Making Sense of Color
Behind the scenes of Google’s colorful exhibition at Milan Design Week
Milan Design Week is always a whirlwind of creativity and innovation, and this year, Google invited visitors to experience color in a whole new light. The 9,200-square-foot exhibition, called Making Sense of Color, welcomed over 8,000 guests on a tour through the inspiration and design thinking behind Google's hardware palette.
Conceived by Ivy Ross, VP of Hardware Design, and her talented team, the exhibition, developed in partnership with the arts and research lab Chromasonic, was designed to be a symphony for the senses. Guests didn’t just observe color — they explored how color influences the senses beyond sight alone, experiencing hues translated into sound, touch, smell, and taste.
“We often hear questions about how we arrive at the colors for our hardware,” shares Sung Bai, director of design for Google Devices. “This year, we wanted to bring that process to life — make it tangible.”
A Multisensory Exploration
Translating the process of color selection into an immersive experience started months in advance and required countless brainstorms, hands-on prototyping, and a few last-minute scrambles when plans went awry. From laser cutting paper petals to hand weaving place mats, the team embraced a spirit of creative problem-solving and collaboration to bring their vision to life.
Working with scale models of the installation helped designers plan a natural flow from one sensory room to the next, alternating open areas of contemplation with more intimate spaces for interaction.
From concept to installation, much of the work was handled in-house, including help from model makers at the hardware team’s in-house fabrication facility.
The exhibition unfolded across five distinct spaces, each meticulously crafted to engage a different sense. Step by step, sense by sense, guests discovered the profound effect color can have on our perceptions and emotions.
What does color sound like?
Chromasonic’s immersive installation translated color into audible tones.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
The experience began with an atmospheric exploration of the relationship between color and sound developed by Chromasonic. The shifting hues of overhead lights were algorithmically translated into audible tones, creating a meditative music of light.
Each of the 21 screened-off areas were activated by a single source of light and spatialized sound.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
Guests experienced the visible spectrum as a symphony of sound.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
What does color feel like?
Ceramic stones invited guests to explore the tactile qualities of Google’s porcelain hardware color.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
Next, visitors were greeted by a long table displaying an array of handmade ceramic stones of different sizes, textures, and neutral hues. Guests were encouraged to hold the stones or run their hands along them, discovering with delight that some were warm to the touch.
Team members spent nights and weekends in the pottery studio experimenting with different clay forms and textures to create a range of tactile experiences for the exhibit. The final stones were made by designer Yeongkeun Jeong.
Hand-making is an important part of the team’s hardware design process, one they aimed to celebrate with the porcelain stones.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
Designer Alex Sizemore experiments with different clays and colors to get the details right.
Designers Moon Kim and Michael Oh carefully curated each stone, ensuring a range of tactile experiences for visitors.
Many visitors were surprised to find some of the stones warm to the touch. How was it done? Shake-to-activate hand warmers were hidden inside.
What does color look like?
Google’s blue hardware colors were chosen to evoke the hopefulness and joy many feel when looking at the sky.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
The journey continued with a sky installation that filled the ceiling of a curved room. Animated birds soared across the digital sky, creating a sense of movement and wonder. Below, a mirrored dish filled with water captured the colors in reflection. The tranquil space was made to evoke a sense of hope, possibility, and expansiveness.
The spatial flow was designed to bring visitors from a smaller space into the more expansive and open sky room.
Early concept sketch for the blue sky-themed space.
The sky in reflection.
Designer Alex Sizemore experimented with different forms and materials for the reflecting element, ultimately landing on a mirrored dish filled with water.
“The inspiration for the color came from looking up at the bright blue sky on a sunny day in California. We wanted to create a sense of hopefulness after all the tough times we’ve been through with the pandemic and other crises. The sky room was our way of bringing that idea to life.”
— Isabelle Olsson, VP of Design for Home, Wearables, and CMF
What does color smell like?
