Monday, November 29, 2010

The Role of Color in Design

iPods have gone a long way since the first iPod was released in 2001. Not only has its technology advanced, its design changed as well. From the first two designs being all white, by the third design, they started earning some colors. The iPod mini's were the first iPods to receive another feature to help them look aesthetically pleasing. Not only does the addition of color to these devices answer to aesthetics, it can define the consumer as well. It is known that some people would identify themselves with certain hue's. Most of the time their favorite color can reflect ones personalities, or even vice versa (some people sometimes feel they have to act like their favorite colors, using their own imagination of course).

The variety of colors that these iPods come in nowadays can also influence someone to purchase one. I've had multiple experiences where a child, around the age of 11-19, persuades his or her parent or guardian to purchase one of the new iPod Nano's from Costco (since I work there) just because its either purple, red, blue, or any other color this child associates themselves with. These colored iPods distinguishes themselves from the rest of the colors, forcing its owner to feel more like the color that represents them. The power of color in a design is strong and can greatly influence product sales.


What if, instead of colored, iPods they remained white like its first design. Sure, everyone would probably still buy it because of the advanced technology and improved features, but think about how much more people would buy it if the iPods broke out of their plain white shells and revealed their mysterious inner colors. Variety helps increase product sales. The person who never liked iPods because they hated how “plain” white looks now has the whole spectrum of colors to choose from.

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