COLOR IN MODEL BOX ART - The use of color psychology in designing model box tops.

Ever wonder why model covers look the way they do? This video explains what goes into the design and production of model box art.
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[@maxsmodels]

I have been waiting for this one. Wonderful presentation. Thanks Mike.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Your suggestion inspired this one Max - many thanks!

[@maxsmodels]

@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks to you sir.

[@wkelly3053]

I had never realized the significance of the colors red, yellow, and blue, nor had I made the conscious connection that so many different logos used them, yet I have recognized it without thinking since I was a child. I guess that was the whole point.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks, and yes, I was surprised myself while researching this video. Every single model company logo used at least two of those three colors!

[@tgmccoy1556]

Loved that SNJ kit many years ago..

[@stephenmiller9124]

Mike, I have loved each of the many aviation presentations you have posted. This one really grabbed me! You combine an art lesson with insight into advertising and marketing with the focus on the plastic model aircraft hobby. For a first wave Baby Boomer, like me, with a 65 year history of building plastic model kits...this video represents a grand slam home run! Thank you for the nostalgic look back and your lifelong interest in celebrating aviation.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks Stephen, and we are indeed part of the same generation. Appreciate the comment!

[@johnplaninac9980]

Another great video the model boxes with all vibrant color takes one back when there were still hobby stores, you could go to.

[@glennweaver3014]

Excellent art lesson Mike. I learned a lot and gained new insight into the evocative box art that captured me as a young modeler and still to this day brings a smile and good feeling anytime I see it. Thank you.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks Glenn, and it's been an exquisite experience talking with you about all these covers over the years. They are forever etched into our memories from those magical hobby shops on Long Island!

[@adamhay2798]

Another super video, Mike! Some, but certainly not all of the art work you have showcased here would certainly make it convoluted for most young modellers to paint their models. Most kids back in the day would paint to match the box since there was not as much reference material available.

[@justsnappy]

The box was my template in the 80’s.

[@adamhay2798]

@@justsnappy In the 80's you were OK with following the box. Models of that era had either pictures of the actual subject, actual model or realistic box art. The days of stylized art work were long over by then for the most part.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Great point Adam, thanks!

[@chrispacer4231]

FROM... MAXSMODELS... box art always sold me...YES , REVELL , MONOGRAM were my early models kits I bought... I still look for those kits when can... enjoyed this video CHRIS from OHIO

[@viksaini]

It's interesting to draw parallels between aviation model kit box art and aviation magazine covers. There was a British magazine that was briefly published about 20 years ago called "Air Action". It used garish color covers to attract the younger crowd, but it appears that it did not last too long. Did any of the same model kit box artists of '50s and '60s also contribute to magazine covers of the day? In those days, the front cover was probably the only part of the magazine that was in color!

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Great question Vik, and yes, it was Jo Kotula who was just as well known for his countless MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS magazine covers as his equally colorful and dramatic Aurora model box covers.

[@viksaini]

@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Great artwork on those boxes. I enjoyed the video and remember way back when that the artwork sold the kit. The picture drew your attention and then you said "wow what a neat kit". When they went to photos of built models the excitement of looking over the boxes was lost. Glad they have returned to the illustrations on the boxes. Back then it was just a painting, but now we recognize it as art. Looking forward to the next video. P.S. Is there a "museum' that houses a lot of this artwork?

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks Garfield, and although there's no actual museum for model box art, there's BoxArtDen.com - great folks over there dedicated to modeling history.

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks. I will check it out.

[@jakobbgh6310]

THANKS :-) For a very well told story of those color boxes. I have learned a lot. They are so special. Naive and they swallow your eyes

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Appreciate the comment, thanks!

[@utubejdaniel8888]

Very interesting blast from the past.

[@justsnappy]

More excellent content!

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks - appreciate the comment!

[@stenic2]

It is so relaxing to watch your episodes, I am 54 but when I was a child I was a nerd for airplane kits, we had mostly airfix and matchbox kits in Europe then , but boxart pictures were the real draw. The only pity was once the plane was finished it didn’t resemble the boxart.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Belated thanks for a wonderful comment! (Not sure why I never saw this one before, but great stuff!)

[@millopguy]

Love your design studies and insights.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks Guenther - great to have you aboard!

[@davegaracci1043]

Great video- love box art and save most of mine now. At 3:00, I believe you mean 'saturation' of the color - which is its intensity. Hue refers to the position of the color on a color wheel or spectrum, ie red green or blue. Or at least thats how I refer to it.

[@douglasw.7864]

This really hits home from my days taking art lessons. As always, another great video Mike.

[@johnbockelie3899]

Actually if the air craft carrier was grey, the plane on the box art wouldn't show up.

[@dmflynn962]

Thank you for a neat video. I often wondered why 50s box art was so strange. Now the question is why did it evolve to more realistic colors in the 60s? John Steel and Jack Leynwood had many blue on blue paintings. Steel's Aurora Wildcat is awesome as is Leynwood's PB4Y and 1/32 Wildcat. Thanks again.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Good observations!

