Contemporary Trends

I was reading the the New York Times today, and one article in particular caught my attention.

The article gave a brief exploration of the current trend in naming colors after foods. It was only a few paragraphs before I found myself thinking of Patrick Jordan’s Supertrends concept and lecture(s). This article on food-colored cars struck me as yet another sign pointing towards hedonism in particular.

I found it interesting though that the author discussed the varied range of available color palettes on the auto market, and yet the current crop of vehicles on the US roads these days seems far less varied than the supposedly available range (though perhaps the diverse range is more focused on the high end market – even the aspirational cars seem to be limited to fairly patriotic colors). In keeping with Pat’s uncanny eye and sense for trends, I find myself drawing a parallel to the abundantly patriotic color palette of cars on the US roads today (predominantly red, white/neutral (white, grey/silver, champagne/gold, black), blue and occasionally yellow or orange) and the present social, economic and political climate of the nation.

I remember talking to Pat several years ago in Pittsburgh about this phenomenon – the more successful or “healthy” the social/economic/political climate, the more varied the available and consumed color palette of cars, the less healthy, the more constricted the palette. Pretty abstract in concept, and yet oddly true.