Paint supplier Haymes Paint has created a bespoke shade, Gamer, for ACMI’s new exhibit ‘Game Worlds’ in Melbourne. Celebrating over 50 years of video game history, the new shade takes inspiration from the heads-up display of modern adventure titles.

Running until 8 February 2026, the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) is hosting a celebration of half a century of video game history. 

The Game Worlds exhibit features more than 30 landmark titles, from Minecraft and World of Warcraft to The Sims, alongside original concept art, design materials and 44 playable experiences across a wide range of genres. 

Haymes Paint colour lead Rachel Lacy. (Image supplied.)

Game Worlds also features a bright array of shades from Haymes Paint, including a brand new hue created specially for the exhibit. Gamer is a high-voltage colour that playfully channels the retro spirit of classic video gaming, created by Haymes Paint colour lead Rachel Lacy, who took inspiration from the gaming habits of her four sons.

Drawing inspiration from the heads-up display

The experience of watching her sons, now in their early 20s, become so immersed in these virtual worlds made a lasting impact on Lacy’s approach to how colour is synthesised in digital space. 

While she admits that she didn’t take much notice initially – “they played in their rooms,” she says – the process has been a fascinating period of discovery and reflection. 

“To actually go in and look at the colours of the games, and think about what those colours are communicating and the job they need to do, was super interesting,” she says. 

The vibrant neon yellow hue of Rachel Lacy’s new Gamer shade.

A key point of focus was the heads-up display (HUD) commonly seen in action-adventure games, with Lacy paying close attention to the bright yellow hue used in the icons and health bars showing player stats such as ammo and health. 

“It was a steep learning curve for me,” Lacy says of her first-hand introduction to the world of gaming. The technology used for Gamer’s creation was what Lacy calls an RGB picker. RGB refers to the colours seen in the digital world – the challenge for her was how to translate those colours to physical paints. 

“So we picked that bright yellow colour on the HUD displays and then we matched that to a paint colour with a similar RGB in our system,” Lacy explains, “which is also something that anyone can do.”

The fine-tuning process that followed saw Lacy closely match the RGB measurement taken from the digital yellow hue to the nearest colour within the Haymes catalogue.

Another Haymes Paint colour, Charlotte, on display at Game Worlds.

However, she says, the new Gamer shade is “actually made in a tinted yellow base, to get that really strong, luminous quality. It’s not a colour you would paint your sitting room!”

A world of colour

Lacy has been involved in the paint industry for 30 years – “I was doing this when the Beatles were around,” she jokes – and so the responsibilities of her role vary wildly from day to day.

The fluid crossover between the colour lab and the Haymes marketing and commercial teams means that these distinct departments are not, Lacy asserts, “hugely siloed”. 

“So there’s a lot of work across the teams: it might be an exercise like this where we’re doing colours for an exhibition,” she explains. “It might be looking at what’s happening with colour pigment chemistry. We forecast what’s happening out there in the world, which is a super interesting part of my job.”

Haymes’s Purple Sage and Meadow Phlox hues at ACMI.

Lacy cites a recent collaboration with Breathe Architecture in the development of a new palette, explaining that her work runs the depth and breadth of any area of Haymes that touches colour. 

“You know, we’re a paint company,” she says glibly, “so colour is everywhere. It’s a big part of the job.” 

An attribute of the paint world is that they’re just happy to be in the background, Lacy says, yet her job as colour lead is to enliven a space with experiences that last well after guests have shut the door behind them.

Seeing her contributions to the Game Worlds exhibit, Lacy is thrilled to be a part of such an iconic fixture in Melbourne’s world-renowned cultural scene. 

A detailed breakdown of the ten distinct Haymes shades on display at Game Worlds.

“I love ACMI!” Lacy beams. “We’ve supported a few exhibitions there, but I think Game Worlds is one of my favourites. The opening night was just phenomenal; such a diverse crowd of enthusiastic people who all have this huge kind of common gamer language. Haymes is incredibly proud to be part of ACMI in the small role that we play.” 

ACMI’s Game World exhibition runs until 8 February 2026 in Federation Square. Tickets can be purchased here.

Images supplied by ACMI (Gerry LaFerla).

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