With Apple perched so high on the branding pedestal, it is always interesting to see the next design choice that they make. Wether it be, phasing out products with color, adding texture to their TV Spots or as we have discussed already, bringing black back into their laptop (and iPod) lineup.

I know I am not the first to notice, but it is interesting to see how Apple has influenced the computer/electronics industry with their “iPod white”. While few do white successfully, it is at least less oppressive than black and not nearly as boring as the long gone beige/putty. After doing a little informal research on Amazon, I can’t claim that white is the complete color of choice for the industry, but it is definitely making a strong presence behind the now ubiquitous silver.

While white is the obvious choice for iPod related products, I find it a cheap solution for corporations to use white to make their own product look a little more sophisticated. With so many imitators, maybe Apple has no other choice but to set the new standard. For the visual landscape, I would actually prefer the cheap white imitations that are coming out right now, rather than the PC and stereo market jumping back to their visually oppressive black box days.

For obvious reasons, the white trend is more prevalent in the small stereo/radio market. Much of the computer market is still silver or dark grey, but an occasional iMac imitation pops up here and there. On a side note, a few of the products below might actually be light grey or silver, but I included them because of they are portrayed as white rather than their actual color. White must sell.

In reference to her Public Theatre design being used as a cliche in New York, Paul Scher says … “There is simply a finite amount of time one can do the same thing without both the design and the designer becoming stale.” With this in mind, maybe Apple should move away from white … or can they keep redesigning their products, throw in a little black and still stay as fresh as ever? You be the judge.