A study examining more than 7,000 everyday objects in the United Kingdom from 1800 to 2020 found that they have become increasingly gray, with gray tones rising from around 10% in 1800 to roughly 40% in 2020.
More anecdotally, dozens of TikTok users have observed that color seems to have disappeared from cars, airplane seats, film color grading, and even street lighting.
For many years – but especially during the 1960s and 1970s.
In the 1960s, bright colors became associated with progressive politics, freedom of expression, and psychedelic culture – around the same time synthetic dyes (first developed in the 19th century) became cheap and widely accessible.
A decade later, however, color began to be associated with consumerism and commercialization. Rebellion and resistance became linked instead to the punk movement – and to black.
Yes. Colors carry meaning, but those meanings are not fixed. They shift — sometimes entirely — depending on context.
Example 1
Red at a traffic light signals prohibition; red in advertising often signals attraction or urgency.
Example 2
Purple, when its production was still expensive (derived from sea snail glands), was associated with wealth and royalty. Over time, it became just another color.
According to anthropologists, for years bright and excessive color became associated with attempts to capture the “consumer’s” attention — in other words, with advertising.
As a result, people grew fatigued and began seeking softer, more muted tones in the objects they use, the spaces they live in, and the clothes they wear — in search of a sense of calm.
This saturation with color has helped popularize aesthetics such as Scandinavian design* and, combined with companies’ growing efforts to appear more “environmentally friendly” (even if only in branding), neutral and natural tones have come to dominate.
A characteristic example is McDonald’s rebranding in 2006, when it moved away from its bright red-and-yellow palette toward more “natural” brown and green tones in many markets.
*Simple, minimalist interiors dominated by cool, neutral shades.
In Western philosophical tradition, color was long considered “secondary.”
According to the author of Chromophobia, beginning with Plato, color was viewed as a kind of “noise” that distracts from reason, while Aristotle argued that the value of art lies in form rather than color.
This long-standing philosophical bias in favor of form and against color may help explain today’s shift toward the colorless.
As remote work increases, cafés, for example, are transforming from spaces of social interaction and relaxation into co-working environments, adopting minimalist and restrained aesthetics aimed at focus and productivity.
At the same time, gray and muted tones — being more neutral — appeal to a broader audience, which is why real estate companies and landlords often prefer them.
According to research, such shades can increase a property’s sale price in the United States by nearly $5,000.
