News

Jul 23, 2023

Technicolour dreamscape: using paint to expand the Porsche story

To help mark 75 years of sports cars, Porsche’s brand creatives turned to a palette as bold and distinctive as the company itself. Uniting Porsche’s varied international anniversary celebrations in

To help mark 75 years of sports cars, Porsche’s brand creatives turned to a palette as bold and distinctive as the company itself.

Uniting Porsche’s varied international anniversary celebrations in 2023 has been the eye-catching use of some very familiar colours. It’s part of a unique vision brought to life by the Brand Communications Department in Zuffenhausen to reflect the courage and innovation at the heart of the Porsche philosophy.

“For the 75th anniversary we looked back of course, but we also looked to the future,” explains Jürgen Aigner, one of the lead creatives behind the project. “And we wanted to bring all this together, involving all of Porsche’s markets and subsidiaries, from the Museum and Exclusive Manufaktur to the international Porsche clubs and fans of the brand. So, for 2023 we rolled out the concept of ‘Driven by Dreams’, communicating our brand purpose as our motto.”

Ferry Porsche famously stated that, unable to find the car of his dreams, he decided to build it for himself, and this ambition and determination has been carried through the 75 years of Porsche sports cars to become a defining part of the company’s future vision. The challenge for Aigner and his team was to articulate this through a series of striking visuals that could be shared and explored by Porsche Centres, agencies and partners around the world. And Porsche’s brave colour choices over the decades seemed to offer the answer, perfectly exemplifying a willingness to dream and desire to innovate.

The starting off point for Aigner was a series of eight ‘hero’ Porsche colours, from Speed Yellow and Ruby Stone to Lava Orange, Neptune Blue and Forest Green. Each colour was then united with an iconic car from Porsche’s past or present and transposed into an individual and highly textural setting to help convey the particular characteristics associated with that shade.

There followed a series of even more artistic concepts, including a 356 celebrating the early colour Strawberry Red with a distinctive candy swirl and an unforgettable fried egg design – a playful nod to the controversial headlight shape applied to the 996 generation of 911. The 992 Turbo S flagship was also depicted in the midst of a kaleidoscope of historic and modern Porsche colours, capturing the essence of a project the team would call ‘Dream in full colour’.

“Everything we do has to be absolutely authentic to the brand,” Aigner continues, “and Porsche has always been colourful, with these distinctive shades across the decades. ‘Dream in full colour’ reflects not only Porsche’s vibrant choice of colours but also its courage and innovation over the years. Colours became a proxy for Porsche’s bravery in our communications, simply because no other sports car company has dared use such a bright and varied palette.”

The ‘Dream in full colour’ programme was successfully rolled out around the world, helping countless initiatives with a recognisable and memorable theme realised in wraps, decals, displays and backdrops alongside numerous digital campaigns. In China, the Shanghai Skyline was illuminated in the themed colours, the first such event for an automotive brand in the city’s history, while numerous markets created special cars and exhibition spaces with their own creative takes on the initial concept. Personal stories tied to individual colours have also been collated on a special 75th anniversary landing page alongside inspirational films and digital artworks.

“It’s not about selling cars, but creating feelings,” Aigner says. “The images we created were open to interpretation and designed to encourage people to create their own stories around them. That’s where the idea of dreaming in full colour comes in. Being driven and not being afraid. Those who turn their dreams into reality make the world a richer, bolder and more colourful place.”

Visit www.porsche.com/75years from where you can download ‘Dream in full colour’ artworks as desktop and mobile wallpapers.