Color Company Makes Me Glow

By Janet Dodrill

DayGlo Color Corp. developed fluorescent and glow in the dark color in the 1930s and has served the world’s color marketplace. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, the company played a role in pop culture when it was used in the disco days for pop-art and black light posters, and graffiti. It has been used in many markets including in the military in the 1940s and 1950s. Aside from enhancing the color spectrum for artists, it is used in the graphic arts industry, packaging and consumer goods (including for personal care and cosmetic ingredients), paints and coatings, dyes and textiles. The effects were discovered by two brothers, sons of a pharmacist, experimenting. The colors and effects were originally used for magic shows, stage shows and movie promotion posters.

Fluorescent Color Samples

I have always been curious driving by the small building on Cleveland’s east side, and once have even seen orange powdered foot prints leading out of a side door!

Their web site, www.dayglo.com, has company information, a design center where you can mix colors in real time online, and a link to their store, www.dayglostore.com, which includes paint, printer ink, papers, paint pens, blacklights and glo sticks. I can’t imagine growing up without DayGlo, and am glad this local color company has endured!