One of the final steps in rebuilding is painting. And, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, Jamaicans are being encouraged to make thoughtful choices that are both resilient in the climate-vulnerable Caribbean and expressive.

Berger Paints, in collaboration with the Jamaica Observer, on Tuesday gathered architects, designers, editors and homeowners for a panel discussion exploring the psychology behind colour and design.

The panel discussion led by Terri-Karelle Johnson featured Managing Director of GW Architects Garfield Wood; Senior Lifestyle Editor at the Jamaica Observer, Novia McDonald Whyte; Quality Control Manager at Berger Paints Michelle Blake McKenzie; and Architect and Designer Lisa Stiebel.

Blake McKenzie urged people to assess the environment where the paint will be used.

“What should come to mind first is the substrate. In other words, what surface are we putting that coating on? The second thing that should come to mind and what we would recommend, of course, is what environment is it being exposed to?Is it close to the coastline? Is it in hot, sunny Portmore where the rain never visits us?  What is the condition?” she asked.

The quality control manager said the paints she oversees at Berger are specifically curated to address these needs.

“We have benchmarked ourselves against our competitors and would have performed extremely well as it relates to how Berger products behave in the Caribbean,” she added.
 
Other suggestions included mineral paints that bond with the surfaces they are painted on.

“What happens is that it merges; it’s almost like a chemical reaction with the material itself, so it merges, it becomes one with the material, and it’s almost a family of patina, which is somewhat of oxidation and it ages but gracefully and it lasts forever,” Wood shared.

He cautioned, though, that while we rebuild with considerations about climate and heat, day-to-day comfort should also be considered

“At the beginning of my practice, we started to look at reflectivity in the application of colour and how that will make or contribute to habitable spaces,” he shared. “When things are too bright, when things are too white, they affect the eyes; they affect how you perceive things. And as much as there is the consideration of creating a space that is less in terms of heat gain, which contributes to the comfort, we also have to also consider the human aspect of it.”

This doesn’t mean Jamaicans should lose their flair for brights, though.

Stiebel, while also addressing the psychological component of colour, maintained that people should manipulate that to their advantage.

 “There’s some colours that are absorptive. There’s some that are reflective… What’s your lighting, what’s your natural lighting, what’s your artificial lighting? Because light changes everything…what’s your favourite colour and … what emotion does that evoke? When you walk into your bedroom, how do you want to feel? It’s a different feeling to how you want to do your living room,” she shared.

On the topic of colours and feeling, attendees were vocal. Managing Director of the Jamaica Observer Dominic Beaubrun noted that, when he thinks of Jamaica, the colours that come to mind are the rich blue and green, the contrasts of the ocean and foliage next to each other. And when he thinks of resilience, the colours that come to mind are the rich, vibrant hues of a sunset.

However, for Senior Business Analyst at Berger, Oraunie Mcnamee, his idea of a Jamaican colour is gold, representative of Jamaica’s champion spirit. Resilience, for him, evokes images of black.

For Isle & Co CEO Leah Hollingsworth, she also thinks of gold when she thinks of Jamaica, but associates resilience with a rich green.

McDonald-Whyte maintained that despite an increase in the popularity of beige, the Caribbean remains a world leader in colour in the architectural space.

“I think we were bold. We were always in colour. We lived our life in colour. The sun is bright, the sky is blue, the sea is blue, not too sure why we pulled back, but as I said, we were always there. We were always leaders and not followers,” she said.

“We ought not to be afraid of colour, and we are not afraid of colour,” the editor added.

—   Dana Malcolm