[@martinpennock9430]

Another great video from Mike Machat. As a boy 8 9 10 12 years old I never really thought about the box art much until now and guess what you were right it did make a difference to me. In another comment we talked about a helicopter model and I'm sure that that bright orange box art I believe was probably the reason that I bought it. God bless and again have a great day and all the best to all of you and your family.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Many thanks Martin, and all the best to you as well. Appreciate your watching the channel!

[@danf321]

You’ve mentioned this before about the box top for the Boeing 707, but I always get alarmed when I see the background 707 that looks like it’s doomed to crash🤔

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Agreed!

[@PlasticImaginationWorkshop]

This was super interesting. I never realized how much went in to the design and colors of the art. Suddenly I want to change the colors on the cover of my book from blue, black and yellow to red, yellow and blue.... Thanks and have a great day.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Belated thanks for your great comment! (Not sure why I never saw this one before, but great stuff!)

[@marcshroetter6083]

Some of my favorite box art of model airplanes were the two done by aurora of the Me 109 and the focke wulf 190 , I had many of revell 1/72 kits that I bought just for the box art

[@jetsons101]

At 10:20 talk about detail look at the spent shell casings coming out of the ME-262. Another great video....... THANKS

[@arodrigues2843]

Hi, Mike.!! Here I am. Allways good stuff. Thanks you. I still have ALL the kits and boxes, with the instructions sheets, sprues, and all the leftovers of the kits inside.!! Am I a lucky guy, or a conservative person.?? Cheers mate, and keep up the good work.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

I saved all those classic covers as well!

[@williamscoggin1509]

Something I noticed also you may cover later in the video is on the C-130 we're the aircraft reaches basically almost all four sides of the box top, which physically makes you look at everything everywhere pulling your eyes around Just like you're really there you have to look up and you look back towards the tail and down in the direction of where the wheels are and to the left. Plenty of places for your mind to go. I especially notice this in this stiletto box shop where the plane goes all the way from the left edge to the right edge into the daylight while coming out of the dark hanger activity going on you see you looking down and underneath and passed buildings and things as you look kind of up and over and beyond the plane. It invites your mind to wander around.

[@twerk421]

Very informative video w some amazing artwork! It reminds me of my days in art school learning color theory from some great illustrators like Baron Storey and Vince Perez. One thing i learned was never to paint w pure black but to mix a dark blue w burnt umber instead. If you had to use a Mars black always mix it w whatever colors are in your pallete. My testors 1:48 HABU for example, was shot w a black made up of tan, navy blue, ghost grey, rust mixed w flat black in varying shades and tones. Another rule of thumb was to use yellow instead of white for lighter shades and that the whites of the eyes and teeth are no brighter than brightest white used within the palette. Great stuff!

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Belated thanks for a wonderful and informative comment! (Not sure why I never saw this one before, but great stuff!)

[@plantfeeder6677]

Believe it or not....color may or may not have attracted me to a certain model. But what I feel did was the overall artwork and the scene it depicted. I.e....Revell and Airfix were my two most favorite models...not because of the kits themselves but because those two companies in 1960-1967 had the greatest Box Art. Especially their 1/72 WWII series. These weren't just an artists view of just the plane but were actual action scenes painted by some of the finest aviation artists in history. And VERY accurately. The colors were real. The scenes were real and that is what caught this 10 year old kid's imagination and made me empty my pockets to buy the kit. Now I'm going to watch the video and see how they tap danced in my head. But up above is how I truly reacted to those models. I can remember to this day the feelings inside me looking at all those wonderful kits over 50 years ago.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Great comment, thanks!

[@MiKeMiDNiTe-77]

Cheers for another informative and fun video

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Many thanks!

[@laMoort]

matchbox boxarts with their late scheme of black boxes with colored stripes were probably the most alluring for me.

[@johnaitken7430]

I was taought that hue was similar to colour, positioning on colour wheel or spectrum..that saturation or chroma was intensity?

[@thegriff743]

Maybe you could do a video of why the artwork was replaced by a photo. I know it was related to truth in advertising rule. Did the model companies fight back against the change ? When I was a kid I use to save the box art after building the model, it was like getting two products for the price of one.

[@thetreblerebel]

You being an aircraft or aviation commercial artist, the portrayal of an object is everything I bet! The aircraft is not gonna sell if it doesn't look good

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Yes, agreed 100%!

[@thegriff743]

Thanks!

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thank you for supporting the channel - very greatly appreciated!

[@masudashizue777]

Later, there were model kit boxes with photos of the actual item (usually a car) or of the completed models, but to me they never had the attraction of a well-drawn illustration.

[@johnaitken7430]

The snj works as we know the shape already, so only need a cue to see it

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Good point - agreed!

