International paint and coatings brand, Dulux, has unveiled “True Joy” as its Colour of the Year 2025.
True Joy is a bright and positive yellow that Dulux says “reflects people’s desire to break free, reset, and create something new and exciting.”
The brand is asking architects, specifiers, and designers to embrace yellow and “infuse a sense of optimism, pride and imagination into their projects.”
Yellow shades like True Joy can be used as a bold statement colour or an accent hue. However, to help designers advise their clients on the best colour pairings, Dulux has created three supporting ColourFutures palettes.
The ‘Bold Colour Story’ palette is inspired by the thrill of adventure, bringing spontaneity and energy with contrasting bright blues and oranges with accent yellow.
‘Human Colour Story’ has been designed to celebrate artisanal craftsmanship, with warming shades of wood and clay reflecting the raw materials used in handmade processes.
The third palette is ‘Proud Colour Story’, which draws from diverse cultures around the world by using deep, rich, and earthy browns and greens.
Commenting on the announcement, Dawn Scott, Dulux Trade senior colour designer said: “True Joy and its accompanying palettes offer a fresh perspective on colour’s role in shaping our built environment.
“These colours are not just trends but tools for architects and specifiers to craft spaces that resonate with the values and visions of their clients, improving our experience within the spaces we inhabit.”
Speaking about home interiors, creative director and colour expert at Dulux, Marianne Shillingford, explained: “It may be difficult to immediately picture where yellow paint could seamlessly slot into your home, but it’s actually much more versatile than you may first think. The decision to choose the most uplifting hue in the spectrum is to spark inspiration and instil confidence to leap into the unknown and endless possibilities of what could be.
“Whilst yellow is one of the bolder colours on the spectrum, True Joy is complementary to a vast range of palettes, it brings out the positivity in even the most neutral of shades and is the figurative glue that binds more daring colour stories together.”
To support specifiers and provide additional guidance on the use of True Joy, Dulux has created the Dulux Trade Colour of the Year 2025 Specifier Guide, which includes mood boards.