AkzoNobel’s Coral brand opens new sensory pathways to color for Brazil’s visually impaired community

AkzoNobel’s Coral brand opens new sensory pathways to color for Brazil’s visually impaired community

(IN BRIEF) AkzoNobel’s Coral brand has launched Touching Colors in Brazil, an innovative accessibility project developed with VML Brasil and the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind. Based on neuroscience insights, the initiative reimagines 70 shades into poetic sensory descriptions called Cromopoems®, combining braille, audio, and emotion to allow blind and visually impaired people to experience color beyond sight. A tactile color fan and audio playlist make the collection widely available, coinciding with Coral’s 70th anniversary. The project has already been recognized at Cannes Lions and has been praised by both partners and AkzoNobel leadership as a major step in inclusion and accessibility.

(PRESS RELEASE) AMSTERDAM, 29-Aug-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — AkzoNobel’s Coral brand has introduced a groundbreaking initiative in Brazil that allows over six million visually impaired people to experience colors through emotion, poetry, and sound. Developed in collaboration with VML Brasil and the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, the project titled Touching Colors transforms the traditional visual concept of color into a rich multi-sensory experience.

Drawing on neuroscience research showing that colors can also be perceived through emotions, memories, and sensations in the brains of blind people, the program reimagines 70 colors from Coral’s portfolio into “Cromopoems®.” These poetic descriptions combine braille, sound, and sensory associations to provide a new way of interacting with color. One example, Citrus Orange, is described as “the urge to bite into fresh fruit in the playground, letting the juice run down your chin and spending the day with its scent on your hands.”

To make the palette widely accessible, the Cromopoems were compiled into a tactile color fan printed on black cards, integrating braille with descriptive texts that convey the essence of each color. Audio versions in Portuguese are also available through a dedicated YouTube playlist, ensuring that those without access to the fan can still engage with the experience.

The project coincided with Coral’s 70th anniversary in Brazil, with the selection of 70 unique shades organized across nine chromatic scales. Each color received its own braille initials to create a distinctive visual identity for the collection.

Touching Colors has already earned international recognition, being shortlisted in the Industry Craft category at the Cannes Lions festival. Alexandre Munck, Executive Superintendent of the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, praised the project, stating that it expands accessibility by “transforming color into sensation, poetry and sound.” Daniel Geiger Campos, Global Director of AkzoNobel Decorative Paints, emphasized its role in advancing inclusion and allowing people to connect with colors in ways that go beyond sight.

Gabriel Sotero, Executive Creative Director at VML Brasil, added that the challenge was to design an experience that transcends vision by blending accessibility with poetic beauty. Together, the partners have not only created a new pathway to accessibility but also underscored the importance of innovation that makes everyday experiences more inclusive.

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SOURCE: AkzoNobel