Buzz
Color surrounds us in every part of life—from the red of traffic lights to the blue of the sky on a sunny day. It's so ingrained in our daily experience that we rarely consider its history or how it has evolved over time. But the world of color hasn’t always been the same as it is now.
10. The Urine Spectrum
Normally, urine is a single color—yellow, to be precise—at least for most people. But on occasion, various factors can cause that typical shade to change, presenting a different hue entirely.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, physicians believed that by comparing the color of a patient’s urine to a reference chart, they could diagnose various ailments. They would even go so far as to taste (yes, taste!) and smell the urine to make their conclusions. This practice led to the creation of the urine wheel, an early precursor to the modern color wheel found in art classrooms today.
9. Josef Albers
Born in Germany (1888–1976), Josef Albers was a designer and educator deeply fascinated by the interplay of colors. He designed exercises for his students, where they would gather an assortment of colored papers. These papers were then cut and placed next to each other to achieve specific outcomes—such as creating a gradient from light to dark or using just two colors to generate the illusion of depth.
Albers came to realize that color isn’t a static entity but rather shifts based on the observer’s experience and its surrounding context. He encapsulated these insights in his monumental 1975 book Interaction of Color, a key work in the field of art and design, often regarded as one of the most influential texts of modern art. In a contemporary twist, Interaction of Color has been adapted into an iPad app, making Albers’ groundbreaking color theories accessible to a new generation.
8. Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein, the Austrian-British philosopher (who can be seen with a rather intense gaze in the photo above), significantly influenced the way we talk about color—especially in relation to language. His 1950 work Remarks on Color was a philosophical exploration, essentially a word puzzle he created in response to Goethe’s intricate Theory of Colors, which delves into subjects like colored shadows and the color experienced when pressure is applied to one’s eyeball.
In Remarks on Color, Wittgenstein aimed to clarify and challenge Goethe’s ideas, suggesting that understanding color could be approached through linguistic “word games.” He argued that color, due to its complexities, resists categorization as a tangible object. The result is a work filled with challenges and fragments, posing questions such as: “Why can’t there be a transparent white?” “Why can’t there be a reddish green?” “Is white always the lightest color?”
These questions might seem strange, yet what’s even stranger is that they hadn’t been asked before. Wittgenstein’s “color problems” had been long overlooked. No definitive answers emerge, and perhaps that’s because there may not be one. For Wittgenstein, and possibly for us as well, color remains an enigma.
7. Corporate Colors
Believe it or not, colors can be owned. Not by individuals, but by companies. McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Gap all legally control the colors used in their logos and branding. The golden arches, Starbucks green, Coca-Cola red, and Gap navy blue are reserved exclusively for these brands. At first glance, this might seem a bit ridiculous—how can a color really belong to anyone? But when you consider how closely a color is connected to a brand’s identity and strategy, it makes perfect sense. Why should another company use it to their advantage? This practice is entirely legal and happens everywhere around us.
In addition, colors can become strongly associated with a company through advertising. The phrase “What can brown do for you?” is instantly tied to UPS’s focus on fast, reliable package delivery. Similarly, PINK—always in all caps—has become synonymous with a luxury lingerie brand.
6. Cochineal
Following the discovery of the New World, Europe became increasingly intrigued by the exotic, a fascination clearly reflected in the demand for cochineal. This vibrant red dye, which had been cherished by the Aztecs and Mayans, was considered a valuable commodity in pre-Colombian America and was even presented as tribute by Moctezuma's servants. When Spanish colonists first encountered the dye, they were astonished by its brilliance and began exporting vast quantities of it back across the Atlantic. It quickly became Mexico’s second most valuable export, right after silver.
The dye was created by crushing the cochineal beetle—yes, that’s right, cochineal dye comes from ground-up insects. It was smuggled, sold at astronomical prices, and even counterfeited across Europe until the early 19th century. Cochineal recently made headlines when Starbucks customers discovered that the company used beetle-derived dye in some of their red beverages (perhaps that explains the pricey drinks?).
