The web landscape is dominated by a large number of blue brands… but Red occupies a large amount of space as well. What’s driving this? You might want to say that carefully organized branding research and market tests were done to choose the perfect colors to make you spend your money, but a lot of the brands that have grown to be global web powerhouses, started as small web startups… and while large corporate giants with branding departments spend quite a lot on market research, user testing, branding, etc.

Lots of the sites listed above got started with brands created by the founders themselves with little to no research into the impact their color choice would have. I once asked Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook why he chose blue for his site design… “I’m color blind, it’s the only color I can see.” …and now 500 Million people around the world stare at a mostly blue website for hours each week.

While the initial reasoning for the colors chosen may be trivial, the impact that these dominant players now have in the web world will surely influence the smaller startups that want to share in the positive color associations created by their bigger siblings… Once a rocketship of a web startup takes flight, there are a number of Jr. internet astronauts hoping to emulate their success… and are inspired by their brands. And so Blue and Red will probably continue to dominate, but we can have hope for the GoWalla‘s, DailyBooth‘s and other more adventurous brands out there.

The next big trend:

You are the next great founder, designer, influencer or creative mind that may build the next Facebook. You have the power to influence future color trends… What colors will you choose?

(HT: ColourLovers)

The iPhone is reportedly on its way to Wal-Mart, with store employees telling Bloomberg that the company may begin selling the device this month.

While Wal-Mart – the nation’s largest retailer – would certainly represent a huge distribution channel for the already hot-selling iPhone, one has to wonder if the move would jeopardize part of the mystique surrounding the Apple brand.

Will this be a brand-decimating marriage? Does it cheapen the Apple Brand? What do you think?