Designers say there's much more to finding the right color than prettiness. The selection has to reflect a company's image, be appropriate for a given product, and be in harmony with the product's surroundings. After all, the sky isn't going away, explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of color consultancy Pantone Color Institute. Purple signifies creativity and spirituality, Eiseman says, while silver connotes modernity. Each color creates a story.
Colors are notoriously fickle and regional.
Finding a color that users everywhere will find attractive is no picnic. To pick the right shade of gray for its computers, Dell designers traveled around the globe three times, conducting focus groups. Santiccioli travels abroad at least three times a year to scout new shades for her customers. She has found inspiration in the rainforests of Costa Rica, peering at bright green and blue poison-arrow frogs. And she has scoured the countrysides of India and New Guinea, camera and water-color kit in hand, examining the tones on everything from crafts to graves.