Designers Heleen Van Gent

Over the last 18 years, the design team at AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center – led by Heleen van Gent for the last decade – has proudly offered advice and inspiration to people around the world. It’s been their mission to help everyone make their spaces more personal and beautiful using our paint colors. Whether they’re an architect, specifier, interior designer or consumer, the company’s Colour Futures trend forecast is designed to help them select the right colors for their walls – with the Color of the Year taking pride of place.

Heleen started her design career after graduating from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague (the Netherlands), later working as an interior stylist/ design editor. She joined AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center in 2009.

Firmly established as the company’s spokesperson on trends, color, (interior) design and architecture, she has a passion for helping and inspiring people to find the right colors and color combinations for their living environment. Having previously worked on magazines for over 20 years, she soon moved into other roles within the publishing industry, where she continued to hone her talent for “making everyday life more beautiful” through color and design. Heleen also taught at the Artemis Design Academy in Amsterdam and is an editor of more than ten books on interior and color design.

Having spent her early childhood playing with the design board belonging to her town planner and architect father, Heleen now leads the creative team at AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center.

They are responsible for designing and providing color and design inspiration, color tools and assets to make color choice easy and hassle-free for customers and consumers in the 80 countries where AkzoNobel sells paint through its premium brands such as Sikkens. The starting point for the team’s color design is the insight provided by the Colour Futures trend forecast. Produced annually by the Global Aesthetic Center, it’s the culmination of expert research into global trends, insights and consumer behavior.