Gap’s Sound of Color

Ryan Ebner’s film for Marié Digby’s track Paint Me In Your Sunshine, based on the colour yellow

What is the relationship between sound and colour? It’s a question pondered by psychologists and artists over the centuries, and now, finally, Gap clothing has also entered the debate with their latest project, The Sound of Color.

A branded content campaign which aims to launch Gap’s brightly-coloured Spring 2008 collection through non-traditional means, the Sound of Color saw the clothing company, in conjunction with San Francisco-based production company Rehab, approach five bands and ask them to write a song based on a specific colour. The Blakes, a Seattle-based Indie band, took blue; Dntel, a member of the band The Postal Service, took on red; hip-hop artist/producer Swizz Beats was given green, singer/songwriter Marié Digby yellow, and The Raveonettes opted for black and white.

Once the songs were complete, they were then given to five directors who were asked to create videos to accompany them. While they were requested to reflect the colour associated with each track in their films, the directors were otherwise given a free rein to create the films however they liked, without consultation with the musicians.