Decorative laminate brand Formica celebrates 100 years this year, marked by a celebration in Sydney last night and the launch of a new colour range.

It is not too often that an organisation can have in its portfolio a brand that created a category, so we are suitably proud, group design director Neil Sookee said at the event at the Australian Technology Park last night.

Formica has a history of innovation and design, Sookee says.

“A number of factors lead to the success of the brand in the early days. The essential durability of the product, its ability to function under all sorts of mechanically demanding conditions made it a very popular industrial grade product. Then in the 1930s, with the advent of melamine resins, its existence as a decorative surfacing product was born,” he says.

The product surged again in the 1970s, leading to it being used in residential applications.

“Over the last century there have been a significant number of product milestones that mark the stepwise development of the brand.

“Versatile, durable, accessible, ubiquitous, consistent, forever – are just a few of the words used to describe the Formica brand.

Displays featured at the Formica celebrations.

“In a world and industry which is constantly changing, we are constantly striving to maintain the relevance and context for the brand in a fast changing market place and we hope to continue to develop and evolve a range that stays in line with expectations and trends,” Sookee says.

“The first 100 years has been exceptional and we look forward to making the next 100 even better.”

The Colour Range in use.

As part of the anniversary, Formica launched the Anniversary Collection of laminates earlier this year, featuring 12 new patterns that reflect the brand and its history.

The 12 decors are made up of four design groups – Ellipse, Endless, Dotscreen and Halftone – and were designed by the world’s largest independent design consultancy, Pentagram.

Additionally, Formica have updated the Colour Range with the introduction of 29 new decors, with nine forming part of the Commercial Colour Range, including woodgrains, modern patterns and flexible solid colours.

The Colour Range.

Formica marketing manager Chris Knight says, “The Commercial Colour Range was shaped with the specifiers’ needs in mind. Factoring in the latest interior trends and customer research, we developed a harmonised portfolio of decorative surfaces.”

Formica is distributed in Australia by the Laminex Group.

Lisa Rapley

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