Rivian's SXSW talk explores how a vehicle's colour affects emotion

Promotion: American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian's new colour, California Dune, references "the essence of going out in the dunes of California," the company's design head explained at a panel talk at SXSW.

Rivian's chief design officer Jeff Hammoud and Rivian director (CMF) of colour, materials and finishes, Sophia Park spoke at the panel titled The Color Effect during SXSW – one of the world's premiere creative events, in Austin, Texas earlier this month.

The talk took place at Electric Roadhouse, an immersive hub for panel events at Rivian's flagship showroom in Austin.

They were joined by muralist DAAS and industrial designer Kickie Chudikova on the panel, which was moderated by Dezeen co-CEO Ben Hobson and saw the panellists share their takes on colour and how it can be used to evoke emotion and affect behaviour.

As part of the event, Rivian showcased the new limited-edition California Dune colour on its Tri-Motor R1 SUV and truck, and Hammoud opened the panel by talking about how the company arrived at the design.

"We wanted to take some of the essence of going out in the dunes of California, going to Joshua Tree, and be inspired by that landscape and the contrast between the lights and the darks from the shadows," he said.

However, the earthy body colour – an elegant neutral that sits somewhere between a white, a grey, a beige and a sage green – has a practical benefit that the company also believes exerts a psychological pull over drivers.

"A big part of our brand is encouraging people to go out, use their vehicles and get them dirty," said Hammoud. "And with the materials we choose and the colours we choose as well, it's not just about being easy-clean but staying clean longer."

"That colour works well when it's dusty," he continued. "It looks really great when it's clean...but then also when it is dirty, it looks correct and it looks in the element."

Hammoud explained that his team worked with an in-house painter to be able to iterate variations quickly, and said that when it came to colour and design, it was key to their design approach not to follow trends and to look beyond the automotive industry for inspiration.

"We look at automotive just to know what the competition is doing, but we look at the products and the types of things that our aspiring customers like to use," said Hammoud. "One of the things that was on our colour and materials table was a carabiner. Sophia had it there because she liked this anodised finish that was on it."

The carabiner went on to inspire Rivian's key fob but also the very shape of the front of its flagship R1 vehicles, showing the lateral thinking that guides the brand.

DAAS and Chudikova spoke about how they used colour in their own work, saying that a lot of choices happened intuitively. While they always tailor a palette to a brief and a context, their personal preferences still showed.

"I believe what we grew up with really shapes our emotional state, as well as our aesthetic choices and approach to life," said Chudikova.

"There are certain colours I use that I get excited about," said DAAS. "Like when I open the paint can, colours like mint green...I might be having a bad day on the wall, but when I see that colour, my reaction is always positive."

The Color Effect panel took place on 8 March at the Electric Roadhouse, Rivian's immersive exhibition space at SXSW.

Rivian was the headline sponsor of SXSW this year, which is part of a two-year sponsorship agreement.

For more information on Rivian and California Dune, see the company's website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Rivian as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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