Not just gray on gray: many colors make you want to live

Not just gray on gray
Many colors make you want to live

October 13, 2024, 12:16 p.m

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While autumn conjures up the most wonderful colors, many people’s clothing is rather colorless. But there are signs of a change in trend and that also has something to do with the fact that colors express wishes and attitudes.

Whether in fashion, interior design or everyday objects – more and more people are turning to colorful tones again, according to a trend analyst. “People are using stronger colors again to show contrasts and make statements,” says trend expert Gabriela Kaiser from Landsberg. She sees behind this the desire for a feeling of optimism that has faded in the face of the numerous crises.

Especially after the years in which social media like Instagram made monochrome fashionable, Kaiser says many people are longing for variety and expression through color again. “Red is currently appearing more and more at trade fairs – for example in the form of a red chair or armchair,” says Kaiser. Red stands for energy, dynamism and power and signals: “Look here.”

Colors express something

Color psychologist Axel Buether advises using color consciously – be it through small accents such as a colored bag or a colorful notebook. “It simply makes people seem more open,” he explains. Color could not only lift one’s mood, but also signal that a person was ready to stand out from the crowd and show their personality.

He recommends having more “courage to use color”. His statement says that colors express joy in life, variety and variety. “They also function as an expression of personality. They can show that people are open, creative and spontaneous,” says Buether, who also works as a professor of visual communication at the University of Wuppertal. According to the psychologist, around 60 to 70 percent of our brain activity is used for color perception. “We are also very interested in the colors of the world.”

According to Buether, there can never be just one trend – “except perhaps in dictatorships”. And so there are also people who prefer to travel in monochrome: “Especially in times of crisis, fear can lead to people wanting to have as few influences around them as possible.” They think that a reduction in colors makes the world simpler and more manageable. According to Buether, some people also resort to inconspicuous tones out of fear of making wrong decisions. “Especially in the world of work, you camouflage yourself with it.”

Colorful cars?

Clothing or accessories can usually be replaced quickly depending on your taste. Things are different with cars. In terms of color, there is a rather pale trend here: When it comes to car colors, however, Germans often opt for a colorless paint. This is shown by statistics from the Federal Motor Transport Authority.

Up to and including July, around 33 percent, i.e. around 566,000 of the newly registered cars this year, were gray. This is followed by black cars with around 26 percent and white cars with 20 percent. Only far behind does the first, more colorful color appear, at 8.7 percent: blue. Almost five percent of new registrations were red and less than three percent were green.

“Cars have largely been decolorized worldwide since the 2000s,” says Buether. “It used to be different, you can still see that in the classic cars.” For many people, cars are now less of a luxury item that they are treated in detail. “Rather, they are purely technical objects from which people have become alienated.”

However, joy of color can still be observed in other areas, for example in bicycles. This expresses individualism and the fun of movement. “In general, passion can be recognized by more color, sobriety is more characterized by monochrome color,” says Buether.

The Germans’ favorite color is blue – “polls show that again and again,” says Buether – and adds that this has not only been the case since several right-wing parties adopted the color. Because blue stands for openness and has very positive connotations. “But that doesn’t mean that Germans buy everything blue or paint their walls blue.”