Color My World

Here is a bright idea that has business, personal and/or manufacturing applications.

In its original appearance, this idea struck me as an arts & crafts product for children, which would have been manufactured by a crayon-maker (and probably marker-maker, as they often are companion products). It came along at the time when Crayola® was holding a contest for naming four new crayon colors. “Macaroni and Cheese” was one of the winning names. I loved that name, and I thought, “They should pull out other colors, and rename them as as needed, to make a whole set of 24 crayons using food colors, and then market them along with coloring books featuring those foods.”

My thoughts went on to include how they could produce related stories, even “primary readers” in coloring page form, to reach the education market. I imagined there would be colors like “Corn on the Cob” and “Licorice” and “Iced Tea” and “Dill Pickle” -- it’s mostly about repackaging, really. What I envisioned was:

A line of crayons and/or markers, packaged in sets, according to themes… along with accompanying coloring books and posters featuring images from the same theme(s).

Themes (and sample colors) I had in mind:

Circus (Clown Nose, Elephant, Cotton Candy)
Beach (Sand Castle, Abalone, Seaweed)
Birthday Party (Frosting Flower, Donkey Tail, Fruit Punch)
School (Chalkboard, Chalk, Eraser, Gold Star)
Planet (Ocean, Goldfish, Koala, Eucalyptus, Hot Lava—and good ole’ Periwinkle)

After manufacturing/repackaging, some promising business applications were soon to follow on the idea train. Mainly, product placement. How much would it be worth to Kraft® to be associated with a beloved color (or two, considering their recent emphasis on the blue of the box)? When I think about brands, and the importance of their logos, and how some palettes are sooooo recognizable, I find this portion of the idea to be, well, gangbusters! What about a color named after the McDonald’s Arch? What about Dunkin’ Donuts® Pink & Dunkin’ Donuts® Orange? I’m talkin’ the NASCAR® of coloring, here. Could be a big avenue to explore. It has a certain Happy Meal® vibe to it, right? Plus, you've got an entire adult world of colors to explore... like, the cocktail pack: Margarita, Bloody Mary, Tequila Sunrise, Blue Curacao, Grasshopper, Scotch on the rocks, etc. Wouldn't that make a great 21st b-day gag gift? Speaking of gifts...

This idea has some fun possibilities when it comes to crafting and gift making, too. Why not make your own labels for crayons and package your own personalized sets to give as gifts or sell in craft fairs? For example, the Color Faith’s World set might include standards such as Forest Green and Sky Blue, plus new shades like Blog Green and Joni Mitchell Blue. How about White Tuna, Crème Brulee, Bare Feet and Red Stilettos? And don’t forget the family aspect: Sam’s New Flats (purple), Kim’s Big Hair (auburn), Kevin’s Red (it’s really green) and Dean’s Beware of Darkness. Oh, and Cleo’s Aging Cat Belly (it’s apricot).