"New colours are happy"
Irene Seiberling,
The Leader-Post

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Spokesperson for Crayola 2008: Susan's appearance on Breakfast Television (Click to enlarge)

What colour would you say best represents a bear hug? Or feeling "super happy"? What colours come to mind when you think of "best friends" or someone or something "awesome" or "famous"?

Crayola was wondering too. So they asked kids what they think -- 20,000 of them in Canada and the U.S. And that's how Crayola came up with the eight new 2008 Kids' Choice Colours.

"The colours that the children chose -- and the characteristics they attributed to those colours -- demonstrates that today's children are a happy bunch, and they're confident, and very concerned and committed to making the world a better place," Canadian child therapist Susan Garofolo said in a telephone interview.

"They chose uplifting tones ... They were very positive, which I was very excited to hear," the Burlington, Ont.-based therapist said.

Crayola asked kids from across North America to write a story. It could be about anything they wanted. Or, sometimes a prompt was provided -- like asking them what they would do if they won a gazillion dollars, Garofolo explained.

Then the children were asked to pick a colour out of a huge spectrum of colours to match or reflect their story.

Next, a team of researchers, colour trend experts and content developers from Crayola pulled all the themes and patterns from the stories -- interpreted and analyzed them -- and came up with the new colours for 2008, and their meanings. "So the colours were chosen and named by the children," Garofolo pointed out.

The children painted a colourful picture of how they see themselves and the world around them.

"They were very positive right across the board," she said. "I was really excited that it was so optimistic. I was thrilled."

No green with envy, or feeling blue, or red with embarrassment stuff. Today's kids chose uplifting colours, such as "Super Happy" yellow, which symbolizes the colour of dreams coming true, and that kids want to be happy and spread happiness, Garofolo explained.

"It's in a more personal way, not just through material things. That came out of the stories that the children wrote," she added.

There was a sense of conscientiousness in terms of the environment, and wanting to protect Mother Earth, Garofolo said. For example, they chose "Giving Tree" green, reflecting kids' involvement in environmental issues.

And they focused on valuing their friendships and family. "Best Friends" purple represents a profound shift in the way kids see friendships, a Crayola media release points out. Many consider their parents to be their best friends, the release states.

"Happy Ever After" blue symbolizes their optimism and desire for every story to have a happy ending. And "Famous", a hot shade of pink that represents fame, reflects that "today's kids see that average people can become celebrities and believe: 'I can do that!'" the colour gurus at Crayola surmised. "Awesome", a dusty pink, symbolizes kids' ambitions for excellence. Via their stories, kids indicated being smart is cool today, and this colour represents the mental energy it takes to excel.

The vibrant Fun in the Sun orange reflects the energetic and activity-filled lifestyles kids are embracing to avoid the couch potato syndrome.

And what colour do kids associate with a bear hug? A warm shade of brown. To them, it reflects the loving embrace of home and family, say the folks at Crayola.

There are some universal associations that all humans have with colour, and the colours that the children chose are consistent with that, Garofolo pointed out. "They have the yellow representing happiness and green relating to nature and the environment. Those are pretty universal and go back generations.

"But what's special about what the kids have done here though," she said, is "they have chosen specific hues of colour, and I think that's important to look at as well. The brightness of these colours I think is significant -- and the uplifting tones of these colours. They're cheery, optimistic colours."

"Colour is essential not only to what we see, but also how we perceive the world," Garofolo said.

Colours take on deep meanings -- for young and old alike, she said. Red, for example, is often associated with safety. It's used for stop signs and to indicate danger zones. And green often makes us think of ecology and the environment.

We also use colour to describe how we feel -- both physically and emotionally. For example, we might feel blue. Or, perhaps green with envy. Lack of colour may signal poor health, as opposed to nice, healthy rosy red cheeks, for instance. Colour is also used as a form of creative expression.

Children can use colour to express thoughts that would be difficult to articulate otherwise, Garofolo said. "They learn to express themselves non-verbally (using colours)."

Children learn to distinguish colour long before they build their verbal skills, she pointed out. For example, children as young as two weeks old can start to see colour -- the very bright, high-contrast colours, not the subtle ones. The first colour to be recognized is often red, which is followed by other bright shades, such as yellow and green.

"As children develop, they learn to associate more things with colour. And colour plays a role in their emotional expression," Garofolo said.

"That's the area that I focus on most in my work," she said.

"I believe strongly that children need to be able to express their feelings, and colour is one way that they can do that," Garofolo said.

She emphasized the importance of parents giving children an opportunity to make choices where they can, such as what colour they like to wear or what colours they chose for their artwork.

"It can be very empowering to them," Garofolo said.

Parents shouldn't over-analyze their child's choice of colours, she cautioned. For example, don't panic if your child gives a tree a purple trunk in their artwork, Garofolo insisted.

"Having an opportunity to express through art is so important and valuable to children. It gives them an outlet. So I wouldn't worry about it," she said.

Instead, "celebrate the child's spirit of individuality," Garofolo recommended.

"There are so many opportunities where children are going to learn the appropriate colours -- learn universal association with colour," she said.

"So it's important that they be able to express freely when they're home or in their free time. It's important to let them go and think outside the box. It's a fundamental need for children to be able to do that, because it enhances their creativity and thereby affecting their learning skills," she explained.

"It's an expression of who they are. It's one of the greatest privileges of life, I think, to be able to express who we are -- who we really are -- and to allow children to have opportunities to do that. Whether it's in how they dress or through art," she said.

"And colour enhances creativity."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008