Welcome To Friday Fives, Vol. 264
This week we’re soaking up the colors of Italy, assessing wealthy fashion, studying the Spotify logo, reevaluating red, and drinking milk from glass bottles.
Last week Fiat decided it would no longer produce gray cars. In a new video released by the brand, a gray car is dunked into a tank of orange paint set in an Italian seaside terracotta village complete with clothesline-strung balconies and palm trees. The brand says the change is meant to “enhance the importance of colors in life, embodying the Italian way of living.” We know they probably won’t be dunking all of their cars this way, but it sure does make us want an orange Fiat 500.
The second season of “And Just Like That …” recently released on Max suggests loud branding will always be in. Carrie is seen with her infinite supply of Manolos and Fendis, and Charlotte carries her Burberry doggy poop bag. It’s contrary to quiet luxury or stealth wealth, the aesthetics of discreet high-end fashion, highlighted in old-money-fashion of shows like “Succession.” However, as Friedman notes, both trends are different ways to exhibit wealth and wealth never really goes out of style.
Originally a loud Pantone 376 green using a slab serif type, the first Spotify logo (c. 2008) resembled the Yahoo logo at the time. From 2013 to 2015, it underwent large transformations such as turning the small arcs above the “o” into an actual symbol. Eventually, Collins designed the version we know today in addition to creating a software program nicknamed “the Colorizer” that automates photograph styling, recoloring, and duotone applications for the brand. For a company now known for yearly wraps, it seems like they’ve always had their thumb on the pulse of personalization.
Seeing Red: Fast Food Branding
Mcdonald’s does it. Wendy’s does it. Burger King does it. Almost every fast food chain uses red in their branding, and it’s not a coincidence 41% of the food industry uses the color and 24% of the most successful brands of all time do too. It’s meant to drive people to action, to energize, and it even has the ability to increase appetite, heart rate, and blood pressure. Good news for us: the next time we notice our heavy breathing at the sight of a KFC, we’ll remember it’s the color, not us.
Vegetables in color-coded order, sparkling clean shelves, every type of beverage fully stocked — the art of ASMR fridge organization is not one to be ignored. These influencers get millions of views by organizing their fridge, and they never skim over replacing the ugly plastic/carton packaging of milk with a glass bottle. We’re hoping this means the glass milk bottle has a comeback. In addition to aesthetics, it certainly has its pros, like the absence of polyethylene, a plastic used for food-safe packaging, and better conservation of milk flavor. So the next time you see me repackaging my milk, don’t ask questions.
