Imagine a world without color. A world in which everything or almost everything is monochrome. It would be like a nightmare, right? The feeling would be similar to living inside a black and white movie. All grey, sad and gloomy. But, above all, bored. Mainly because colors make things much more diverse and interesting. In fashion, for example, without color everything would be similar patterns and designs.
Well, the truth is that this is exactly what is happening. Over the years, the objects we make, be they mobiles, t-shirts or rugs, are much less colorful than before. We are creating a much grayer world. And there is evidence of it.
Has our world become duller? Yes.
At least visually. This is what emerges from an experiment carried out by the British Science Museum and published by Cath Sleeman on Medium. This museum houses hundreds of technological and household items dating back centuries, from telegraph machines to iPhones. What they have done is take a picture of the more than 7,000 objects and analyze how their colors changed over time.
The results are surprising. The chart below illustrates how there is a riot of color in older objects, with lots of earth tones representing all the wood, leather, and metal that used to be used to make things in the past. And, as the decades go by, things are getting grayer, with a growing blue corporate brand stripe. In conclusion, the world is literally becoming less colorful and more standard.
The most notable trend is the increase in gray over time, which in turn corresponds to a decrease in brown and yellow. These trends are likely to reflect changes in materials, such as a move away from wood and plastic. Also on the graph is a use of highly saturated colors beginning in the 1960s. We can see it in the evolution of the phone. Those from the 60s, 70s and 80s covered a wider range of colors. most of smartphones today they follow the same scheme: black or silver.
Of course, it must be remembered that the photographs examined are only a sample of the objects in the museum’s collection. Furthermore, these trends will continue to change as new items are purchased.
In all aspects of life
More amazing is what the twitter user The Cultural Tutor illustrates in this thread. In it, he shares several fields where the color has also been fading over the years. One is automotive: grayscale colors now account for three-quarters of cars produced worldwide, compared to less than 50% in the past. How many yellow vans do you see today?
As The Cultural Tutor illustrates, one only has to look at a car park from the 1980s to understand the phenomenon.
Just look at a parking lot from the 1980s compared to one today. pic.twitter.com/vHVZ6RcXIS
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) July 26, 2022
Change has also occurred in all kinds of industries, from interior design, where the garish colors of bygone times have been lost, to fashion, where the clothes we buy have also faded over the years. People have decided to wear neutral colors and leave the vibrant prints of other times. Even in the architecture of McDonald’s stores you can see the trend.
Just compare a typical 1970s home to a modern designer home.
While it is completely understandable if you don’t miss the garish colors of bygone eras, it is interesting to note the change. pic.twitter.com/5cL6FPLwmI
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) July 26, 2022
Neutral colors are by far the most popular when it comes to clothing: pic.twitter.com/xYxFuXHXqD
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) July 26, 2022
Even McDonald’s is less vibrant than it used to be! pic.twitter.com/w5nnLYnhxG
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) July 26, 2022
Graphics: Science Museum Group Collection