Stephen Von Worley, and his friend “Velo” created this illustration of the evolution of Crayola crayon colors from 1903-2010. Data from Wikipedia’s list of crayon colors was combined with the standard 16-count School Crayon box available in 1935 to produce this fascinating look at the growth of choices, or perhaps a refinement in our ability to recognize hues in between the original 8 colors.

Ever industrious, Velo also calculated the average growth rate: 2.56% annually. For maximum understandability, he reformulated it as “Crayola’s Law,” which states:

The number of colors doubles every 28 years!

In the trend continues at this rate, Von Worley calculates that by 2050 the standard Crayola set will reach 330. At that point, perhaps Crayola and Pantone can join forces to name the crayons using Pantone numbers.

(Via The Picture Show)