Thursday, December 07, 2023
How Do Paint Colors Get Their Names?
Builder Magazine: While paint names don’t immediately conjure images of specific colors, they are intended to invoke feelings. It’s all part of a process used by paint companies to appeal to not only the eyes but also the heart. It’s as much about an emotional connection as it is about visual contentment.
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This was an entertaining article to read. I mean for years I have thought to myself while in the paint chip aisle, “Who came up with that?” Some of the names for paint I have seen are wild. Seemingly not based on anything. It was cool to learn that this isn’t the case and that it even has a whole psychology behind it. Many paint colors are inspired by elements of nature, such as sky blue, forest green, or sunset orange, things that we are able to associate to a thing that we see every day while others’ names are chosen to evoke certain emotions or moods, like Tranquil Taupe or whatever. It was cool to learn that marketers often consider the psychological impact of colors. Warm tones like reds and yellows may be associated with energy and excitement, while cool tones like blues and greens may be linked to calmness and relaxation but even beyond this, each color affects each person differently.
This article was very interesting! I have always wondered how colors got their names and the process makes complete sense. I figured that stakeholders had to be involved but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that customer feedback plays a role in the naming of a color. The curiosity I have for how colors get their names, I have the same curiosity about how lighting gels get their names. I assume it is a similar process, however instead of determining the color by the paint it would be by the color that the fixture would produce on stage after dropping the gel. However, I wonder if there is any thought about how a certain color might be used and if that affects its naming. I am thinking how green can, when the wrong shade, provide the audience with a very negative icky feeling and I wonder if that affects the names that the green gels get. Whether they lean into that or try to stir the narrative away from that.
Before reading this article, I had never thought about the origin of paint color names. I had never given any thought to the marketing side of it and the fact that they aren't random at all, but they are very specifically chosen to invoke particular emotions. The science behind all the color psychology stuff is really intriguing and interesting to me.
Moving onto the naming of the colors, the idea of involving consumers is actually really smart. The process of looking at immediate influences, and geography, and then moving into the experiential and odd is something I have never thought about but it is logical and genius. The idea that the weirdest and most odd names are some of the names that become the most popular is interesting, especially when thinking about the examples the article provides like "Ponytail", "Arsenic", "Dead Salmon", "Fancy Pants", "Total Recall", and "Hello Dolly", to name a few.
I think it would be so fun to have a job as a paint namer. I absolutely love how this work is such a nice combination of art and psychology. I am taking a class next year on color psychology and its relation to space and this I am so excited. This article seems right up my alley. I liked the mention of Pittsburgh Gray and Allegheny River. I find it funny how they are both cool-toned gray. I think my favorite type of color names are the experiential, odd, and pop culture. I like them because they are either funny or they make me think a little bit, especially if it's a pop culture reference. I think it makes the process of selecting a paint a lot more personal. I am so glad the general employees can also make suggestions and references to their own personal lives. The story about ponytail is so cute and it warmed my heart.
I have always had this question about how decor items get their names, especially paint colors and carpets/flooring. I'm not surprised to hear that the colors are basically meaningless, but instead are based in marketing and psychology to invoke certain feeling when looking at a color instead of being a true name for it. Thinking on this now knowing, I have always been confused by the arbitrary names but felt that they somehow were accurate enough to explain the color. This is a very cool concept that I have never thought to look deeper into until now, and it really does explain a lot. The way the article talks about how warm colors reflect energy and how cooler colors reflect calmness is great, and I think the psychology behind that is very cool and that the marketers do a very cool thing by finding names that match colors emotionally.
I have worked with paint a decent amount throughout my life. Repainting rooms, exteriors of houses, sets etc. and have often wondered why on earth would the paint be the same squash blossom or Atomic Vomit Green, or kitten whiskers, or grandma's refrigerator etc. It always just seemed so arbitrary and random. I always figured there was a reason for paint to be named something that seemed so random because you do not come up with a name like “Atomic Vomit Green '' simply out of left field. So, I found the article to be fascinating, finally learning the reason behind all of these seemingly random name choices. It is amazing the extent of thought (and probably money) that goes into naming something as seemingly simple as paint. Because in fact the name “Atomic Vomit Green” is not random there is actually well thought out psychology that went into a name like that. I just think it is so very interesting the way paint is named, because it's just something in an everyday life but a lot of time and thought went into it. Definitely way more than I realized.
I think that in addition to association between words, emotions, and memories, they seem to skip over the possibility of a more direct linguistic explanation. Not to say that all the points mentioned in the article are not valid, they certainly are, but I think that there is potential in looking at what images sounds and words invoke in a reader/listener. I am primarily thinking about this since I saw a video yesterday about how there are sounds that people across languages regard as round vs sharp. A phenomenon like this likely exists within the color naming realm as well, just much more subtly. Even plain color names have this effect (at least on me). For example, the color vermillion upsets me because all my word/sound association (primarily from Spanish) tells me that this should be a green color. I am sure that color/word association of this kind is happening on some level at these paint companies, I just think it would be neat to formally look into and study.
Who knew so much research and deliberation went into naming colors? I think it was a universal experience at hardware stores while parents shopped, kids looked at color swatches. My sister and I would always pick out our favorite color and would see who could find the funniest name. Colors absolutely invoke different emotions and the name for the color certainly helps the consumer understand the “vibes”.Another important factor in naming colors is considering what color palette is going in. Benjamin Moore famously has a historical color collection for people trying to keep the colors of their home authentic to the time period it was built in. It would be weird for a color in the historic section to be named TikTok Teal. While doing a renovation on my house, my mom would carry around various Benjamin Moore color swatch deck fans, but remembering the names was really helpful.
Articles like these are so unnerving because every common commercial good people interact with in the US has years of research and millions of dollars spent in studying what will manipulate consumers to buy more behind it. With paint colors being no exception, I think that paint colors can sway a scenic designer based on what they say in relation to what color they want to achieve. For example, my director saw a color beige she really loved in the store and when ordering it online hesitated for a day to purchase because it was called “camel hair” and because images on screens are not reliable for color she began second guessing if that’s what she really wanted after googling camels. In the end I don’t think paint colors trying to make us buy them is that big of a deal, but I think it’s freaky how much capitalistic psychological tricks can influence us from what we want to what our brain now thinks it wants.
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