. On the packaging there is a short text for each of the shades. For the fire red RAL 3000 it is explained that this is the shade for fire engines and for the emergency stop button. Alongside that is leaf green for the emergency exit, sulphur yellow, which is used across Europe for ambulances, and pale pink, which is prescribed as the sheath colour within multi-core data cables. On the lid we see traffic blue, which is used on road signs as well as on police response vehicles. For us these colours should tell a story, but ultimately also form a pleasing interplay.
During the Dutch Design Week you are presenting the RAL project in an exhibition. What will visitors be able to see there?
Visitors will be able to follow the entire process of this project. We illustrate each of the five colours with objects. Through the selection of application examples, all 216 colours of the fan will be represented.
“Under the title ‘Next, Now, Then’ we highlight how differently the students orient themselves in their work: some look to the past for inspiration, others devote themselves to the contemporary question of how artificial intelligence influences creative practice.”
On the occasion of the Dutch Design Week you also designed the new exhibition of the German Design Graduates, which is organised by the German Design Council. What can visitors expect there?
This time the exhibition will be presented in a skate hall, so in a fairly robust environment, which we want to match with the exhibition concept. To act as sustainably as possible, we are using grating panels that come from a previous German Design Graduates exhibition. We will make the pedestals for the exhibits from them. As back panels we are using MDF boards that we had in stock and are colouring for this purpose.
It is new that you are curating the German Design Graduates show for the first time.
That’s right — until now we had been commissioned for the exhibition design and then worked together with the curators. This year we were asked whether we would take on the selection of the graduates ourselves. Of course we were very happy to do so. Under the title “Next, Now, Then” we highlight how differently the students orient themselves in their work: some look to the past for inspiration, others devote themselves to the contemporary question of how artificial intelligence influences creative practice. Still others dare to look further into the future.
For Hermès Switzerland, they created the window installations for the Spring/Summer 2024 collection – a homage to the luxury brand’s headquarters on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris | Photos: Alicia Dubuis
Ikea, Sancal, Pode, Kvadrat and Hermès: your list of clients is colourful. What are you currently working on?
Among other things we are working on a window display design for Hermès stores in Switzerland. Two years ago we staged their shop windows. Now we have the opportunity again. That is, of course, the ultimate luxury — to be able to work with such a client. They grant us a great deal of freedom while also placing great importance on detail and high-quality production. We produce a large proportion of the decorative elements used ourselves — either in-house or together with studios we are friends with.
In contrast, presumably, is your collaboration with Ikea. For the furniture retailer you developed a limited collection of furniture, lamps and accessories.
Exactly — in the case of the Tesammans collection for Ikea, which includes a trolley, lights, various textile and tableware products, we provided our designs and then indicated roughly how it should look. In principle it went like this: we specified the forms by drawings, we prescribed the colours and then Ikea’s product development machinery kicked in. Their design department understands very precisely how to work it out and which producers can implement it well. At that point everything was taken out of our hands. That, too, is of course a form of luxury. We then travelled to Sweden repeatedly, looked at the prototypes and adjusted details here and there.
In collaboration with Ikea, Raw Color developed the limited Tesammans collection, which includes table and pendant lights, a trolley, a stool, various textiles and accessories. The middle photo shows paper dummies of the products | Photos: Raw Color
And are you currently working on any further exhibition designs?
For the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam we are currently preparing an exhibition on the theme of yellow. Working with colour here is particularly interesting because, in a museum context or in art galleries, the White Cube is an established concept that we like to break. In the said show, for example, van Gogh’s world-famous Sunflower will be on display. But instead of hanging it against a white wall, we want a coloured background. It requires the utmost care to find a suitable hue for this together with the curators.
Next, Now, Then
Looking Back and Thinking Ahead
German Design Graduates @ Dutch Design Week
18 – 26 October 2025
Eindhoven
Raw Color x RAL
The Functionality of Colours
RAL’s 100th anniversary
18 – 26 October 2025
Raw Color Studio, Beeldbuisring 30, 5651HA
Share on Social Media
