What iMac Color Are You Five New Colors for Five Different Personalities
published in How magazine February 200 (available online at http://www.asia.apple.com/pressreleases/1999/9901/colour.html)
Carlstadt, New Jersey - January 18, 1999 - In a demonstration of the euphoria signaling the new millennium, Apple's new flavorful iMac computers have taken computer hardware from the back corner of the office to design centerpiece. The new computers come in a fiesta of mouth-watering colors: blueberry, strawberry, tangerine, grape and lime. What does the iMac color you choose reveal about you?
According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and author of Colors for Your Every Mood, "The colors of the new iMacs represent the current demographic of who's buying computers. These are innovators and young-minded people who are open to the use of color. Of all the new colors, blueberry and strawberry are the standard brights that will have the most general appeal. Even as tiny infants, we are drawn to bright blues and reds. These two colors are always successful. Tangerine, grape and lime provoke more attention and will appeal more to the trendiesâ who think of themselves as nonconformists."
"The fashion runways have been flooded with color this year. Designers are using color more than ever as the hope and prosperity of the new millennium draws near. This fascination for flashy color is trickling down to interior design and consumer products," said Lisa Herbert, vice president of worldwide communications for Pantone, Inc. "It's no surprise that these bolder looks are beginning to influence the technology industry as well."
In an industry surrounded by the use of a traditionally conservative color palette of beige, black and gray, the new iMac colors offer consumers the opportunity to express themselves and bring an element of personality to their work space:
Blueberry: Constancy and Truth Forever associated with sea and sky, blue is the favorite color for a majority of the population, 35 percent in the U.S. Blue emerges as tender, soothing, cool, passive, secure and comfortable - which inspires calm, confidence and harmony, a sense of control and responsibility. Most people respond to blue as credible, authoritative, basic, classic, conservative, strong, dependable, traditional, confident and professional. However, the electric blues share the same characteristics with a spark of excitement.
Blue people are sensitive to the needs of others and form strong attachments. They are cool, confident and trusting with a strong need to be trusted and are therefore deeply hurt if their trust is betrayed. They aspire to harmony, serenity, patience, perseverance and peace. They think twice before acting out, are generally conservative, even-tempered and reliable. Because of their highly developed sense of responsibility, blue personalities must be careful of perfectionist tendencies that may make them unrealistically demanding.
Strawberry: Power and Strength Red elicits the strongest emotions in every culture. Studies have found that brain function, as measured by electrical responses, is more effected by red than any other color of equal intensity. Throughout history, red has signaled excitement, dynamism, danger and sex. Red is intense, passionate, dramatic, energetic, aggressive and daring. It is the second most powerful color, following black.
People whose favorite color is red have a zest for life; they are, quite literally, "movers and shakers." Red lovers are achievers, intense, impulsive, competitive, energetic, daring and aggressive. They are exciting, optimistic, animated people, leaders who like to be the center of attention. Routine drives them crazy. They crave new things and new experiences. They are assertive and can therefore be moody, bossy and fickle in the pursuit of new challenges.
Tangerine: Radiant and Hot Of all of the colors of the spectrum, orange is probably the least understood and the most maligned. It is perceived as the hottest of all colors - even more so than red because it takes its heat from two radiant sources, yellow and red. The brightest tones of orange are seen as gregarious, fun-loving, high-energy.
Lovers of this color work and play hard, are adventurous and enthusiastic. They are good-natured, expansive and extroverted with a disposition as bright as their favorite color. They like to be with people, their ideas are original and they have strong determination. Success in business can come easily to this gregarious, charming person.
Grape: Passion and Magic The rainbow's most complex color and so are the people who prefer it; artists, designers and performers -- nonconformists. Highly creative types enjoy the uniqueness inherent in this extraordinary hue. Purple balances the excitement of red with the tranquillity of blue, often producing conflicting traits. It has an aura of mystery and intrigue and has long been associated with royalty. There are many components of this complex color, and therefore, many meanings.
People who like to consider themselves different from the common herd or unconventional often prefer purple. The purple person is enigmatic and highly creative, with a quick perception of spiritual ideas. Purple is also associated with wit, keen observation, supersensitivity, vanity and moodiness. The purple personality can be secretive, so that even though this person may seem to confide freely, their closest friends might never know their innermost feelings.
Lime: Natural and Pleasant The sight of green is inexorably linked to a sense of smell. The word "green" comes from the same root as "grow," so green symbolizes that which grows as well as the regeneration and renewal of life. Green generally imparts a refreshing, cool and collected feel.
People who favor green tend to be stable, balanced types. This is the good citizen, concerned parent, involved neighbor -- the joiner of clubs and organizations. "Green people" are intelligent and understand new concepts, and although they are more inclined to do what is popular and conventional rather than take risk with something new, lovers of bright citrusy greens will forge ahead.
Pantone's influence stretches far beyond its solutions for the graphic arts and printing industries. The company creates real-world color standards and languages for a variety of other industries, where the application of color is critical, including media-specific color systems for textiles and plastics, working with materials for interior design, architecture and high fashion. The Pantone Color Institute¨, which studies the psychological as well as physiological aspects of color, tracks and predicts color trends and provides color consultation services to companies for product development, packaging, brand identification, fashion and interior design.
Pantone, Inc., the leading global source of products for the selection, control and accurate communication of color, is the developer of the PANTONE¨ MATCHING SYSTEM¨, the PANTONE Process Color System¨ and the PANTONE Hexachrome six-color ultra high quality process system. They provide three distinct global languages for color specification and reproduction. PANTONE Color Systems have been widely accepted and utilized by designers and printers since 1963 and are currently in use in almost 100 countries throughout the world. Pantone, Inc. is an ISO 9002 registered company. Visit our Web site at www.pantone.com.
PANTONE . . . The Power of Color
Colors for Your Every Mood by Leatrice Eiseman Published by Capital Books, Inc. Sterling, Virginia