5. Pantone
When you choose a color on a computer and send it to a printer, how can you be certain that the color printed will match the one you selected? The simple answer is that you can't. However, the Pantone Color Matching System was developed in an attempt to standardize color printing.
Pantone markets itself as the “authority on color” and even designates a color of the year, which quickly dominates the market in various products. For 2013, the chosen color is Emerald (Pantone 17-5641), a bright, lush green. Past color selections include Tangerine Tango (Pantone 17-1463) in 2012 and Fuchsia Rose (Pantone 17-2031) in 2001. Pantone claims that the yearly color reflects the general mood of the world at that time. For example, the press release promoting Emerald stated: “Emerald, a vivid, verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight, as well as promoting balance and harmony.” A hopeful message for us all, certainly (assuming we weren’t already feeling balanced).
4. Mauve
Mauve was the first dye ever created synthetically, and it took the world by storm. Discovered in 1856 by a young chemist named William Henry Perkin, who had originally been attempting to synthesize quinine but instead accidentally found mauve, this color is tricky to define. It’s purple, yet not fully; pink, but not exactly. It’s a blend of both, with hints of gray and blue. To make matters even more complex, Perkin’s mauve dye would fade quickly, which led to changing ideas about what the color truly was.
Perkin sold his breakthrough to the dye industry, and mauve-dyed textiles dominated fashion for several decades. The 1890s are often referred to as the “Mauve Decade” because of the color’s widespread popularity among the fashion-forward. Perkin’s discovery represented a major shift in the world of dyed fabrics and the perception of color itself. Prior to mauve, dyes were derived from natural materials and were often prohibitively expensive. Thanks to Perkin, color could now be created synthetically in a lab and became much more accessible.
3. Max Luscher
Do the colors you’re drawn to reveal anything about your personality? Swiss psychotherapist Max Luscher believes they do. He developed a color test designed for companies to assess various traits (both positive and negative) in potential employees. This test was published as a book in 1971, giving anyone interested the chance to try it out in their businesses (or it also makes for a fun party game!). (If you’d like to take the test yourself, click here before we spoil the results below.)
In the test, participants are shown eight different color cards and asked to arrange them in order of preference. The resulting order is used to make a psychological assessment. The colors used are blue, green, yellow, red, violet, brown, black, and gray. A preference for blue indicates calmness and tenderness, while black suggests a sense of emptiness, and red reflects desire and passion.
2. The Color Organ
What if sound could be seen as color? This is the reality for people with synesthesia, a rare condition where sensory experiences, like sound, taste, and sight, blend together. These individuals might witness the color of a bird's chirp or experience the taste of Pantone Emerald. However, most of us don't share this sensory phenomenon.
But what if it were possible to convert sound into color? The color organ made this possible. This musical instrument, resembling a regular organ, utilized a scale of colors mapped to piano keys and musical notes. When keys were pressed, corresponding colored lights would illuminate, creating a form of color music.
This idea was perhaps most famously utilized by early 20th-century composer Alexander Scriabin, who wrote a series of musical performances designed to be played on a color organ. One such composition was the symphony “Prometheus: The Poem of Fire,” which can be seen in the video clip above.
1. Color Film and Photography
Think back to The Wizard of Oz. In the film’s opening sequence, Dorothy's life in Kansas and the dramatic tornado are in black and white. But when she steps into Oz, the screen bursts into brilliant Technicolor. That moment still holds a certain magic. Now, imagine what it must have felt like in 1939—a world where black and white ruled in film and photography, and color was an expensive luxury. The impact of such a transition must have been truly awe-inspiring—certainly more so than the special effects we have today.
While color photography had been experimented with since the mid-1800s, it didn't become widely accessible until the 20th century. The process was initially labor-intensive, requiring considerable skill and patience from photographers. Over time, advances simplified the process, leading to the development of the modern camera phone that’s likely in your pocket today.
