We reinvented the color selection experience to better connect with one of Sherwin-Williams’ most important audience—architects. By creating the first-of-its-kind AI, voice-controlled web application, Speaking in Color, we transformed the usually cumbersome and time-consuming color selection process for this audience into an inspirational and interactive brand experience. Speaking in Color upended the entire customer journey by putting the architects in control of finding their perfect color and enhancing Sherwin-Williams’ brand perception among this critical audience.

To Sherwin-Williams, color is personal—it’s human. Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings has partnered with architects for over 150 years to bring their visions of the perfect building to life. With the world’s largest color set of 50,000+, Sherwin-Williams has proven that they can create any color imaginable for their customers.

But in a world of endless color, how do you find THE ONE? "Red" might mean crimson to some, yet a bright apple red to another. Historically, finding the perfect color meant paging through physical color chips, online catalogs or working with a Sherwin-Williams Color Technician— all underwhelming tasks for such an emotional topic.

We created a solution that brings together language, color and innovation—opening architects up to a world of color they never thought possible. We’ve spent years solidifying Sherwin-Williams as the color innovation experts, and knew we could bring architects a bold new way to experience the color selection process.

The perfect color can come from anywhere—a memory, a place or even a dream. We needed to find a new way to bring a color from an architect’s mind into reality. The most natural way to express a thought or feeling is through language. We wanted to encourage architects to describe exactly what inspired them in their own words.

Imagine speaking the words “drinking champagne on the French Riviera at sunset” and in return be provided with a custom color palette that fits your memory. And what if that custom color palette could be fine-tuned to reach the prefect color that exists in your mind? This is what Speaking in Color empowers one of Sherwin-Williams’ most influential audience, architects, to do—with just their voice. This one-of-a-kind color selection solution was conceived leveraging the ultimate combination of the art and science of color making with cutting-edge technology.

The world we live in—our skylines, landmarks and iconic buildings—was born from an architect’s imagination. Color is a crucial component of an architect’s vision — you might even call it an obsession. Even a small color nuance can change how their work is perceived.

We have spent years positioning Sherwin-Williams as a partner who shares architects’ obsession with color. Sherwin-Williams believes that color is a core human experience. It isn’t just the end color that matters, since the art of choosing that color is an important experience all its own. We were inspired to move beyond traditional chip samples and catalogues to create a digital experience that is immersive, interactive and puts the architect in control.

Speaking in Color is a first-of-its-kind, AI-powered color solution that is as creative and forward-thinking as architects, opening up a world of color only Sherwin-Williams can provide.

Speaking in Color is a React web app that uses 3rd party and proprietary code to transform natural language into an architect’s perfect color. Our custom algorithm allows users to tweak the returned color by transliterating statements like “add warmth” or “more like the 1980s” into mathematical RGB adjustments.

Over the span of eight months, we took Speaking in Color from idea to prototype to proof-of-concept production. Prior to launch, usability testing was done with select Sherwin-Williams architectural experts to inform enhanced functionality development sprints.

Speaking in Color launched digitally in April to a small group of Sherwin-Williams’ customers. We are actively testing this tool with architects to inform the future functionality roadmap.

Speaking in Color will launch to Sherwin-Williams’ full architect audience in early 2023 via an integrated campaign and digital activations in coordination with the national sales meeting to gain internal and external excitement.

Through active use of this solution, we are unlocking the opportunity to provide a unique, data-driven personalization approach to continue to build meaningful relationships with architects and further demonstrate the brand’s obsession for color. By reinventing the color selection experience, we are showing Sherwin-Williams’ commitment to innovating for architects through color.

At time of entry, Speaking in Color will have officially launched to a small group of Sherwin-Williams’ top architects and customers. This initial launch allows us to actively gather user data to impact future releases and fine-tune the technology for its broad launch in early 2023.

When the program reaches mass scale, it will create the largest dataset of color attribution in the world—all owned exclusively by Sherwin-Williams, enabling the brand to literally create color based on how customers search for and describe it.