Colouring in for grown-ups: an unexpected analogue success story
It was on a business trip in Belgium, early in 2015, that I first noticed them.
I was browsing a newsagents at the airport, killing time prior to boarding and vaguely drawn to English language magazines to look at, when I came across something fascinating. A small collection of colouring books… But not for kids, these. The books I was looking at were clearly aimed at the grown-up market.
Very much a female market it appeared, I saw intricate flower and leaf patterns, nature and ornamentation. One of them was sold with a small box of coloured pencils attached, clearly acknowledging that this was such an emergent phenomena that most adults might not be expected to have brought their own colouring equipment. I toyed with the idea of treating myself to this title, complete with the means to colour it in attached… But the designs didn’t specially appeal, and anyway it felt a bit strange even picking it up to look at. Colouring in, but for grown-ups? Surely THAT will never catch on…
Sat on the plane home, I remember thinking slightly wistfully of that colouring book. Had to be a Belgian thing, right? And would I sit here, on the little tray table, with my box of pencils…? I knew it worked to help keep my little girl quiet on many a journey, but how about me as a grown-up, would I actually do it, sat next to OTHER grown-ups? Never mind, I didn’t expect to see such a thing again, and gave it not that much thought.
The behavioural economists I work with in research would call it priming. Maybe adult colouring books had been around for longer, simply failing to capture my attention - but after that Brussels stationers I suddenly started seeing signs of the phenomena in different places on and offline, and thinking more and more about that book I had picked up. I looked at my 10 year old daughter’s felt tips… The range of colours, ordered in the plastic wallet no different to those in my own childhood, looked like sweets or jewels - but I knew they weren’t for me, even though they triggered exciting memories of when they would have been.
I am not sure when I first noticed them appearing in my Amazon ads, but I had some vouchers left from a gift. I wasn’t sure about the idea of putting the word ‘adult’ in to a search bar under any circumstances, but there was a sidebar ad winking at me… Saying, go on, take a look. At the time my life was exceptionally busy and complicated between work and moving house, and this book said it would calm me and take my stress away, if I only added it to my basket. That first book was based on Indian and Oriental designs, this somehow appealed to me a lot more than the butterflies and flowers I have seen in the bookshop, and it was very inexpensive too. When it arrived I think I packed it straight into a box for moving, wondering why on earth I had been buying more stuff at such a crazy time when everything had to be moved anyway. I guess I probably was pretty stressed.
It was some weeks later that I came across the book again on a shelf in our new home. Somebody else must have unpacked it. Once again my youngest daughter had left her felt tips in the living room, most untidily… so I found myself flipping through the pages and imagining transforming the black and white line drawings before me with colours, what would I choose..? What shades would look good together? Before long I was reaching for the pens…
I cannot say how many hours later the point was reached, but by the end of the evening, I was officially hooked!
I posted a picture of my earliest efforts on Facebook a few days later, and the comments ran a wide gamut of response. “Are you nuts? I knew you were working too hard!” to “Actually - I like doing this too!”, as well as “Wow… I really want to do this!!” Who knew? A growing number of my friends were already closet colourists, and others were tempted.
On a trip to the UK later that spring I quickly realised that this definitely wasn’t just ‘a Belgian thing’. Whilst where I live in Spain adult colouring was still unheard of at the time, I soon discovered the pleasure of being able to choose colouring books offline, and being able to browse them properly. So many titles, and so many gorgeous things to colour them in with too - again in the UK everything felt cheaper and more accessible (it was to be later in the year that adult colouring titles emerged in my local area, first in specialist art shops with prices to match, finally in mainstream bookstores and stationers). I had long since graduated from cadging my daughters felts, and discovered a wonderful world of gel pens, watercolour pencils, fine-liners and more. Like a kid in a sweetshop - or a grown-up in a toy shop.
And I wasn’t alone.
Further investigation traced the origin of the cult craze to the release of Johanna Basford’s book Secret Garden in 2013, which had sold over 2 million copies in its first two years.
The follow up Enchanted Forest hit the shelves last year, followed in 2016 by the Lost Ocean. But by the time this one hit the shelves there were thousands and thousands of titles to choose from. Flowers and fairies not floating your boat? You can now buy colouring books based on film titles, geometric shapes, exotic mandalas, cityscapes, machine components, underwater scenes, and fantasy stories. There are those which are adult in a more literal sense, including a range gorgeously calligraphed swear words to embellish. And I also have in my possession a book specifically intended for men to colour in, filled with highly masculine geometric shapes - that perversely tempt me to pastel pink glitter gel pens.
Bookstores and publishers have barely been able to keep pace with the demand, despite the wide range of titles now available, and it’s fair to say that design standard, production quality and price vary considerably. From Johanna Basford’s hand-drawn works of art on quality paper, to hastily knocked-out illustrator software titles, every niche has been filled, and there is something for everybody.
People are getting together in groups to colour in and chat, in the same way that knitting and crocheting groups are in the ascendant. A wonderful way to spend an evening with friends, sharing designs and also trying out new products and ranges before you spend your own money on them - although as I have proven through extensive testing, intricate colouring in and several glasses of wine are not overly compatible, however sociable.
But the big thing that has changed since our Mums stuck our childhood efforts on the door of the fridge, is how much easier it is to share and admire other people’s designs in the online world. If you haven’t got a group of local friends to spill Rioja on your colouring books with, no problem - there’s a Facebook group for you, probably one that’s a close fit with your personal demographics or favourite themes and colouring tools. Or you can share your art on Instagram and gain armies of followers. See how other artists around the world interpret your favourite designs, and be inspired by the diversity, new ways to approach familiar pictures.
The craze shows no sign of stopping - and if you haven’t discovered it yet, then I invite you to dive right in!
There are no right or wrong ways to enjoy colouring, and the book in your hands is created by a colouring enthusiast not an artist. I share what I have learned, by trial and error and of course by talking to my colouring friends… And look forward to seeing what you create for yourselves, sharing ideas and growing our joint enthusiasm further.