What Does Pantone Color Mean?
If you received our 2019 Valentine or have been keeping up with our Color of the Month social media posts, you’ve probably heard us mention Pantone colors. You may be asking “What does Pantone color mean?” and have no clue as to how it relates to design.
In 1963 Pantone created a system of precise mixtures of various inks for use in process printing. This system gives you the option to color match when printing, creating consistent coloring across all printed materials. When you say to the printer, “I want to print a blue 2194C,” you can be sure that they know exactly what color you mean.
How many Pantone colors exist?
This past week, Pantone released another 294 colors – this brings their total to nearly 2,000 different color swatches. But how does Pantone create this many new colors?
According to Pantone “When it comes to adding new colors for graphics, fashion, and product design, Pantone leverages the international trend-spotting intelligence of the Pantone Color Institute™ (PCI). The PCI is devoted to the research and study of all things color-related, and identifies key design trends across industries, as well as important signifiers of new cultural and social influences on the overall direction and use of color.” (Source)
Hopefully, this sheds some light on what may have been the mysterious thing known as Pantone, and perhaps our colors of the month will have more significance for you.
