Asian Paints Unveils ColourNext 2025: A Vision for Bold, Emotion-Driven Indian Design

Asian Paints has unveiled its highly awaited 22nd annual ColourNext 2025 forecast, providing a keen eye into India’s changing design narrative. This year’s report delves into the emotional, cultural, and material transformations that are defining the way Indians will design and live in their homes next year.

At the heart of the forecast is ‘Cardinal’, named Colour of the Year 2025 a rich, dusky hue that symbolizes raw emotion, authenticity, and depth. “Cardinal urges us to feel everything without judgment,” said Amit Syngle, Managing Director and CEO of Asian Paints. “It reflects the complexity of human emotion and represents a growing shift toward unapologetic self-expression in design.”

The brand also unveiled ‘Spring Tune’ as Wallpaper of the Year, inspired by Indian courtyard culture. Complete with warm colors and subtle floral patterns, it creates a combination of retro and modern sophistication transforming any space into a serene haven.

Beyond colour and wallpaper, the ColourNext 2025 forecast introduces four key design narratives:

 1. Feel More – A call to embrace tactile, immersive environments that stir emotion. In a hyper-digital world, design is steering back toward the sensory with layered textures and expressive forms offering comfort and connection.

 2. Salt – Inspired by the sustainable and versatile biomaterial, this narrative envisions design that harmonizes beauty with environmental responsibility. With its crystalline textures and iridescent hues, Salt symbolizes purity, potential, and mindful innovation.

 3. India Everywhere – Reflecting a quiet design revolution, this theme celebrates India’s shift from stereotypical motifs to a confident, global design identity. Think high-contrast palettes, unexpected blends of craftsmanship and modernity, and heritage woven into the fabric of innovation.

 4. Bad Taste? – Challenging traditional luxury, this provocative direction embraces flamboyance and maximalism. Gold accents, bold prints, and statement pieces redefine opulence as a bold act of individuality.

With ColourNext 2025, Asian Paints underscores a larger cultural shift where design becomes a medium for storytelling, identity, and personal truth. As homes evolve into expressive sanctuaries, the forecast reminds us that what we choose to surround ourselves with says as much about who we are as it does about how we live.