The transcript is a conversation about color, its impact on emotions, and the struggle to access it. The speaker, Stewart, is an artist fascinated by color and its ability to change our emotions and state of being. He shares his experience of seeing Van Gogh's sunflowers as a child, which sparked his lifelong passion for pigment.
Stewart's artwork has been exhibited worldwide, but his mission is to make art more accessible and allow people to interact with it. He does this by developing and selling affordable quality paints as part of his non-profit art business. He mixes art and science to create paints that hold color, and he finds the process satisfying.
However, Stewart expresses concern about the difficulty of accessing color in the digital age. He mentions the example of graphic designer Daryl Woods, who pays a monthly fee to use Adobe tools and faces an additional fee to access some digital palettes. Stewart sees this as a problem, as he believes that people should have the freedom to use the materials they need.
Stewart also discusses the commodification of color by big businesses, such as UPS Brown and Home Depot Orange. He mentions that recent changes to Canadian law mean companies can broadly claim a trademark over a color for a range of services, rather than in a specific context like a product or logo. This could potentially be a game-changer, according to intellectual property lawyer Sebastian Beck.
Stewart's first color crusade was against British artist Anish Kapoor, who secured exclusive artistic rights to vanta Black, claiming it to be the darkest surface coating ever made. In response, Stewart teamed up with scientists to create his own affordable version of the color.
Finally, Stewart shares his view on the commodification of color, stating that color exists as a natural phenomenon and cannot be owned. He uses the example of Tiffany's blue to illustrate his point, stating that no one can own an experience that the eyes have when they see something.
1. The text describes a world of color, including powder, paint, bright neons, and branded blues.
2. The speaker explains that color can change our emotions and state of being.
3. The speaker's fascination with color was sparked as a child when his mom took him to London to see Van Gogh's sunflowers.
4. The speaker's artwork has been exhibited around the world, but his calling is to make art accessible and give people a chance to interact with it.
5. The speaker develops and sells affordable quality paints as part of his non-profit art business.
6. The speaker mixes art and science to make the world a bit brighter.
7. The speaker is concerned about the accessibility of color in the digital age, and he dislikes the idea of art or color being gate-kept.
8. The speaker mentions that digital colors are out of reach and now jailed behind a paywall.
9. The speaker shares a story about a graphic designer in Toronto who pays eighty dollars a month to use Adobe tools.
10. The speaker discusses the restricted pallets from the industry Kings of color, Pantone.
11. The speaker mentions that Stewart's free tone palette is free and has been downloaded by around a hundred thousand people.
12. The speaker talks about Stewart's first color crusade and the recent changes to Canadian law that allow companies to broadly claim trademark over a color for a range of services.
13. The speaker mentions that TD Bank is among the businesses applying to trademark its color Pantone 361.
14. The speaker discusses the subjectivity of color and how it can be a fraught issue, especially for colorblind individuals.
15. The speaker mentions that color exists and is a phenomenon of nature, and it cannot be owned.