What "brown" has done for UPS

It's practically a mantra among color experts: Color is cyclical.

For proof of that — and another example of choosing color based on its associations — look no further than brown, which had its own strong connection to Seattle long before Howard Schultz took his first sip of coffee.

Executives for shipping company UPS settled upon brown for the company's trucks in 1919, when the company was still based in Seattle.

Brown was practical, required little upkeep and was a conservative color. But the company also picked the color because of its high-class association with Pullman railroad cars, said UPS spokeswoman Diana Hatcher.

"At that time, Pullman was a symbol of style, elegance and first-class attractiveness and it gave the UPS fleet a dignified, business-like appearance," she said.

Drivers started wearing brown uniforms in 1925, and now the brown uniform and truck are unmistakable (and the shade of brown is trademarked). But UPS still wanted to drive the point home and in 2002 started a marketing campaign featuring the slogan, "What can brown do for you?"

"It has an organic quality and a timeliness and a timelessness about it," said Sylvie Hamel, UPS' manager of identity and design. "As a color it has no boundaries."

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com