
Crayola’s Mimi Dixon Creates Crayons Exhibiting 40 Global Skin Tones
“Sometimes in pioneering your footsteps are going to be the only ones on the mountains. It doesn’t mean that it’s the wrong thing to do. It just means that it’s unchartered territory.”
-Mimi Dixon, manager of brand equity and activation at Crayola
Last year, Crayola released a pack of crayons entitled, “Colors of the World,” which, “contains 24 specially formulated colors representing people of the world.” The collection, which represents 40 skin tones from around the globe, has recently been developed into markers, colored pencils, and coloring books.
Who was behind this groundbreaking initiative? Crayola’s manager of brand equity and activation, Mimi Dixon. In a recent Forbes feature on Dixon, she explains her motivation for creating “Colors of the World,” which won “Toy Of The Year…for most creative…and has allowed children and adults to celebrate diversity and inclusion in a new, fun way. ”
Dixon describes the impact this project has had on herself and consumers,
“When you have a child that says ‘I can now color myself,’ or ‘I can now look at a paper or a drawing, and I can see myself…that was really important to me out of the whole entire product because that’s what I wasn’t able to do growing up was find a color. We were always trying to mix colors, and that doesn’t work too well. So to be able just to take one crayon, it seems very simple, but to make that difference for kids today was invaluable.”
To ensure the success of this diversity and inclusion effort, Dixon consulted Victor Casale, the former chief chemist and managing director of R&D at MAC, cofounder of Cover FX, and the CEO of MOB Beauty to help Crayola “translate what beauty foundation looked like in a wax crayon on paper…[to simulate] all the skin tones.
Throughout Dixon’s career, she has maintained three philosophies that have guided her,
- Be true to yourself.
- Focus on your transferrable skills.
- Speak up and speak out.
By serving as a pioneer in her industry, Dixon has changed the lives of many children everywhere.