apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I thought that was Tiffany blue.

Bad referral post on those 'book wrappers.'

Source: http://www.mysterywesterntheory.com/valeriemadill/index.php?/project/looking-at-libraries-say-it-well/

It's a grad project, rethinking the academic library labeling system, extending those little white stickers into a much more informative wrapper.

Yeah, I don't know how I feel about Martha Stewart and Macy's trying to appropriate Tiffany blue. Leave that torch alone.

Yeah, boo. I'll give Martha the jadeite green color because she had it so long. But I've been cheesed since that Macy's line came out that she's trying to claim Tiffany blue also.

At first glance, I thought those book wrappers were the "obi" strips of paper that one finds on newly released books (and CDs) in Japan...

Interesting topic. This color blue is the color I'm currently using throughout my hm. and I agree sprite, tiffany blue it is.
Loving that yellow room. Just not brave enough to use it. I tire of bright colors so quickly but love seeing others use it. Especially in such a bold way.

Interesting. I'd say it was Tiffany blue too, and considering that the Tiffany Co actually has a TRADEMARK on that blue, she shouldn't be allowed to use it. I'm serious, they trademarked it so others couldn't use that exact Pantone shade of blue.

I believe the Tiffany color has a more greenish tealish hue to it! I find it interesting that this color is now associated with higher end products.

That's funny kmad, I would have said these are greener than the tiffany blue, and also clearer and darker.

As for trademarking a specific shade of blue, that doesn't mean the blue right next to it or above it. Which means that technically, Martha Stewart can trademark any blue she likes except that exact one. This more or less reminds me of her eggs or even her weddings. That's an association with jewelry right there, but also of kitchen appliances (registry).

I think people have liked tiffany blue a while, it's pretty, and they want some kitchen appliances apparently. That's not "high-end" per se, but if one were filling out a wish list like a wedding registry, ordinary stuff just won't do. I wouldn't associate Macy's kitchen appliances with Tiffany even if they're near the same color, but it's probably going to be a big success because people have been taking the tiffany color, or any color blue they decide is close enough, in their kitchens for at least a decade.

I like a pink and red kitchen myself, but I don't see what the ruckus is here, except that she is trying to brand a color "Martha Stewart blue" and not just put out a line of blue appliances this season that's basically a robin's egg blue. If Tiffany wants to own robin's egg blue and call it Tiffany blue, Martha Stewart can do so as well because they're two different.

I think the color is greener than Tiffany blue also.

Also - to trademark a color - it really only applies to your industry. So Tiffany's trademark would cover jewelry and china and silver... so they could argue for "homegoods" or "tabletop" and say some of Martha's stuff was infringement, but unless Martha starts selling diamonds - I doubt they would get very far.

Much of trademark law is to protect the consumer for buying goods that they think are Tiffany's and actually getting an inferior product because the got confused by the color box. The other side of that is to protect the company's brand cachet and positive associations.

You cannot just TM a color so it yours for ever and ever for everything.

Um, I wouldn't call the Tiffany-blue-thing a 'ruckus', per se, nor do I really care about the legalese of trademarking. It's just sad for nostalgia purposes. End of an era? The Martha Stewart icon replacing the Tiffany icon, and what those enterprises signify for their respective periods...? (Actually, that could be a really interesting reflection, a la consumerism pre and post feminism.)

Okay, not a ruckus. Over-reactive sentimental, probably no cause for alarm? Tiffany blue is still Tiffany blue, and people have been trending this color field in their kitchens for a long time. This we can relate to the story I just posted again about the pink kitchens. Pink was so "IT" some time ago, some magazine just swung it out of the park, and it stuck. People started to love anything that came in pink, and there you have breast cancer research. A feminine/feminist power cause. Men aren't going to buy pink kitchen appliances and measuring spoons and can openers, but women who love pink would! Raise money by appealing to people who love pink by making everything they might buy pink.

This is just like that except without the disease, unless you want to call Martha Stewart kind of one. People desire the color to accessorize their kitchen. The association with the color to one company and not even the sky or the ocean is bigger than that company? End of an era, pshaw. People like it, it's just a color and now they can buy things in it, from the person who thought wow, nobody capitalized on this yet?

Agree to disagree, KTG. I know, it's just a color. It's just capitalism. I get it. But the cultural history, the narratives, the stories and experiences that accompany trends in design matter to me. What's wrong with sentiment? Is historic preservation just sentimentality? For me, Martha commandeering an icon of American style is parallel to the demise of the old, elegant, downtown department stores, replaced with sprawling suburban box malls. I'm not campaigning to save Tiffany blue. It is what it is.