[@wkelly3053]

Mike, this is unrelated, but is it true that when Republic Aircraft went out of business, that much of its commercial research and design archives were thrown in the trash? I had heard that.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Thanks for the question, and yes, this is partially true. Announcement of the closure of Fairchild Republic's Farmingdale plant (made without any warning) rippled throughout the company at noontime on a Friday in October 1987. Employees were told to turn in all their company tools and equipment and vacate the premises. Much material wound up in dumpsters, but thankfully, much was also saved and moved to the Cradle of Aviation Museum at the former Mitchel Field in Garden City. It was indeed a very sad time on Long Island and the end of an era of the entire aviation industry. Counting the Seversky airplanes, Republic's plant had been there for more than 50 years!

[@wkelly3053]

@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Had no idea that museum existed. Amazing. Will have to visit when things begin to open up. Thanks!

[@nathanbond8165]

I love those old Ravel 1960s box art illustrations I could collect the boxes even if they didn't have the kit in them something that is very apparent and obvious if you look at those revelle box art displaying the military jets it's very patriotic I love the fact that Revell has the red white and blue quasi flag logo next to it the box art is the pictures are patriotic and dynamic and scream American Proud of course we know Ravel is now owned by a German company but back in the day they used to be an American company and I like how the military models back in the day really we're very proudly promoting these military machines and patriotism you look at enough of these revelle box art you want to go join the Air Force LOL

[@chuck9987]

F-11F-1 canopy is open? Just before he (hopefully) grabs a wire on landing. Was this deliberate?

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Yes Chuck, Navy pilots of that early jet era flew the launch and trap on carriers with canopies open to prevent jamming and entrapment if the jet went over the deck and into the water. A carry-over from World War II OPS as well.

[@chuck9987]

@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks, I had seen photo's of cold cat shot/engine flameouts on launches off the bow and how those were extremely dangerous as the carrier would run you over, possibly before you even hit the water. It's astounding that something as big and heavy as a carrier can move that fast. The only photo I've seen of a carrier landing with the canopy open was the A-6 incident where something malfunctioned and the 2nd seater was partially ejected and his chute was wrapped up in the tail control surfaces. I guess I am more surprised that the NAVY didn't squawk about the illustration. It's not like it's a convertible and he's flying around with the top down! Wow, that is so cool. Yeah I do that in case I have to get out of Dodge in a hurry in case something goes wrong.

[@mpetersen6]

The blue or pink of baby's birth is up for question now (at least in some peoples minds). That model companies sales departments may have used color to invoke psychological responses to boost sales is no surprise. Does anybody really think that automotive companies in their advertising choose the worst color paint for the vehicle. In the glory days of print advertising the images chosen were always something that provoked a pleasant response. If the State of Hawaii was promoting tourism the images would be of romantic sunsets, fun at the beach or other such activities. Instead of sitting in Honolulu traffic, schlepping trough the airport or diner with 500 of your closest friends (do NOT ever go on one of those dinner cruises).

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Great comment and interesting info, thanks!

[@jeffreywilliams144]

When the end of box top art came to a sad end, what became of the brilliant artists?

[@mpetersen6]

They probably went on to do other commercial work.

[@KNUTE65]

Sorry for misspelling of your name😉

[@lrg3834]

I'm just curious, Mike. How much did model manufacturers, like Revell, pay artists for box art back-in-the-day? Seems like a lot of work, and they have so many different models.

[@celebratingaviationwithmik9782]

Great question, and prices for professional artists were governed by the Society of Illustrators based on usage, with box art generally costing in the $1,500-2,500 range depending on size and complexity. (That's in 1960s dollars, so adjust for inflation today.) The artwork, however, was produced very rapidly, and usually under tight deadline. At the peak of the industry, box artists were making one painting per-week. Thanks for watching!

[@lrg3834]

@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 , thanks for the reply. Not cheap, but well worth it. If it's anything to you, box art was definitely a draw for me in deciding what to buy. In fact, I never got around to building many of the models I bought! Had the model manufacturers offered empty boxes for storage purposes, I'd would've bought quite a few.

[@mpetersen6]

Years ago the US Navy did research on colors because they realized with nuclear subs being able to stay submerged for months the environment these men would be would have a major effect on their performance.

[@nathanbond8165]

I know that in my early model building years when I was a early teenager I was definitely influenced as to the model that I was going to buy by how cool the box art was now as a Master model builder well I build subjects that I like I still like cool box art but it's really not going to compel me to buy a model that I I have no intentions of building but definitely as a youth box art and how colorful and action filled the box art was influenced my purchasing habits I also think the worst thing model companies did in the '90s was to start just presenting a complete built model of the kit on the box with a white background the problem with this is that you're showing the customer just how poorly detailed and crappily made your model kit is LOL something that the cool old days of the action box art hid from the customer

[@davidsmithson9236]

Hue gotta be Kiddin’ me. This artwork is garish and loud, of course the kits jump off the shelves. They appeal to a kid the same way television cartoons do. Not subtle, but that was the style. The purpose was to sell model kits (or toys, or cereal), not make fine art.

[@wkelly3053]

I would agree in some cases, yet I am far from being a youngster, and quite a few of these look pretty “fine” to me. I would hang a Jack Leynnwood illustration anywhere in my house. Sometimes what qualifies as fine art can be a bit ho-hum.

[@maxsmodels]

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