Shopping in the Home Depot “tool corral” the other day, I began to wonder if I hadn’t accidentally wandered into a bee hive. Why is yellow and black the predominant color scheme in the tool department? I think it goes back to 1944 when, in an effort to reduce industrial accidents among the new and inexperienced wartime workforce, color expert and writer, Faber Birren developed a new safety color code. According to this color code:
“Yellow (or yellow and black bands) is standard to mark strike-against, stumbling, or falling hazards. It is painted on obstructions, low beams, dead ends, the edges of platforms and pits…”
Yellow and black has become the de facto, manly standard for hand tools & power tools packaging. In some cases companies have had to fight for the right to use these colors in their trademarks. In 1999 Stanley and DeWalt were embroiled in trademark infringement litigation over the use of “yellow and black”. (more photos after the jump)
It’s easy to see what they like about it. A bright and graphic, attention-getting combination that also stands for safety.
The borrowed glamour of he-man occupations… (like road work and
highway safety). Orange is also used in a lot of tool packaging and it
has the same virtues, but yellow & black is still the most in
evidence.
This line of Stanley screwdrivers caught my eye for several reasons, none of which were stylish graphics.
Tool Silhouettes
I was amused by the tool silhouettes on the 10-pack card. It was a pretty common practice for dads in the
1960’s to hang their entire tool collection on a peg board wall in the
garage and spray paint the whole wall—tools and all—leaving a silhouetted indication of exactly where each tool should
always be put back.
Value Added?
On closer inspection, I realized something else. Part of the
packaging—the plastic that holds the screwdrivers onto the card—is not
just packaging. It’s a value-added feature! The customer is meant to
carefully remove the plastic rack and install it onto a wall where
the tools can be kept handy.
Okay, I thought, that makes sense for the 10-pack, but how much value does it really add to the 2-pack? Who needs to install a special “storage
rack” to hold up 2 screwdrivers?
Siamese Twins
Then I noticed something else. Some of the 2-packs had a ragged
perforated edge on the left. Some of the 2-packs had a perforated edge
on the right. Product was identical, but there was a left hand and right hand version of the package! Apparently, they were deliberately packaged as one to be later cut into two.
You can see how the plastic was also cut. I’m sure there’s some
efficient, money-saving reason for this, but I don’t yet know what it is. If anyone knows why this was done, would you please comment? I would love to understand it better.