A fragrance from the perfumery Vyrao evoked the delicate scent of flowers.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
The next space was a study in soft, soothing pinks. A peppery rose fragrance filled the air as delicate pink paper petals fell from above. The petals landed on a curved trough, bringing to mind a tranquil, flower-strewn stream.
Finding the perfect petal: Designer Sally Jo experimented with different fabrics and papers for the petals, settling on a lightweight, translucent recycled paper to achieve a graceful spiral descent.
The challenges of a live event: When the perfume didn’t arrive in Milan on time, the team feared the worst. Luckily, they were able to contact a team member in London who happened to be walking near the perfumery and was able to pick up and hand deliver the scent in time for opening day.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
Designer Sally Jo demonstrates the falling-petal effect for the team.
In the end, a programmable confetti machine was used to disperse just the right amount of petals.
What does color taste like?
“Mouthwatering” was the word most used to describe this distillation-inspired exploration of a vibrant yellow color.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
The final sensory experience was centered on the vibrant, zesty appeal of Google’s lemongrass colorway. Guests circled a white podium adorned with fresh flowers and lemons, gazing up at glass distillation vessels filled with bright yellow flowers and herbs in water. It was a playful visualization of how color can tantalize our taste buds and bring a sense of energy and joy.
In early research for the lemongrass room, Yeongkeun Jeong and Rhea Jeong explored unexpected food and drink experiences.
Concept watercolor for the taste experience.
Taste test: To capture the vibrant essence of lemony yellow, the team experimented with different ways to visually represent the color. These early prototypes suspended flowers and herbs in water to convey a sense of distilled color.
Designer Yeongkeun Jeong uses a dowel to carefully position flowers in one of the glass vessels.
A yellow light focused on the table subtly amplified the yellows and golds of the room.
A feast for the eyes
The multisensory journey culminated with a final space that brought all the colors into a cohesive story. A long dining table held eight distinct place settings, each showcasing the inspirational ingredients and Google hardware products that embodied a particular color.
“We believe that colors, materials, finish, and form all need to work in concert with each other to invigorate our senses,” explains Isabelle Olsson. “Our table represented the individual color moments as well as how they connect as a whole. While minimalism has been celebrated in the design community we want to open up for an era of maximalism and joy while also offering moments of calm and comfort.”
The exhibition culminated in a luxurious feast for the eyes — a table filled with sensory delights and Google hardware.
Photo: Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri
Designers Rachael Rendely and Daniel Cloke added playful details, like the mid-meal cutlery placement and a partially written phone number, which gave the sense of a lively dinner party suspended in a moment of time.
When the original placemats didn’t arrive in time, the team meticulously created new ones on-site, using markers and paint to achieve the correct hues.
From handmade ceramic dishes to glass beads and skeins of wool, the table was adorned with a range of textures and materials.
The room’s dreamy abstract artworks are actually out-of-focus photographs of Google hardware.
“A good dinner party brings together all of the senses.”
— Sung Bai, Director of Design for Google Devices
Every detail was carefully executed.
On-site, the team wore customized uniforms including a branded shirt and an apron with a pocket perfectly sized for the Pixel phone.
Wallpaper by Svenskt Tenn provided a lively floral backdrop for the final space.
Making Sense of Color wasn’t just a celebration of beautiful hues — it was a window into the philosophy behind Google’s hardware design. Through playful interactive experiences, the exhibition showcased the thoughtfulness, creativity, and meticulous attention to detail that goes into every Google product. By inviting guests to experience color with all their senses, the team hoped to inspire a deeper appreciation for the powerful role it plays in our lives.
The team celebrating a successful run.
Video and event branding by Google Seed Studio. Google’s Hardware Design team offers special thanks to Chromasonic, production partners Amplify (UK) and Cool Hunting, and the staff at Garage 21.
Google team: Alex Sizemore, Daniel Cloke, Ippei Matsumoto, Laura Murcek, Jenny Davis, Melinda Samprath, Michael Oh, Moon Kim, Rachael Rendely, Sally Jo, Sheila Castillo-Ibaseta, Sung Bai, and Yeongkeun Jeong