A favorite color of one of my girlfriends from back in the day was cobalt blue. Not blue, but cobalt blue.
As well as my favorite NFL team, the Detroit Lions, using "Honolulu blue" for their jerseys, and my grad business school, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler, using "Carolina blue" for their jerseys.
A simple blue just won't work these days.
The New York Times reports aqua blue, acid lime, grape purple, and electric orange interspersed with neon pink. Gray suede and cheetah print mixed with white and gold. These are not descriptions of a minimalist's worst nightmare, but relatively new color combinations from Adidas, Reebok, and New Balance. And they are jarring by design.
In the age of the infinite scroll and the era of sneaker culture, where the competition to make the hottest, rarest, most wanted kick is more intense than ever, athletic shoe companies are increasingly becoming fluent lovers of that old art: color theory.
"Between 70 percent to 90 percent of subconscious judgment on a product is made in a few seconds on color alone. It can excite or calm us; it can raise our blood pressure. It's really powerful." -- Jenny Ross, the head of concept design and strategy for lifestyle footwear at New Balance
The secret psychology of sneaker colors
