Samuel Medina Discusses ‘The Power of Color’ At Boston Design Week

As part of the 2019 Boston Design Week, design magazine Metropolis delved into their latest issue’s theme, “Color and Light,” at Poppin’s Boston showroom on April 2. Poppin, a contemporary office supply company, hosted the event titled “The Power of Color.” Surrounded by colorful cabinets and tall lounge chairs, Editorial Director Samuel F. Medina broke down the use of color and light within each of the magazine’s featured articles, explaining how innovative application can yield unique architectural or artistic results.

Boston Design Week is an annual 12-day festival that promotes the diverse categories of design in events throughout the greater Boston area, from behind-the-scenes looks at exhibitions to learning about sustainable design, to open dialogues with creators in a variety of industries. This year marks the sixth rendition of the festival, which took place between March 27 and April 7.

The magazine’s latest issue explores how the manipulation of light and color can affect humans’ perception of a space or object. Medina began his presentation by discussing the magazine feature “Science Says Light Brighter!” by Audrey Gray, which discusses the work of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Lighting Research Center (LRC). According to the LRC, our exposure to certain lights at different times can alter how our bodies feel. Given that many people spend the majority of their time indoors, the article urges designers to carefully consider how they use light within their work, whether it be in a building or in an app.

Following this introduction, Medina highlighted other articles that feature artists who have used color and light as crucial mediums in their work. One of those artists is sculptor Janet S. Echelman ’87, another creator partaking in Boston Design Week whose monumental public art pieces utilize colored lights.

“Light in architecture tends to be a kind of mystified category,” Medina said. "You see museum architects really talking about light in a sculptural, poetic way, whereas architects who do more interiors or workplaces talk about it more almost in terms of metrics.”

Both Metropolis and Poppin have said that color is central to their companies’ aesthetics. Lexie D. Altman, an account coordinator with Poppin, commented on the company’s mission involving color: “With Poppin, we really want to make the office fun — our motto is ‘work happy.’ We want the office place to be a happy environment for people where they want to come and work,” she said. “Color has a lot to do with that, as it brightens [a space] up. Color is really important to our brand, and I think it always will be.”

Photographer Virginia E. Hanusik attended “The Power of Color” as a representative from Metropolis.

“We were really thrilled to partner with Poppin,” Hanusik said. “They’re one of our main sponsors and champions of our magazine, so being able to participate in Boston Design Week and learn more about what’s happening in the community here has been really wonderful.”