Designer Wayne Hemingway looks at five colours that have been at the centre of ownership and trademark battles, revealing the complex status of colours in our society – their artistic, commercial and cultural impact.

He explores our response to colour – whether it’s the red soles of designer shoes, the blue strip of a football team or the purple of a chocolate bar wrapper – interviewing those involved in branding, advertising and IP, as well as the psychologists, scientists , colour gurus, artists and those creating the colours of tomorrow using Nanotechnology.

Programme 5 – Black
Whether black is a colour is debatable. Unlike colours which are created from the reflection of different wavelengths of light, black is created from the absorption of light. Wayne tells the story of Vantablack – the blackest black created which, unlike other blacks, absorbs all but a tiny (less than 0.04%) of light. Anish Kapoor has bought exclusive rights to the black. Wayne concludes the series by questioning the rights of colour ownership.

Producer: Sara Parker
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.