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by Andi Garavaglia on 1.10.2012 in Company News 0

’Tis the Season. As I peered out my car windows, I saw shops adorned in red and green, lampposts draped with gleaming lights and a landscape I wish was blanketed in white. These hues served as reminders that I was behind on my Christmas shopping, that eggnog should be added to the grocery list and that radio stations had most likely devoted air time to nothing but carols. Theoretically, color is nothing more than my brain’s delineation of various light wavelengths; realistically, though, its interpretation extends far beyond the occipital lobe’s borders. Color has the power to define a season, to influence decisions and even to alter mood; to color a picture is to assign its personality.

If you have followed my colorful ramblings to this point, you are probably wondering who the heck I am and why I’m broadcasting my polychromatic musings. Both are fair questions. My name is Andi Garavaglia and I am the newest Assistant Account Executive here at Brighton. I was a psychology major—hence the brain hemisphere reference—with a minor in marketing, and am looking forward to combining these interests in the advertising realm. During my first weeks I have already encountered one commonality between my education and my work: color’s influential role in visual stimuli interpretation.

Although I studied color’s importance with respect to Rorschach tests and retail store atmospherics, I had not considered how it resonated on a global scale. I never suspected that the years in my life could each be encapsulated in a single shade. Every year since the new millennium, Pantone®, the original color metric, has selected a color that defines the coming year’s zeitgeist. Color experts have scoured popular media, fashion, art and music looking for a common color denominator. Their final selection must be salient across all of these industries while accenting some pervasive truth about the times. The votes have been cast and the color of 2012 is decided: allow me introduce you to Tangerine Tango.  Tangerine Tango was chosen because it is a sophisticated tone laced with drama and sensuality. Orange, according to the experts, has recently gained prominence with designers and consumers. A deep orange is described as an exciting color, one that denotes an intense emotion, whether positive or negative. This is a logical descriptor for the past year, which has ushered in massive, grass roots changes across the globe. There is little doubt that more changes on this scale are on the way in 2012.

My pre-Brighton understanding of color might have been deemed naïve by devotees of color,  but I was familiarized in my first weeks when tasked with the redesign of my team’s hallway. I was introduced to Pantones and swatches as I tried to mediate a discussion centered on the walls’ paint colors. Regardless of design experience or enthusiasm for the project, every person had an opinion on this crucial point. In advertising, color must be given priority in all creative or strategic decisions. Brighton has not belittled its importance. Our logo is indicative of the agency’s appreciation for color. While it isn’t Tangerine Tango, the dark orange that borders our letterheads still embodies the spirit of this office. For me, the orange of Brighton has already heralded massive changes. Life at Brighton has been exciting and intense, keeping a pace embodied by our signature color. While it may be the season for red and green, 2012 appears to be the year for orange, and I am excited to be here at Brighton, ready to face the changes this new year will bring.

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