By Natalie Hickerson

ILFI is proudly presenting a series of member impact stories to showcase and celebrate some of the wonderful work our community has been doing. This week we are featuring Dee Schlotter, owner of a color and marketing consulting business and former media spokesperson for PPG Industries.

When it comes to design, few elements can impact the success of a final product quite like color. Far more than just embellishment, color is a universal language that can be used to create atmosphere, direct focus in a space, and cater to different moods and energy levels. Dee Schlotter has become an expert in the unique subject of color and has had an impressive career studying, predicting, and analyzing what causes colors to rise and fall in popularity.

Before starting her own consulting business, Dee spent 29 years working in color forecasting for PPG, a global paint and coating supplier. During this time, she did extensive and fascinating research in architectural color trends. Dee explains that the purpose of a building should inform the colors chosen for its design. A study she helped conduct for the Department of Corrections in Connecticut, for example, concluded that prisoners generally hated sameness of color, and preferred both variation and natural colors. For those stuck in the same building all the time, such as incarcerated people, pops of color interest the eye and offer something to focus on. Natural blues and greens in common areas also help create comfort, as for most people our earliest childhood memories are associated with nature.

Dee reports similar findings in other long-term living facilities such as hospitals: “in a study of a children’s hospital, they weren’t wanting carnival colors, like bright yellows and pinks that you might expect. They wanted natural colors, because they wanted to be outside”. Meanwhile, it was quite the opposite for homes, with simple whites and grays dominating the market. These colors symbolize silence and provide an uninterrupted, blank background. “For residential, that makes sense,” Dee explains, “because we are stimulated all day long with our computers and phones and everything that we just want a place of respite.”

It was through her research on color that Dee first got acquainted with biophilic design. Every year, she worked with PPG to identify a “color of the year” based on current trends. Societal events and feelings impact which colors spike in popularity – after the tragedy of 9/11, for instance, colors with warm and compassionate connotations such as soft pinks and chocolate browns quickly popped up in fashion and home design. The 2018 color of the year was a deep green associated with the rise of biophilia, and it is through this trend that Dee became familiar with ILFI.

Of her many sustainability projects, one of the most notable was her work with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, celebrated for its use of biophilic elements years before the term was coined. Dee produced an in-depth presentation entitled “The Colors of Fallingwater” that explored the role of nature and human senses in the color choices for the project.

Color palette sample with earth tone and natural colors

In the future, Dee hopes to continue working with color in relation to sustainable and biophilic design. She notes the importance of sourcing colors sustainably moving forward, applauding companies like Material Bank for their commitment to eliminating waste in processes such as sending out paint and tiles samples. We’re looking forward to seeing how Dee brightens future projects with her colorful work.

About Dee Schlotter

Pronouns:  she/her

After almost three decades at PPG, Dee Schlotter retired at the end of 2020 to start her own consulting business in color, marketing and biophilic design for the architectural segment.  At PPG, Dee worked in technical service and product marketing bringing zero-VOC, environmentally-preferred products to market.  Her longest, most-loved career span with PPG was in Color.   Dee initiated the global color workshop to identify color trends across architectural, automotive, and consumer products.  The forecasting research resulted in filters by lifestyle, demographic and geographic color directions for architects, designers, builders and owners in the hospitality, office, health care, education and residential markets.   Dee was PPG’s media spokesperson for more than 12 years bringing color of the year to life.  It was during the 2018 color of the year influencer research and attending a presentation by Amanda Sturgeon that she fell in love with biophilia and knew she wanted to study it.  Dee is currently taking the Biophilia Design Certificate to add it to her color specifications and design projects.  

Dee lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, son and dog.  She teaches yoga and loves to hike and bike in forests, national and urban parks.  She is an active volunteer in community development projects, including affordable housing, and a goat herder with the landscaping company, Allegheny Goatscape.

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Written By

Liz Harder

Liz manages the Living Future Membership program, helping to expand the growth of ILFI’s membership base & seek new ways to bring value to the Living Future Member community. If you have any questions about becoming a member, you can reach her at membership@living-future.org.