"The Spectrum of Us: Why the World Was Never Meant to Be Black and White"

In 1977, Steve Jobs made a design choice that was quietly revolutionary. Tasking Rob Janoff with reimagining Apple’s logo, he insisted on something modern, human, and alive. The result was a bitten apple striped with the full spectrum of colors—a bold departure from the rigid, monochrome aesthetics of early computing. That choice wasn't just about standing out on a shelf. It was a reflection of a worldview: that life, like technology, like humanity, is not binary. It is not black and white. It is color—vivid, diverse, ever-changing.

That logo became more than a brand. It became a philosophy.

Color Is the Language of Life

Color is not just what we see; it’s how we feel. It is the red of passion, the blue of calm, the gold of sunlight and memory. From the earliest cave paintings to the vibrant graffiti of our cities, color has been the most primal and enduring way humans express meaning.

In nature, color is everything. It signals attraction, warning, celebration, and survival. The iridescence of a bird’s feathers, the deep green of forests, the endless shades of the sea—none of these are accidental. They are essential to the fabric of life.

Would a flower be as captivating in black and white? Would the aurora borealis matter if it were simply light and dark? Would a sunset move you if it didn’t bleed across the sky in crimson, rose, and violet?

Diversity Is Not Optional—It’s Fundamental

When Steve Jobs pushed for a rainbow-colored Apple logo, he wasn’t just making a visual choice; he was acknowledging something deeper: that technology—and by extension, the world—is for everyone. Every shade, every stripe, every variation matters.

In society, color represents more than pigment. It represents people, cultures, stories, languages, traditions, identities. When we reduce the world to black and white thinking—us and them, right and wrong, this or that—we erase its complexity. We erase its truth.

Diversity is the palette of civilization. It is what gives depth to our ideas, contrast to our beliefs, nuance to our history, and hope to our future.

That “something” is our corporate identity.It’s something no other company has. It brings immediate credibility and worldwide recognition to everything it adorns. It’s one of the most powerful selling tools in recent history.

Unfortunately, it’s also quite fragile. Easily compromised. And sometimes abused.

Fortunately, Laniakea’s Creative Services team has made it their business to clearly define and strictly enforce our corporate identity. I urge you to follow their standards, and to rely on their expertise.

There’s no gentle way to say it: If we aren’t careful in how we use Laniakea’s identity, we’re certain to lose it.

I’m relying on you to help us preserve that identity. Take a few moments to study.

Seeing in Color Is a Moral Choice

If you were God—omniscient, infinite, a creator of all things—how would you choose to see your creation? Would you choose the grayscale of simplicity, or the full, brilliant spectrum of wonder? Would you want to see only what is obvious, or would you want to witness the subtle, the layered, the extraordinary?

To see the world in black and white is to choose convenience over complexity. But to see in color is to open your soul. It is to choose empathy over judgment, curiosity over fear, and beauty over conformity.

From Technology to Humanity: The Color Revolution

When Apple launched its rainbow logo, it didn’t just humanize a product—it reframed what technology could be. Not a cold tool for the elite, but a colorful bridge between creativity and computing, emotion and logic, art and science. The same principle applies to how we build societies, communities, and futures.

We need to design with the spectrum in mind—policies that include, systems that listen, cultures that welcome, and minds that remain open. A colorful world is not just more beautiful—it’s more just, more intelligent, and more resilient.

Color Is the Future

Today, in an age of polarization, division, and simplification, we must reclaim the wisdom of the spectrum. We must see people not as categories but as compositions. We must move from duality to diversity, from uniformity to unity through difference.

The world has always been full of color. It’s our perception that sometimes dims it. The challenge is not to create color—it is to see it, to honor it, to live it.

Steve Jobs saw that in 1977. He saw that what we build should reflect what we are—not black and white machines, but colorful, evolving beings. And maybe that’s the greatest legacy of that bitten apple: a reminder that the most powerful way to represent humanity is not through limitation, but through color.

There is only one Laniakea logo, and this is it. Its shape must not be altered in any way. Its color bands must exactly match the colors shown here, and must always appear in this order, from top to bottom. Also, the bands must always butt against each other. They do not overlap or bleed together; they are never separated by lines, white space, or other colors. If you're ever tempted to try something creative with this logo—don't. Save your creativity for whatever the logo will be applied to.

Not every budget can allow for the cost of printing the six matched colors that make up the Laniakea logo. For the most economical, full-color logo, use the three-color process. But keep an extra-close watch—differences in printing equipment, inks, and paper can produce varying results. Doing it economically is no excuse for doing it wrong.