Recently released from Joico's International Directors Damien Carney and Sue Pemberton, the Smoke and Mirrors 2011 trend and technical collection celebrates the esthetic of simplicity-clean lines, uncluttered silhouettes, crisp shapes and appropriate colors. Using juxtaposition-short and long, rough and smooth, narrow and chunky, hefty and weightless-Carney and Pemberton demonstrate how mastery of the fundamentals actually throws open the doors to creative expression.

Based on the principles of J-Cutting and J-Color systems, Smoke and Mirrors features asymmetry and the contrast of positive and negative space in prominent roles. The pair also sourced fashion and décor inspirations that exemplify the beauty of solid, simple shapes, including fashion designer Helmut Lang and today's contemporary Italian furniture movement.

"We feel that nowadays people want more constructed shapes and color designs," comments Carney. "In art, in fashion, in décor, there's a return to solid, simple, grounded shapes. Less is more."

"We wanted to demonstrate how you can take the fundamentals and then shift things around," says Pemberton. For example, use a soft color palette, but place the foils diagonally on one side of the head and vertically on the other. For us, this collection is very much about harmonizing opposing scenarios. It's what happens when opposites attract."

Volume 1:

Enel

The Shape: Carney structured the lines in this bob to enhance a strong facial shape, adding graduation in the back with an asymmetric feeling. A strong fringe punctuates the look with drama, and can be altered. "The common thread that runs through all of the looks in this collection is healthy, shiny hair," says Carney. Joico K-PAK Color Therapy Restorative Oil was used to prep all of the models.

The Color: This palette combines tones of gold and gold/copper in a warm auburn base. On one side of the head, Pemberton placed back-to-back horizontal slices, working from light-to-dark, and stopping short of the fringe. On the opposite side, she switched the placement to dark-to-light, and continued all the way to the hairline. "It's all about taking the basic foil techniques of J-Color," she explains, "and then shifting them around for interesting results."

Saskia

The Shape: Recognizing that long hair will never go out of style, Carney sets out to enliven this model's lengths with interesting weight distributions via layering and texturizing, which facilitates a wide variety of finished textures-straight, waved, curled. A disconnected, curved, asymmetric fringe completes the shape. "It's pretty-with-an-edge and long hair with spirit," says Carney.

The Color: Here, soft tones of violet and platinum tones in a medium blonde base are placed in an avant garde manner. "On one side of the head I alternated back-to-back slices and weaves in a horizontal pattern," says Pemberton. "I switched to a diagonal placement throughout the fringe and then moved to vertical slices on the other side of the head. Doing so transforms these classic blonde shades into an on-trend design.