Whether designing a new business class seat, refurbishing a passenger rail car, or specifying the interior of an autonomous bus, transportation interior designers often face a unique challenge: maintaining color consistency. Not only do they need to harmonize across a range of materials provided by different suppliers, but they must also grapple with disparate, often uncontrollable lighting environments. Any “mismatch” can interrupt the seamless feel of the space. 

Our color specialists, Dave Rupp and James “Jamie” Bricker, together have more than 45 years in thermoplastics and color innovation. (I’d say that makes them experts, not just “specialists”!) These two color wizards work magic on a daily basis but are transparent when it comes to challenging matches – occasionally advising customers when they can match a color in the lab but cannot guarantee it can be replicated in production. There’s value in that, and their experience means that designers, OEMs, and end users can confidently rely on their ability to achieve dependable, high-quality, and scalable thermoplastic solutions.

Over the years, the team has created more than 8,000 custom colors, reflecting years of color matching across various systems such as Pantone, NCS, RAL, and others. Imagine my excitement when I first joined SEKISUI KYDEX and found matches that had been created for me years ago, still on file!

Whenever possible, the team prefers to work with physical samples, enabling them to deliver the closest possible color matches swiftly. They’ve matched a remarkable range of items, from customer-supplied lipstick to pet fur, demonstrating the versatility and precision of their color-matching capabilities. I even asked Jamie to create a pearlescent match to my leather-covered eyeglass case. Funnily enough, when I showed this custom match to a designer, she asked if she could use it for an upcoming client presentation!

Color Vision and Color Perception

Everyone perceives color differently, so it’s important for anyone involved in color-critical operations, like Dave and Jamie, to understand how accurately they see color. To work in our in-house color lab, our color technicians must first pass the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test and then retake it every few years. This easy-to-administer visual acuity test evaluates an individual’s ability to discern color under standardized lighting conditions. Little did I know when I was a child, organizing my 72-crayon Crayola box by color, that there was an adult version!

We’ll have our test kit available at AIX this year for guests to arrange color caps by hue under special lighting. If you aren’t able to join us, you can challenge yourself by taking this fun online test from xrite.com to better understand your color vision acuity.

Checking color matches under standardized lighting is critical to aligning on color. In the January 2026 designBrief™, I talked about how the quality of light varies worldwide. In the designLab®, the team typically assesses aviation matches using D65, a precisely defined illuminant used internationally as a reference point for neutral daylight.  

In doing research for this blog, I was surprised to learn that D65 is based on average north sky daylight at noon in Western Europe. That struck me as being oddly specific and something that may need to be evaluated in the future based on environmental changes.  

All that aside, it’s clear that – given the global nature of the transportation industry – manufacturers, designers, and end users need to adhere to the same standards when it comes to matching color. Not all design firms have light boxes (if you don’t, please get one!), and certainly most end users do not.

In my previous role as the brand champion for a major airline, I understood the importance of accurately evaluating color, but I did not always have the proper tools to do so. If I could not get onboard an aircraft, my “best practice” for evaluating color was ensuring I was wearing neutral clothing before stepping as far away as possible from our eleven-story corporate headquarters into a wide-open space about lunchtime.

While most people know not to evaluate color matches under fluorescent lights in their office building, it certainly can be challenging to recreate the mixed lighting encountered within transportation interiors. Major airframers have specialized lighting rooms where designers and end users can evaluate their choices. Similarly, at SEKISUI KYDEX, we offer a room that replicates onboard lighting where workshop attendees can finalize their thermoplastic selections next to their seat fabrics, leathers, laminates, and carpet samples.

Don’t Forget About Metamerism

I would be remiss not to mention metamerism, a phenomenon where two colors appear to match under one lighting condition but look different under another. This is especially important to consider when evaluating and matching colors for transportation interiors, where lighting can vary widely – from daylight to onboard LED lighting, and everything in between. Even if a color match seems perfect in the lab or office, it can shift noticeably in the actual environment. Because of this, it’s essential for designers and color specialists to check color matches under multiple lighting sources. This helps ensure that the final product will harmonize with its surroundings. As a designer, if your client says to you “That match was WAY off!” the first thing you need to ask is what lighting source they were using to view the match.

The Journey Toward Seamless CMF

Color, Material, and Finish integration begins with dedication to precision and a commitment to collaboration. When designers and color experts work together – leveraging advanced tools, industry standards, and decades of hands-on expertise – beautiful, cohesive environments come to life. The result is more than just a visually impressive space: it’s an experience that welcomes, reassures, and inspires every traveler. As you pursue your next project, remember that thoughtful CMF storytelling isn’t just about matching colors; it’s about creating spaces that connect with people on every level.

Ready to craft your own seamless CMF story? Let’s make your vision tangible – one color, one material, one finish at a time.

Let’s keep the conversation going in the comment section below.