Kurt's Thoughts

With the announcement around the Zune-branded media player, the most arbitrary question I get asked is, "Why brown?"  The Zune media players are being made available in Black, White and Brown… but why brown?

Well, the answer is a lot simpler than you might think.  Here’s a clip from Fashion Era online magazine talking about fashion trends for this year:

New Colours for Autumn Winter 2006/7 Fashion Trends

As autumn 2006 settles down, colour fashion trends for fall 2006/7 reveal that warm earthen tones and natural materials gain appeal as women shop for new clothes.

The strongest colours in this palette are golds, reds and violas.

In autumn 2006 the colours for apparel are firmly in accord with nature.  Traditional earthy tones with sun dried rich ochre and terracotta tones gain ground.  Women’s clothes the colour of pollen, honey, scorched gold, burnt earth and fox hues, meander amid a few livelier more shocking tones. Expect surprise with the jewel colours of purple and vibrant rich ruby red.  Urban charcoal greys are enlivened with splashes of the brighter tones and look new because many materials have glazes.  All the images below enlarge.

With both greys and gold tones found in pebbles and stones so currently fashionable, either silver grey or golden metals make a good AW (Autumn Winter) 06/07 choice for jewellery or accessory trims.  Golden sequins, paillettes and beads, shimmer and glimmer on fabrics that appear to look like molten gold and sheets of liquid glistening glass.  Gold is one of the season’s hottest looks.  I’m sure you will find gold dresses and jackets in every autumn range.

(Read the rest of the article here.) 

What a surprise.  From a fashion perspective, the color brown works great with gold, honey and the terracotta pallet. White and black are your all time "won’t miss the boat by much" colors, but brown is a color that matches with fall and winter’s fashionable colors.  If you find yourself scoffing at this attention to detail, remember that much of Apple’s reputation is based on their attention to style.

We’re just trying to get both style & substance into Zune.