What about the colour of software? Or the web in general?
This week, William Gibson tweeted a link to a collection of Sherwin Williams’ paint colours — specifically, one called “cyberspace,” a term he of course coined. The link revealed that the company has a whole collection of internet-focused paint colours, each part of a new palette this spring. What do the colours of the web look like? As Twitter users were quick to point out, some of Gibson’s most famous words describe it perfectly: The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel.
There was Cyberspace, above. Or Software:
Web Grey:
Network Grey. Grey Screen. Site White. Or even “Online:”
As people on Twitter pointed out, this isn’t the first time a paint colour has been named for his one-time neologism. There was a West Elm colour called Cyberspace, according to one. Meanwhile, the paint company Taubmans makes a shade called Cyberpunk:
Yesterday we looked at how colour companies like Pantone use culture to promote their colour-picking products. These shades, made by paint companies, are another great example of how manufacturers try to pick colour names that, as one paint company exec told The New York Times a few years ago, “are a representation of your lifestyle.”
Who does Sherwin Williams want to appeal to with its new web collection? Well, the palettes the colours belong to give us a little hint: Cyberspace is part of a Pottery Barn Teens collection. Online is part of the company’s Kids collection. Of course!