Here’s a second post for Monday. 🙂

It introduces how you can Speak in Colour with OPI’s New Universal Language!

For each letter, A through Z, OPI has designated a pool of nail polish. This allows you to create fun and colourful messages that not only look artistic, but they can be deciphered easily.

Since we’re on the topic of ‘codes’, I want to share a little bit about myself that ties in and explains why this OPI campaign made me feel nostalgic! 🙂

When I was in elementary school, teachers would ask students what we wanted to be when we grew up.

My classmates threw around a wide variety of professions such as firefighter, doctor, and even princess!

After sitting patiently and listening to others share their dreams, it finally was my turn to speak up.

What did Little Mary want to be when she grew up?

The first dream job I ever wanted to pursue (since perhaps the age of 5 or 6) was an international spy. Everyone, even the teacher looked at me funny.

I definitely wasn’t a tomboy because I loved ‘playing house’, dressing up in pink dresses, and playing with dolls. However, what gave me the biggest thrill were stories where a person went on an adventure. There had to be an element of danger, and the only way to escape would be to think fast on your feet and outsmart the opponent.

When I was a kid, I read Choose Your Own Adventure books, and I had a crush on mullet-loving MacGyver (even though he was so much older). I also fantasized about being one of The Goonies. I wished that I had the special computerized ‘book’ from Inspector Gadget (the original cartoon). And I can’t forget watching the Indiana Jones movies for the first time. (I don’t believe in true perfection, but gosh, Indiana Jones comes pretty darn close!) *My eyes become hearts now*

At recess, the times when I didn’t feel like playing with my female friends and pretending that we were princesses, I used to run off with the guys in the grade above me. Our favourite game was to imagine that we were hunting down criminals and demonic spirits to uncover the twisted truth behind a well-kept mystery! As ‘spies’, we documented our observations in crumpled-up notebooks, collected ‘evidence’, and pieced together the puzzle in order to solve a case. (Oftentimes, our imagination was so wild, we ended up scaring ourselves and were glad when the bell rang and it was time to go back to class!) 😉

I wanted to read everything about spies, codes, and deciphering them. It got to the point where I was creating coding devices and teaching my friends how to use them, so we could pass notes in class with secret messages. And I also owned a spy book that had a strategically placed hole through all the pages, so you could ‘pretend’ to be reading when really you were spying on someone! (I still have it on my bookshelf!)

For years I was convinced that I wanted to be an international spy who traveled the world and called any new place home. (My parents would always laugh when I told them and wondered what ever put such an idea into my head.)

So, although this introduction was windy, I do have a point. 🙂 It’s a sharp one, so please don’t sit on it!

When I first heard about the OPI ColorChat App and how it allowed you to create messages in, essentially, nail-polish ‘code’, it brought back some of my childhood memories of always wanting to write and crack coded messages. So, even though I’m in my 30s, it looks like Little Mary still lives on inside me. 😉

Check out the rest of this post to see more photos of the new OPI initiative, the OPI ColorChat App, and how it can be used to create personal products that allow you to express yourself in colour and in ‘code’.

OPI LAUNCHES
UNIVERSAL COLOR LANGUAGE
AIMED TO UNITE THE WORLD WITH COLOR

Roughly 6,500 languages are spoken globally, but today OPI introduces the only one you’ll ever need. For the first time, the ancient dream of a common language becomes reality. The brand that has delivered groundbreaking color inspiration for over 30 years, is now introducing the first Universal Color Language through an exclusive new mobile app, OPI ColorChat™. The OPI color experts know that color is understood at a glance, transcending language and cultural barriers to bind us together in understanding.

For years, OPI has understood that Color is The Universal Language™. So in this new visual language, each letter and character is composed of colorful drops of your favorite OPI shades in distinctive shapes to form a complete alphabet. And to allow fans to become instantly fluent in this whole new way of communicating, OPI has created a new mobile app, OPI ColorChat™. Now, more than ever, OPI brings the language of color right to your fingertips with must-have nail color and an innovative new smartphone experience. “I’ve always believed color to be a great tool for self-expression,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Co-Founder and Brand Ambassador. “Now, color can be used for more than just a figurative statement, but a literal one as well. I’m excited to see how consumers will use this beautiful new language to create and communicate.”

Instantly use the world’s first color alphabet and powerfully express emotion through color with this innovative new way to text and talk. Download the new OPI ColorChat app to write messages, speak with friends, and share and decode messages—all in iconic OPI shades, ranging from Bubble Bath, Strawberry Margarita to Malaga Wine. “The world today is more connected than ever before. Our consumers, no matter where they live, share at least one thing in common—a love for OPI, nail lacquer, and color,” explains Weiss-Fischmann. “Until now, color has always been used to share a story visually. With the launch of this beautiful new universal language and the ColorChat app, people can now speak in color.”

With the new OPI color language, using drops, you make letters, with letters, you make words. With words, you can say anything you want. So, let’s start speaking in color today. The ColorChat app launches worldwide on April 1, 2015. For more information, visit www.opi.com.

I played around with the OPI ColorChat App and created the message below. 😉

Any guesses as to what it says?

Answer: “Swatch And Learn” 🙂

I think it’s pretty cute how OPI has created this nailphile coding system. It relies on the alphabet for obvious reasons, so it won’t be able to write in languages that require characters, such as Chinese. Still though, it’s fun to see words as nail polish!

 Are you going to speak in colour? When you were a kid, were you obsessed with codes like I was? What did you want to become when you were a kid, and has it changed now that you’re older?