From the Sector

• International composites event, for the first time in Seoul
• The first ever French industrial event to take place in South Korea closed its doors last November 3, 2017 after 3 days of intense business

JEC Asia strategic move from Singapore to Seoul really paid off. More than 230 exhibiting companies from Asia, Europe and America were represented on the event that was organized over 3 floors of the COEX Exhibition Center of Seoul. The event registered a record number of 6,271 professional visits from 42 countries, the top visiting countries being South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and France.

“The 10th anniversary of JEC Asia marked a real turning point for the composites industry in Asia Pacific. Not only have we gathered the whole composites value chain in one place for 3 days, but we also succeeded to apply our new strategy towards end-users as we have welcomed professionals from composites using industries such as Aerospace, Automotive, Electronic & Electric Equipment, Construction, Sports & Leisure and many more.” comments Ms. Frédérique MUTEL, JEC Group President and CEO. “Based on the outcomes of this session, we have already decided to double the surface of the event on one unique floor to be able to accommodate more exhibitors and innovative parts in 2018”, she adds.

“We very much appreciated the support of local authorities such as the City of Seoul who did it utmost to welcome international attendees and top buyers as well as the Korean Composites Industry in general for its massive participation. Also, we were very proud to host the 12th International Carbon Festival and we believe that our synergies contributed to such a successful event”, says Christian STRASSBURGER, JEC Asia Director.

JEC Asia, International Composites Event, will return in Seoul next November 14-15-16, 2018. www.jeccomposites.com

Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, has partnered with the popular color inspiration site Design Seeds, on a series of seasonal stories featuring colors found in the Color Atlas by Archroma®. Design Seeds founder Jessica Colaluca and the site have more than 1,250,000 followers combined across social media platforms, and Design Seeds itself gets around 300,000 viewers every month.

“Archroma Color Management and Design Seeds is a match made in heaven,” said Colaluca. “I had declined partnering with brands or incorporating sponsored content on the site for over seven years until I met the incredible folks at Archroma. Beyond our obvious shared passion for color, we share a dedication to empowering designers. And as a designer, I fell in love with the Color Atlas. It is a brilliant system overflowing with modern color.”

Through the site, Colaluca provides daily color stories, utilizing dynamic, thought-provoking images. In a new Design Seeds feature sponsored by Archroma she creates ‘seasonal atlas’ which offers storied vignettes of creative color and inspiration. Color Atlas by Archroma® codes are provided for all colors in the inspiration resource. The ‘seasonal atlas’ is catalogued on the Design Seeds site, distributed at trade shows and is available for download.

“It’s critical to designers working in today’s global fashion industry to select color that is achievable from the very start of a project,” says Chris Hipps, Global Director, Archroma Color Management. “Here at Archroma, our suite of color tools, from the Color Atlas to our online Color Search tool to our industry-renowned Engineered Color Standards, are all designed to help designers capture their inspiration, and ensure that their color choices remain consistent across global production processes.”

“We brainstormed on how to enhance what we can offer creatives through our partnership and that is when the concept of the ‘seasonal atlas’ was born. Through Archroma’s sponsorship, I am able to create the expanded inspiration resource on the site. And by featuring Color Atlas codes, folks are getting a gorgeous color match from concept to execution which I believe no other system can provide,” adds Colaluca.

When creating Design Seeds, Colaluca mixes each color swatch individually. She uses digital software much as she had gouache paint back in the early days of her career. For the seasonal atlas she then works with the Archroma team to translate her collection into selections from the 4,320 swatches in the six-volume Color Atlas. Fans of any color story can then refer to the Archroma color number which references swatches in the Color Atlas. Each color is readily available as an Engineered Color Standard and the digital reflectance data. All colors are also supported in Color Atlas Online (coloratlas.archroma.com) with dye formulas on multiple substrates, Hex, CMYK, sRGB values and a selection of surrounding similar Colors.