If you've been following along for a while, you know that we're big champions of color. Yes, there is a place for neutrals; yes, they are an essential part of good design; yes, you should absolutely build a white sofa for yourself if you love it! But...you shouldn't be forced to.

I'm a car guy, and love going to shows and browsing the web to drool over vintage cars and trucks. I realized the other day, while looking at vehicles from as recently as the 1990s, that colorful exteriors and interiors were far from unique — they were, in fact, the norm. Even utilitarian pickups from the 70s and 80s had interiors packed with color.

Not so today. If you've shopped for a car recently, you'll notice that you can get any color interior you want — as long as it's black. (Yes there are exceptions; they are quite rare.)

We've seen a dramatic reduction in color variety on car exteriors, too. This chart from The Culture Tutor shows the changing mix of US vehicle colors from 1990 to today, as greyscale colors grew to over two-thirds of the overall mix. A chart going back to the 1970s or 1960s would show an even more massive shift.

What about other consumer products? An analysis by The Science Museum examined photos of everyday objects — everything from pocket watches to cellphones — from the 1800s to today. The chart below shows a rapid tightening of the color spectrum towards, you guessed it, greyscale.

It's happened slowly AND rapidly. Here's Apple's "budget" iPhone from 2013 available in vibrant compared to their new budget phone introduced just this week — available in white or black.

This of course extends to the home. Here is an ad for Amana refrigerators from the 70s next to a website highlighting today's, uhm, stunning offerings. Stainless steel (or, more commonly, fake stainless steel) just will. not. go. away.

What about carpet? A photo from a Sears ad versus a website selling carpet today. Note that they offer 472 beiges. If you're curious, they offer 273 greys and just 63 "accent" colors (none of which are bold).

And naturally furniture. Here's a catalog layout from the 1960s compared to a website from today. Riveting. Thrilling. Fascinating.

Okay, but WHY are we seeing such a sweeping removal of color from our world?

One theory: Efficiency. Bold color and unique design are not as broadly appealing (or perhaps better stated, broadly acceptable) than simpler styles in a truncated palette. To increase efficiency and maximize cost-effectiveness, companies have reduced and reduced and reduced variation, thinking that most folks won't care and many won't even notice.

Another potential explanation is consolidation. As smaller businesses creating consumer goods are either steamrolled or swallowed up by megacorporations, the number of sources for products is becoming constrained to just a handful. Most car, appliance, and furniture brands exist under the umbrella of a larger conglomerate (seriously, look into who owns all those other sofa brands...), and these groups maximize their profit margins through the reutilization of parts, materials, and designers across their brands.

But what about consumers themselves? Read a bit about why people like neutral or monochromatic colors and you will see a few things repeatedly mentioned.

Seeking simplicity. Many consumers are a bit overwhelmed by the world and find a degree of solace in simpler palettes or, I would argue, the reduced complexity of picking from a smaller list of options.

Pragmatism. In a world where cars are more expensive than ever (although not really when adjusted for inflation), selecting a neutral can seem wise from a resale value perspective. The fact that a significant portion of new vehicles are leased, and that the manufacturer's typically provide the lease through their own financing arms, would be another reason to tighten the offerings to the safest choices.

Keeping in line with the Joneses. We are, like it or not, highly influenced by what we see our peers doing and tend to conform to what we're shown. In a world driven by social media that operates outside of geographic constraints, that means increasing resemblance from home to home as we copy and copy and copy what others have done.

The house as an "investment." Many people are driven to make safe choices for their homes out of a fear that going with bolder colors might make it feel dated or limit its appeal should they decide to sell. I'm not sure that there's a ton of data to support this, and even the most generic of finishes get dated anyway, but it remains a major factor in home decision making.

None of the above are bad things, necessarily. But, combined, they do push us towards a world of increasing "sameness" at the cost of variety and colorfulness.

There are two highly weird aspects to our current greige malaise. One, the ability of manufacturers to build products in bold colors has never been greater. There is nothing from a materials perspective that is keeping us from driving aqua SUVs and sitting on fuchsia sofas. And two, people love color. No child will pick white or taupe as their favorite color. It is simply not going to happen. Adults are drawn to color, too. Studies show that color can evoke a strongly positive emotional reaction. Red is not incorrectly associated with passion. Yellow has been correlated to happiness. Greens and blues create a sense of calm. And white, ironically, has been shown to increase stress and reduce concentration in public spaces and schools.

How do we break free from our monochromatic present? There's no simple answer, but it will likely come about as a result of a cultural shift. A rediscovery and renewed reverence of the joy that color can bring. A celebration of color and more frequent demonstrations of how color can shake off the aesthetic sameness that pervades much of our world. And, like anything in a capitalist culture, an increased demand from consumers which will be eagerly met by companies that see the chance to deliver for a woefully underserved audience.

Colorfully (at least most of the time),
R+C