Calling trends is classic chicken-egg stuff: does a tendency only become a trend when one labels it so? The line is thin and grey enough that by the time most trends are “predicted,” they’re actually simply being reported. But the stakes are low here, so let’s play pundit.
Over the years, I’ve gone through a few legitimate (if inexplicable) “purple phases”: As a kid, I spray-painted my BMX bike completely purple; as a teenager, my first pair of Chuck Taylors were purple; my favorite McDonald’s character is Grimace, hands down. You get the picture.
As a designer, though, I must say that purple has typically been unpopular with clients. Maybe it’s because, psychologically, purple can be an uneasy color—the combination of stimulating red and calming blue. I’ve even heard it said that purple can feel artificial, owing to its comparative rareness in nature. Whatever the reason, purple has never been prominent in my work. Until now.
Over the past three months, I’ve worked on five projects where purple took a top seat in the color palette. And the work is all over the map: a visual identity package for a corporate re-branding, a new social networking venture, an interactive PDF playbook, a nonprofit re-launch, an urban search site. Five purple projects! And not one fell victim to the hackneyed “purple is the color of royalty, it connotes luxury” treatment.
If my Q4 is any indication, we’ll be seeing a lot more purple being used in fresh ways. Am I predicting, or just reporting? You tell me.
