Orange cars and red washing machines don't necessarily appeal to the widest audience of buyers, but there's a reason you see them featured in magazine ads, TV commercials and on the showroom floor. Manufacturers and designers believe that bright, intense colors attract interest and help consumers feel better about themselves in trying economic times -- even if they end up purchasing the white washer-dryer set after all.

"The big, hot thing ... is a craving for color: great, big, fun colors," said Josette Buisson, artistic director for Pittsburgh Paints' Voice of Color. Ms. Buisson is a color and design specialist who helps PPG Industries predict from year to year what shades of paint people want in their living rooms and which colors will help sell consumer items such as cars, computers, appliances and cell phones.

In the next few years, expect more products to turn up in bold colors, such as orange, yellow and blue, because they "bring fun back into design and life," said Ms. Buisson. "Life can be hard and we are submerged with bad news and we like to think about something fun."

Ms. Buisson is among the PPG color experts who gathered at the company's Downtown headquarters this week to share their research and expertise on global color trends. PPG manufactures interior and exterior house paints, including the Pittsburgh Paints, Manor Hall and Olympic brands, and makes coatings for industrial and consumer products.

The company decided to bring together the color stylists and forecasters from its various coatings businesses to compare notes and brainstorm "because we know that inspiration comes from various places," said Dee Schlotter, color marketing manager for Pittsburgh Paints.

The color trends event also is part of PPG Chairman Charles Bunch's vision for the company to improve its collaboration across business units, said Richard Beuke, vice president, growth initiatives. "He saw us as really missing an opportunity because we're such a big company, and we lack anything to pull us together."

Coatings is PPG's strongest growth engine and accounted for $7.4 billion of the company's $11.2 billion in total sales last year. By closely following colors and trends, PPG can pass on its conclusions to its industrial and consumer product customers to help them make the best decisions about what shades will sell, said Mr. Beuke.

"So if a General Motors designer sees a trend that's coming maybe in iPods, he can say, 'Hey. All the iPods are going to be this color so I need to make my car interior this color.' "

For 2008-09, color and design trends relied heavily on the all-pervasive "green" movement, according to PPG's experts. Pittsburgh Paints, in fact, currently markets "Eco-Echo" color palettes that include shades of green dubbed "Pollination," "Oakmoss" and "Pineapple Sage" and which are described in promotions with terms such as "natural," "organic" and "efficient."

Those shades "are based on our concerns for the environment. ... We associate something beautiful with something useful that will nurture the planet," said Ms. Buisson.

Besides deeper, brighter colors in 2010, she said, consumers can expect designs to be "more individual ... and expressive of personality."

"When you have an era where everything is a big, external concern -- like the planet and global warming -- then you have to return to something that is more individual and expressive of personality. Maybe it's a need for lighter conversation. Fantasy and imagination will be the key to something important."

For its car colors, PPG already is working on 2012 models because the automotive industry works three years in advance, said Jane Harrington, manager of color styling for PPG Automotive Coatings.

While black, white and silver have dominated automobile sales the past six to seven years, "We're seeing a resurgence of fun color," she said.

Take the Ford Edge crossover SUV. An orange shade (marketed by Ford as "Blazing Copper Metallic") outsold original estimates "and really captured people's attention," said Ms. Harrington.

Various shades of blue will be popular for car exteriors, she said. As vehicle sizes shrink to meet demand from fuel-conscious drivers, they won't necessarily get cheaper because consumers want small cars to be "smart and packaged well," she said.

"They're going to be high-tech on the inside, a great color on the outside and very luxurious -- and have fuel economy."

New lines of colors for cell phones and computers also will be brighter to counteract consumers' wariness with rising prices and a dreary economic outlook.

"They want something to lighten the mood," said Tina McHenry, who specializes in color marketing for industrial coatings in the Americas for PPG. "Color has a very, very powerful effect on people."

A red cell phone that might change to a clearer shade as the user's hand gets warmer "brings humor into the monotonous life," she said. "In two years you'll see computers that light up and change colors." The perfect option for the person who can't choose a favorite color.