Crayola unveils new, brilliant blue color for 24-count crayon box
Crayola's new blue crayon is inspired by the YInMn pigment discovered at Oregon State University in 2009. It will replace Dandelion, the bright yellow hue that the company is retiring. (Patrick Shuck/Crayola)
(FoxNews.com) - After years cheerfully sitting among its colorful cohorts, Crayola’s Dandelion crayon has been replaced by a brilliant blue color that was discovered by Oregon State University scientists accidentally.
Now there’s just one problem.
It doesn’t have a name.
According to USA Today, Mas Subramanian, an Oregon State University chemist, discovered the color with his then-grad student, Andrew E. Smith. In 2009, the two were heating up various chemicals “in hopes of finding new materials that could be used in electronics.” The bright blue shade appeared when Smith removed a mix of compounds from the lab’s furnace.
Currently, the blue shade is known to the scientists as “YInMn”—a nickname derived from the chemical elements that create it: yttrium, indium, manganese and oxygen.
“With the discovery of YInMn brand new pigment, who other than Crayola would be best to bring it to life?” Leena Vadaketh, Crayola’s VP of Research & Development, North America, told USA Today.
Despite the fact that Crayola removed a yellow hue from the classic box in March, Vadaketh says the company chose a cool blue hue because consumer polling has consistently demonstrated that blue “has been American’s favorite color" time and time again.
Read the full story on FoxNews.com.