This may be the most colorful visualization of history we’ve ever seen! This chart shows every single color of Crayola crayon ever made. Given the company’s long history, that’s an impressive and long list of colors! Over the years they’ve made many special and limited editions sets of crayons, so you may not have realized that the company has made over 400 crayon colors. And yet, it’s true! Since the first set of crayons was made back in 1903 with a simple set of 8 colors, the company has become a childhood staple and experimented with all kinds of different colors, styles, and twists on the wax crayon. You can see it for yourself on the visualization:

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Scanning over these colors is a real trip down memory lane. Crayola doesn’t have all these colors in circulation anymore. You might remember glitter crayons from childhood or the neon set. Or what about scented crayons that smelled good enough to eat? Many people feel nostalgic over the smell of Crayola’s which comes from a substance called stearic acid, which is derived from beef fat. Unfortunately, you can’t buy every color in the graph fresh and new (though plenty of people sell them used for collectors.) Crayola does sell a huge set of 120 crayons for a well-rounded set of what they offer. Only the most avid collectors might experience all 400 colors, but we can come close with the colorful visual of the long history of Crayola!

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the United States is home to 33.2 million small businesses. Combined, these make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses! Here is an even more surprising fact; small businesses were responsible for 63% of all new jobs created between 1995 to 2021. We might imagine that big companies are churning out the jobs, but in reality, America is built on small companies striving to succeed! So what does it take for a small business to thrive in the United States? Many factors play a role, but as with many money matters, location is key. The team at Finfare has created this incredible index to highlight the best and worst states to start a small business. Check it out:

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We love indexes like this! They combine multiple relevant data sets to create a bigger, more insightful picture. This index includes factors such as corporate tax rate, state unemployment tax, LLC fees, average monthly commercial electric bills, minimum wage, commercial spaces for lease, and business survival rates within one year AND five years. All together, these facets create a more trustworthy outlook on the best places for small businesses. If there is a specific factor you want to know more about, there are top five lists below the main chart. I was impressed and surprised that California has a one year business survival rate of 86.8%! I figured that there would be plenty of cutthroat competition there. It drops down to 55.7% after five years, but that is still the third highest!

What color do you associate with success? While this answer may vary significantly depending on where you live (shout out to this fantastic and fascinating guide to colors in culture by David McCandless), it seems that many of the most successful companies in the world are linked with blue. Today we are admiring a bold and vibrant visualization by Wizard Pins! This chart shows colors ranked by how many Fortune 500 company logos they appear in. It is a visual feast that shines a light on color psychology in branding, marketing, and beyond!

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I wonder how long it took the designer to count each color in all 500 logos! So why is blue the most common color for logos? Many brand giants are distinctively associated with blue, such as Walmart, Facebook (now Meta), GM, Ford, LinkedIn, Intel, United, and Pepsi! According to this article by Inc., the “answer is science, not fashion.” Not only is blue a beloved color for branding, it is also the world’s most beloved color of all. According to research by psychologists Stephen E. Palmer and Karen Schloss over the span of seven years, a person’s color preference can be “determined by averaging out how much that person likes all of the objects they associate with that color. Your inclination for orange, for example, depends on how you feel about pumpkins and traffic cones and Cheetos, among other things.” There are many universally cherished things that are blue, such as clear skies and crystalline seas. Most people love a warm, sunny day with sky blue above and sea blue all around. While Walmart’s blue logo might not evoke the bliss of a balmy beach outing, it may unconsciously stir a sense of goodness and stability.