White Is the New White
Remember when white was good and pure, while black was bad and dirty? Then black was beautiful, and later, black matte was too cool for words.
Over the past decade, black became the new white.
Black is the dominant pigment and ultimately cliché. And if American Apparel is any measure, all varieties of colored hues have replaced white, which has been deemed “too white bread” (a synonym for boring). Hey, even white space — that simple gift of the Swiss Moderns — is not as valued as it once was (although this website proves there’s a shift).
Frankly, anti-white makes me see red!
Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time in a work environment bathed in unadulterated white. And despite the occasional knee-jerk yearning for just a hint of color, I feel liberated not to be oversaturated with color. Contrary to notion that white is default, a no brainer, white is a statement, a nod to tranquility in a frenetic world.
Color has its place, but white makes right — at least in design.
Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Program at the School of Visual Arts, is the author of over one hundred books, most recently
Remarks 27 total remarks were added before the post was closed.
Jeff Croft
Couldn't. Agree. More.
And, sadly, the one company who has made white such an integral part of its recent success seems to be moving away from it.
:(
Enrique
Loved your post.
Squawk
You gotta love your whites.
I was relativly surprised to see this page in pitch-black when I left my feedreader. A nice touch, but white would have looked better;-)
You put it nicely when you said that anti-white makes you see red: I had to work with a team of non-design-educated people (sorry to say this) on a couple of spreads, and it was just amazing to see how they slashed whitespace by trying to put as much information on a page as the standard google query holds nowadays...
Tselentis
Reminds me of an X-files episode, where Fox says, "Grey is the new black, Scully."
Scott
An inattentive reader that stumbled upon this article could easily mistake it for a white power rant. How very bold.
Nate Walton
I'm thinking about how nice it would be to work in an office environment with more white in it. Maybe I'm just tired of my black desk, but it sounds wonderful.
Thanks for another insightful post. And for the liberation and/or vindication to really still love white.
Shane
Nice touch with the black!
Nice post as well, I think white-space is always good, and I have found myself over the years wanting more and more white. That is why on my current personal website I went for white and greys and only touches of color.
Michael McWatters
Growing up in the 70s, I have nightmarish memories (hallucinogenic, almost) of knotty pine walls, avocado appliances, rusty brown carpets, flesh-toned telephones, beige computers, forest-green cars, kelly green drapes, clothing of every color imaginable (often found in just one shirt), and cars whose colors resembled hot dog condiments (relish green, mustard yellow, ketchup red).
Getting interested in design in the 80s, I was enthralled by the reinvestigation of sparsity and neutrality, against which the bright hues of Swatch watches and mohawks became only more vibrant and powerful.
Keenan Cummings / BYU
I recently put together a rough portfolio. Seeing my work all in one place was a shock: most of it is pretty heavy on the white space. I also found my self a few weeks before this purchasing a pair of clean, white shoes. I wasn't sure where all the white was coming from. Design has gotten so Grey! Then I realized there is more to it: white is peaceful and pleasant. And I would say that many designers, by default, tend to fill the white space in. Using white in design is deliberate, not default. ( or a statement as you have said Steve.)
Thanks for the validation!
Andy Bosselman
I kinda love white walls. Right now my apartment is filled with red and gold, colors rendered on the white by sunlight reflecting from the brick building across the street.
Matthew Yu
“White is the new white” is the new “black is the new black.”
TheUprock.com
@ Jeff Croft: Personally, I'm a fan of Apple's departure from the white theme. We've seen it happening with the black iPods, the black Macbooks, and now with the new black integration into iMac desktops (around the screen area) -- Apple is a brand built on slow and pragmatic change. I can't be 100% in my speculation, but I feel like the shift to black is one that we can almost count on. Apple sells their consumers on small but detailed change. To think that Apple products will be all-black soon, I don't think that it's a very far-off thought. And after that fad passes, they can always jump back to the "White Revival." Personally I love blackspace, but I do cherish well thought out and well-designed whitespace. The surge of blackspace prominence is something I definitely don't see going away anything soon, with many thanks owed to the web 2.0 "evolution". I think web 2.0 gives many clients the feeling that black text on white background isn't the only solution, and that stunningly fresh graphics in dark environments can be just as critically engaging.
Julian Schrader
Nice post.
Tanner Christensen
White is empty, hollow of feelings. Apple used a nice "shine" to all of their white products to reflect everything around them, but without that shine... there's just an empty feeling.
Black, while still an abyss, is an abyss full of something.
White space is necessary to create gaps in content, and to strengthen feelings of relevant colors (like the red underline of the typos I'm making in this text box - makes me feel stupid).
Black space is necessary to make amateur designers feel like they're making something valuable (they're not, though).
Allison Beaumont
The great thing about white space used well is that it gives everything room to breathe, to come to life on its own terms.
Ben
I adore the cliché-ness of this post.
And I'll be calling it black space from now on. "I think you need a little black space in between that text and image!"
MLA
Why the insistance and subsequent approval for such a restrictive and dogmatic notion of creativity? This post is like listening to "my dad go on about how modern music ain't what it used to be" -- please, let's be much more engaged, critical, and inquistive -- let's ask ourselves, "is this really happening?" and if so "why?" and specifically "why now?".
carrie
i love the color white. remember the beastie boys?
"And she said dark is not the opposite of light, It's the absence of light..."
White is the collective effort of the full spectrum. thats why we like it. a rebellion to war? to warming? to flood and fire? a backlash to pessimism?
keep in mind, though, that "Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine." - blackle.com - so thumbs up to abriefmessage.com for this background color choice.
jon
check out Blackle.com
some environmentalists want designers to use black instead of white on screen as it save energy. Which is quite modernist in ethos as they used white space to be more economical (well kind of).
Jack White
A few years ago, Yohji Yamamoto said, "Color makes me tired". Then in a complete turnaround, he added plenty of color including the trendiest orange and further bastardized his line and name with his no talent daughter at the helm.
White is great.
neil
Pentagram returned to white a few years back with their website — pentagram.com — and I think it's still such a great example of pure and simple usefulness. It doesn't seem to me that they were using white to make a statement as many of us younger designers are apt to do (ie, use white or black or some color or another trend or anti-trend to get attention). Just a useful website. Of course, when your Pentagram you don't have to worry about making statements, I suppose.
Alex
Blackle is cute but they don't know what they're talking about, see google's response here.
Job
white is pure, therfore it creates the possibility to create without color influences.
bob jarborfski
wise words, couldnt agree more.
melissa
Oh how I love white!
It is so relaxing and pure. I love the irony of this post on black. LOL!
Now back to my clients site that has far to many colours for my palette, oh well.
- melissa
Matt
I think the shifts toward and away from white could be indicative of designers' goals and moods and reactions to the design-in-business environment. After a decade of day-glo and a disregard for space, white is quite a breath of fresh air, and as such can signify the ushering in of a new era. Maybe Apple's sci-fi approach is a reaction to their very white product line. Maybe their growing market has caused greater confidence somewhere in the design decision chain, and that's behind the showiness? I don't know, but history might. In the future!
LeisureArts
I thought brown was the new white...oh wait that was 2005