The power of purple
When we named our agency back in 1993, we were looking for a word that would stand the test of time. One that didn’t sit on the fence. Never compromised. What better then than a simple, bold colour? Purple.
Where other colours blend in, purple shouts loud. It explained our ethos: create work that piques interest, fascinates.
Arguably, the best thing about choosing a provocative colour for a name isn’t just what it means for us, it’s the colour purple’s idea-starting, spine-tingling history. So, we looked into some of the reasons it’s so powerful, and here’s what we found:
Tyrian Purple is a dye so rare and valuable, it was worth its weight in gold. It came into being when the city of Tyre in Lebanon began producing purple dye made from the mucus of local sea snails. It was so well sought after, Julius Caesar was known to have a purple toga made with this precious dye. The sea snails still live there to this day.
Purple is the colour of creativity, imagination, wisdom and ambition, among other things. All the things we like to think we have by the Purple bucketload.
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.” Alice Walker, The Color Purple. What a ground-breaking novel and film starring Oprah Winfrey and Whoopie Goldberg to name a few.
Samuel L. Jackson said that he would only play Mace Windu in Star Wars if he had a purple lightsaber.
“All the other colours are just colours, but purple seems to have a soul. Purple is not just a noun and an adjective but also a verb – when you look at it, it’s looking back at you.” Uniek Swain. No, we don’t know who that is either, but it’s a great quote.
Leonardo Da Vinci meditated in purple light and look what he achieved by doing it! Apparently, his work was ten times more powerful if done while sitting in the violet light, shining through a ‘stained glass window’.
Nero, the one who liked poisoning family members, had a famous bathtub. It was made from a special marble – highly prized because of its purple colour. There was only one mine in Egypt that produced Imperial Porphyry so a lot of work went into hauling it over to Rome and its rarity was renowned. It’s still on show at the Vatican to this day. That’s one ambitious bathtub.
In the US, the Purple Heart is one of the highest honours for bravery in military service. Bravery and creativity come hand in hand in our view. For clients and creatives, if you want to stand out, it’s important to take risks.
Mayfair resident, Jimi Hendrix’s most successful album was ‘Purple Haze’. And curiously, there’s some debate as to whether Mayfair is purple or blue on the Monopoly board. We’re gravitating to purple, because, why not?
When we decided on the name of our agency back in the 90s, Gary suggested, "Something simple and bold. Like a colour." Our friend Maxine (ex-Preston alumni) was writing a thesis on colour, and said “Purple’s the colour of creativity and people either love or hate it. Perfect for you lot!”
Turns out, we landed on a colour that at first seemed like a simple enough concept. But actually, it’s just as multifaceted as we are. The rest is history as they say. Or Purple.
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