One of the world’s most beloved suppliers of children’s art supplies has just unveiled a new initiative for promoting an “inclusive world for children of all ages, races, cultures and ethnicities.”
Earlier this week, Crayola launched a new pack of specially formulated “Colors of the World” crayons designed to mirror and represent over 40 global skin tones across the world.
Crayola released the crayon pack on May 21st—the United Nation’s World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development—in hopes that the project would allow children to “creatively and accurately color themselves into the world they see around them.”
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“With the world growing more diverse than ever before, Crayola hopes our new Colors of the World crayons will increase representation and foster a greater sense of belonging and acceptance,” said Crayola CEO Rich Wuerthele in a press release. “We want the new Colors of the World crayons to advance inclusion within creativity and impact how kids express themselves.”
In addition to conducting rigorous consumer testing on developing the crayon colors to reflect an accurate and inclusive skin tone palette, Crayola also partnered with Victor Casale for the project.
Casale, formerly Chief Chemist and Managing Director, R&D of MAC cosmetics and co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Cover FX and currently CEO of MOB Beauty, possesses over 30 years of experience in creating foundation colors for global skin tones.
“I have spent my life trying to create truly global shade palettes because I know what it’s like to be with a person who has finally found their exact match. They feel included and recognized, and I am hoping every child who uses these crayons and finds their shade will have that feeling,” says Casale. “Growing up, I remember mixing the pink and dark brown crayons to try and make my shade, so I was thrilled when Crayola asked for my help to create the Colors of the World crayons.”
For more than eight months, Crayola’s research, development and marketing teams collaborated with Casale to bring the Colors of the World crayons to life, modeling his scientific process for developing inclusive foundation shades.
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Together, Casale and Crayola systematically created crayon colors that step down from light to deep shades across rose, almond and golden undertones, resulting in a 24 global shade palette that authentically reflects the full spectrum of human complexions.
“What intrigued Crayola about Victor was not only his extensive experience in creating shades that capture the natural beauty of every skin tone, but his abiding passion and commitment nurturing inclusion and representation,” says Mimi Dixon, Manager Brand Equity and Activation at Crayola. “His expertise, candor and guidance throughout the development process was invaluable and brings an enhanced level of credibility and authenticity to the Colors of the World product.”
The crayon packs feature side panels that serve as color references while each crayon is wrapped in a gradient skin tone label with the color name in English, Spanish, and French. Additionally, each crayon has been assigned a realistic color name—such as Light Golden, Deep Almond and Medium Deep Rose—all to help kids easily find the shade they identify as their own.
Crayola Colors of the World crayons come in a 24- and 32-count pack and will begin to hit shelves in July for the back to school season.
(WATCH the Crayola video below)
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