Pantone Colour of the Year!
It’s the Pantone Colour of the year – But is it really still relevant?
Friday 6th December 2024 – Pantone announce their Pantone colour of the year – Pantone Mocha Mousse for reference, now this will either drive you into a frenzy as you go and find out exactly what this colour is or you will be sat there wondering why you may be reading this and if it is even relevant.
And that right there is the issue at hand, for many years Pantone has been the designers bible, if you’ve asked a promotional merchandise company to print your logo they will at some point have been asked for a pantone colour for that logo, and your design company will have provided one, probably not Mocha Mousse in all fairness but certainly one from the Pantone range, and that was the way the world worked – and it was great….
…Then in 2022 Pantone and Adobe stopped working together and designers had to start paying extra for access to the Pantone libraries which meant that you all got charged more if you wanted a Pantone colour – so many people made the switch to CMYK and digital printing which means no Pantone, no additional costs and a lot more in terms of colour in a logo – and this universally is a good thing isn’t it?
Well it’s a yes and no isn’t it - The use of Pantone colours in design and our industry have gone hand in hand for decades and as frustrating as it is, we thought we would advise why Pantone colours are still important, and why you should not neglect this industry standard completely.
In this post:
- What are Pantone colours?
- Why are Pantone colours important?
- Is Pantone still relevant?
1. What are Pantone colours?
“Heard of it. Never used it.”
Pantone began decades ago in the 1950s, with its first matching system set up in the ’60s. The Pantone Matching System (or PMS) is a standardized set of thousands of colours, each identified by a number code. Each Pantone colour specifies exact measurements of ink that is mixed to achieve that colour in a 4-color printing process (such as offset or screen printing). This enables any printer anywhere in the world to print the exact same colour with no error.
Using Pantone is also important so that we can see a true printed colour while designing on a screen. Often screens are calibrated differently for colour, and in general digital colours look much brighter and more saturated. There is a much wider gamut of colours that can be achieved on a screen vs. on a printed piece. Using Pantone for reference allows us to really see a true colour, to avoid discrepancies, and to show our clients what their brand colour will look like in print.
Pantone fan deck; image by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
2. Why are Pantone colours important?
“So why would anyone care this much about colour?”
Does every brand care if their shade of Red is slightly more vibrant on one print to the other – maybe not and for that they may feel that a digital CMYK print is perfectly acceptable but don’t undervalue consistency; If you are Coca Cola then your red is essential, it has to be perfect each and every time and that is what Pantone guarantees. Imagine Cadbury Purple being slightly more lilac or any of the thousands of brands worldwide that use Pantone as a bible.
As a brand the importance of a strong, intentional visual brand in every touchpoint means everything – you become highly recognisable, memorable, and trusted by having consistency in visuals, including colour. And colour has an impact on how an audience perceives a business, by associating colours with emotions, moods, experiences, or objects.
If you look at EasyJet – the founders knew they wanted Orange as the brand colour, they selected an Orange pantone colour (Orange 021) that wasn’t used by any other airline, it has now become so well known it is referred to as easy Orange and is trademarked by their company. In fact, brand colour is so important that multiple organisations hold a trademark on their colours!
For some, businesses, having their colour look exactly right is incredibly important for consistency and recognition. And while we might not think it matters for small-scale clients, a brand colour that looks “off” can reflect poorly on the business.
Imagine if Business A regularly prints vouchers or ads that get handed to their customers. Over time, a customer might collect a handful of these pieces. If each piece has a slightly different shade of red (or whatever colour), it looks inconsistent, and therefore sloppy and unprofessional.
Or Business B creates a subscription box, and sources printed pieces from different vendors. Every printed piece in the box—cards, merchandise, worksheets, you name it—is branded to Business B and uses their brand colour. But every colour is a slightly different shade of that colour. Now when a customer receives it, it too looks inconsistent, sloppy, and unprofessional.
The purpose of Pantone is to prevent this from happening. Using offset or screen printing (precisely mixed ink), Business A and Business B can ensure that each one they print matches exactly, no matter where they print it, when they print it, or what printer they use.
Plus, while less accurate, even when not using mixed ink, providing a brand Pantone colour to a general printer can give them a guide for the colour they are trying to match, and they can usually adjust their printer accordingly.
3. Is Pantone still relevant?
“But in the age of digital takeover, won’t this become antiquated?”
No, not at all, because of all the reasons I mentioned above!
For another perspective, think about house paint colours. If you are going to paint your bedroom, you might browse a few swatches online, but it is much more likely that you’re going to go to the hardware store and look at physical paint swatches. You want to see how that colour will look on the wall. It is a stark difference than looking at colour on a screen. The same is true for Pantone colours for brands.
Pantone colours are also not exclusive to graphic design; they are used across many industries including fashion and textiles, makeup, and interior and industrial design.
Standardised colours are not going anywhere. Pantone colours exist for a reason and have been used by industry professionals and taught in design schools for decades for a reason. They help brands grow. They Help brands remain consistent and they help us to help you achieve your goals.
If you require any further guidance on the best way to achieve the best results for your branded merchandise then please contact us and we will do all we can to help,
Email: sales@boosters.co.uk
Web: www.boosters.co.uk