Quote:
Originally Posted by RON1X
I'm surprised at such astonishment by so many members on here. Apple's design and marketing campaigns (often in a subliminal way) are quite interesting. Indeed, I remember reading an interesting marketing research paper that discussed how the white earbuds were, in fact, Apple's way of physically differentiating its product from everyone elses. There were hardly any manufacturers making the white earbuds at the time, so it was a way of showing everyone you had an apple iPod without having to physically display see it. It was a form of free advertising that was "cool." Along with their white iPod, the color white itself became a brand identification.
Apple, love them or hate them, takes a lot of time prior to launching a product (obviously). It completely follows that BMW, a company founded on passion of design and performance, would be inspired by their products.
If anything, I wouldn't think that BMW designers saying that "Apple's white" made white cars cool is that much of an understatement...
[and I'm on a Windows computer typing this  ] |
Thanks for submitting the first thoughtful post in this entire thread.
Listen, no is saying that white never existed before Apple, nor is anyone saying that any one product by Apple ("Its bullshit that its iPhone shaping the colour trend of cars") is responsible for influencing the color of cars. What is being said is that Apple's industrial design has influenced other industrial design, cars included, and for the most part, this is true. In design culture, white was typically not a color that was used often to show off the lines of a car. Historically, it was a color that was popular with fleet sales and work trucks. Sales statistics readily show this. Recently however, the take rate for cars that weren't traditionally popular in white are seeing a more favorable shift towards white. Not only does this correlate with the introduction of Apple's recent design themes of the last decade, but with designers themselves admitting that they were influenced by Apple's minimalist design.
Another example is the color brown. Until very recently, dark browns were associated with car designs from the 1970s, and thus, were seen as woefully outdated and unfashionable. This is no longer true since the proliferation of stylish coffee houses (made popular by Starbucks, no doubt), and dark premium woods and leathers used in modern home furnishings. Where once having brown in a color lineup was a sure way corner the geriatric market, it now is seen as a modern, trendy color associated with luxury, comfort and high-qualilty. Hence, "Cognac Metallic" by Porsche, "Teak Brown Metallic" by Audi and "Cuprite Brown Metallic" by Mercedes. Hell, Bentley offers many different shades of brown. Ford offers "Kodiak Brown" on the new Taurus and Escape. The point is, car designers reference all kinds of things when they decide on what colors to apply to their most modern designs, and often times, they reference what's popular and cherished in the home. Thus, it isn't at all surprising that the "color value" of white has gone up considerably since Apple has used white to differentiate their products from those of its competitors.