The Grayening. Is Color Disappearing from the World?

Part 1 of an In-Depth Discussion on Color and Design.

Is color disappearing from the world? The question is certainly thought-provoking, even if a bit hyperbolic.

A study published in 2020 by Science Museum Group analyzed the colors of around 7,000 items used in daily life from 1800 to 2020. The colors were then charted on a graph, which seems to show the disappearance of color and the takeover of 50 shades of grey.

Then, as often happens in this day and age, the graph and conclusions of the study were taken out of context and spread far and wide across the Internet. It went a little viral. I certainly remember seeing this graph come across my TikTok FYP. Journalists and content creators alike proclaimed the disappearance of color. “Look at this chart,” they said. “Look at this big gray blob. We’re all doomed to a dull, gray existence.”

However, this assessment isn’t exactly correct. If you go on to watch the video that accompanies the original study, what you actually see is a variety of objects made from various metals and woods (which accounts for most of the yellows and browns in the earlier years) giving way to more colorful objects as modern manufacturing took over. There has certainly been an influx of shades of gray in the last 40 or so years, but you can also see the full spectrum of colors more clearly there than in any other era. Certainly, the influx of technology and its plethora of gadgets can account for the rise in gray, but that alone does not mean we can conclude that the world is becoming bleak and colorless.

This study also acknowledges that it is limited in its scope as it is only analyzing small objects that are a part of museum collections. The sample size and scope is relatively small in comparison to…everything else that humanity has created in the past 220+ years.

Were they right anyway?

Just because this particular study was taken out of its original context and the data presented…creatively, doesn’t necessarily mean that the conclusion was incorrect. (Although I’m not sure that we’re all doomed to a colorless eternity.) Color in the modern world does seem to be on the decline, a phenomenon that I like to refer to as “The Grayening”.

For example, another recent study done by iSeeCars.com concluded that the purchase of grayscale (black, white, gray, and silver) cars went from around 60% of the market share in 2004 to 80% in 2023—a 20% increase in as many years with gray and white seeing the most growth. The trend occurred despite the colors offered for each vehicle being relatively the same over the years.

A quick poll of 19 of my AdsIntelligence co-workers (what we like to call “mesearch”) shows a strong preference for cars in greyscale at a ratio of 2.8:1 or ~74%. Though we’re not quite hitting the 80% number shown by the iSeeCars study, our company reflects the same proclivity toward neutral-colored vehicles as the overall market.

Fast food empires have also cast color aside over the decades. McDonalds restaurants have shed their funky red roofs in favor of a boxy structure and neutral-toned brick. And they aren’t the only ones. Taco Bell, Burger King, and more have all fallen victim to The Grayening. The rise in success and popularity of concepts like Chipotle (and its industrial design) and Starbucks (with its minimalism) in the 2000s and 2010s probably helped to influence this trend, but regardless of the cause, it contributes to the loss of color in our daily landscape.  

I’m not sure if there’s an empirical way to fully analyze the reality of The Grayening in our daily lives, but anecdotally, it does seem to be occurring in a lot of places. Even the dusty rose shade of “Millennial pink” popular in the 2010s seems to have given way to homes filled with “Millennial gray” walls today.

Why is this happening?

If you read our blog on Minimalism vs. Maximalism, you’ll know that minimalism tends to have pretty mass appeal. One of the main features of minimalism is a more neutral color palette. Neutral colors like white, black, gray, and beige are typically seen as unoffensive and have a wide appeal. Hot pink, lime green, and butter yellow certainly create strong emotions, but those emotions may not always be positive. Bold colors are always going to be more divisive. Being a bit bland is usually preferable to being outright hated.

Neutral colors are also generally seen as higher end and luxurious—a desirable trait to most. Vehicles are one of the most expensive purchases that people make, so if we take into account that neutral colors are seen as more luxurious, the trend towards purchasing cars in grayscale colors makes sense. (I myself am even contributing to the grayscale car epidemic; I am one of the co-workers with a grayscale vehicle. My car is black—although that has more to do with my affinity for the dark and macabre than my desire to appear any certain way.)

Tech and choosing function over form may also to be blame for “The Grayening.” For many years, most computers, phones, tablets, etc. have come in some very lovely shades of utilitarian gray. Who didn’t have a big, gray tube TV or big, off-gray computer tower graying up their house at some point in the 1990s and 2000s? And who doesn’t continue to have a bunch of devices graying up their home today?

Are we doomed to a bleak, colorless existence?

Let’s hope not.

For one, when you turn on all of those gray devices in your home (at least the ones with screens), they display a brilliant range of colors. With technologies like OLED and 8K UHD, screens are rendering images crisper and more colorfully than ever before. But screens aren’t the only things bringing color into our lives.

Some companies, like Apple, seem to be fighting back against The Grayening. The first few iPhone generations were available in only grayscale colors. Then, the iPhone 5C introduced a multitude of bright shades into the smartphone market in 2013. They did go back to more neutral options (+ the subdued Rose Gold) for a few generations, but since the iPhone XR in 2018, each subsequent iPhone generation has offered up a nice spectrum of color options. The current iPhone 16 comes in vibrant teal, pink and ultramarine blue in addition to black and white. The higher end Pro versions are, however, only offered in white, gold, silver, and black. More evidence perhaps that neutral colors = luxury. (Did you guess that my phone is also black?)

It’s not just colorful phones for Apple either. After the original line of vibrantly colored iMacs that came out in the late 1990s, the proceeding versions only came in some very exciting whites and silvers. Happily, in 2021, colors were reintroduced into the lineup and are still available today. (At AdsIntelligence, we are lucky to have a couple of the orange ones floating around our office. They go great with our orange walls.)

And Apple isn’t the only one. Southwest’s planes continue to be vibrant indigo, yellow and red. Dunkin’s branding is still fabulous shades of bright orange and pink. Coke cans are their timeless shade of brilliant red. La Creuset, Smeg, and Kitchenaid are all about a huge range of color options for kitchen gear. And don’t even get me started on the past few years’ run on Stanley cups in every shade imaginable.

Even still, as many other businesses continue trending towards shades of gray, it doesn’t mean that the Millennial gray walls are completely inescapable—especially in your personal life.

Hues the Boss?

When it comes to keeping your world colorful, you’re the boss! Color tells stories, facilitates self-expression, creates spaces that feel happy and welcoming, and overall just creates enrichment in our lives. Paint the walls of your home soft blue instead of cool gray. Choose that funky-colored phone. Wear rainbow head to toe. Breathe new life into a drab corporate brand. Fight The Grayening.

If you feel like you need to inject a little color into your business’ branding, you know who to call 😉