Matter and color in high definition

HD Surface has chosen David Lopez Quincoces to develop a range of 37 colors for the company’s collections, for use in residential and contract applications

HD Surface: ColorSystem by D.L.Q.
HD Surface: ColorSystem by D.L.Q.

The ColorSystem by D.L.Q. is a language made of shadings, which Ruggero Caratti – CEO of HD Surface – has commissioned to the designer David Lopez Quincoces, bringing together four very successful product lines in a single project: PerfectCombination, CoverHD, GeoTexture and GeoOutdoor.

David Lopez Quincoces
David Lopez Quincoces

With an essential (but forceful) style, soft and linear, David Lopez Quincoces belongs to the new generation of designers now boasting many highly admired names who have opted for subtraction, working with a limited number of lines of proven efficacy. In the selection of hues for HD Surface, Quincoces’ DNA is immediately perceptible: even the most lively, bright colors, combined with the material – be it cement bonded with resins, metal powders, volcanic stones – lower their volume and raise the temperature, together with the substance, to create surfaces that are stimulating to observe in seamlessly horizontal or vertical configurations.

IFDM asked Quincoces how the collaboration with HD Surface began. “First of all, we made an analysis of a commercial character, to understand production trends and to then concentrate on a palette that would sum up the research and experimentation conducted by HD. After this first more rational step, we began to delve into the more instinctive aspects, and the result is a sophisticated, elegant and above all versatile color range that allows clients to combine all the hues in a very simple way.”

In the first lines of the presentation of the Color System, the references are sunshine, trees, forests, the sky, all impressions that might seem banal at first glance: but when we turn the pages and start to see the compositions of material+color+combination, it is surprising to realize how the vibrant heights of nature’s colors can be smoothly absorbed (first) and then enhanced (immediately after) by an interior design that from this point on requires only small adjustments, because the mood is decisive, and truly embodies the idea of high definition.

Is this a way to educate designers or end users regarding the choice of colors and materials? “Educate is a term that might be a bit too aggressive and complicated,” Quincoces responds. “I would prefer to talk about ‘orientation,’ offering a choice that reduces dissonance to a minimum and permits harmony, simplifying the choices: in the end, it’s a tool that helps both the client and the designer.” 

The 37 colors selected by David Lopez Quincoces for HD Surfaces navigate from dawn to dusk, crossing the night with chiaroscuro effects, all emphasizing the Mediterranean character of the company and the designer: the colors of rocks and sand, cool and warm grays, delicately rosy hues, pale and silvery greens; but also intense tones like cowhide red, strong ochre, deep blue, giving rise to vibrant combinations.