The Color Revolution [Book Review

Abstract

If you've ever delighted in seeing ridiculous new color names for clothing, furniture, or other products, you're already familiar with an enduring mystery of color theory that touches far-reaching philosophical questions: how color names relate to our visual perceptions. This conundrum surfaces in contemporary American society as a complicated mix of science, industry, and poetry that accompanies such concoctions as Neon Sorbet or Metallic Creamsicle. The main theme threaded through this scholarly cultural treatment is the emergence, from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, of a newly professionalized role in industrial design and manufacturing circles - the colorist - who coordinated color palettes for product designers across sectors through hard-won knowledge of technical innovations, trends in the creative industries, and the desires of the mass marketplace. Alternately dubbed color managers, color intermediaries, and social engineers, this profession moved from laboratories and classrooms in the 19th-century to the competitive commercial crossroads of the 20th century, becoming a central player for new business strategies, including the creation of influential trade organizations and the pioneering of marketing and merchandising techniques that helped U.S. corporations expand greatly.