
How Pantone Became a Global Authority on Color - prismatic
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/how-pantone-became-a-pop-culture-icon/414043/?single_page=true
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Tloewald
The content of the article relevant to its title is basically this:

"In 1963, an American chemistry graduate named Lawrence Herbert devised a
system to standardize color, specifying the exact ink formula for every
shade."

How he did this, how quickly it took off, what challenges he faced, how people
worked with color before, why Pantone's system was better -- the kind of
things a New Yorker piece with this title might cover -- is utterly absent.

The rest of it is gimmicky fluff about how Pantone has become a pop culture
thing (not that I've noticed -- and I worked with Pantone colors for years
when I did print work -- but apparently in some places).

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danieltillett
"Math is hard. Let’s go shopping”.

I would like to read an article that covered all the areas you raise, but I
suspect we would be in the minority.

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paulgerhardt
Man, colors are hard and pigment based color systems are harder. One can't
just punch in a Hex value.

When manufacturing products, Pantone is fantastic as a resource because one
suddenly has a definitive chip to point to thats standardized everywhere.
Specifying a product with a Chinese vendor that is two different shades of
black would get nowhere without Pantone. "Black" and "Dark Black" don't
translate well.

Othertimes and other colors, Pantone just doesn't have the exact right shade.
Especially in pop-ier neons that were in style in the late '00's. Pantone
released a supplement booklet but even that is limited. One can go deeper and
work with Pantone to develop your brand's own color which they will keep on
file and not release to others. International Klein Blue. Tiffany. All have
interesting histories.

Get it right though and it's magic. Your textile ribbon that holds in your
batteries will match your plastic will match your manual will match your
packaging. It's a great feeling.

If you want to test your color acumen, give this site a shot:
[http://www.xrite.com/online-color-test-
challenge](http://www.xrite.com/online-color-test-challenge) \- if you can
pass it without batting an eye then you may have a good career in Pearl
sorting or factory quality control ahead of you.

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Animats
Pantone just sells color samples. An authority on color is the Color
Association of the United States.[1] They issue "color forecasts" as to which
colors will be "in" next season. This used to matter more when the US had a
clothing industry.

They also used to orchestrate the color cycle of consumer electronics, from
grey to beige to black to white and back again. (You thought that happened by
accident?) But they no longer have enough clout to do that.

[1]
[http://www.colorassociation.com/pages/6-forecasts](http://www.colorassociation.com/pages/6-forecasts)

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wodenokoto
Who decided the move to rose gold? It seems like Apple released that color at
exactly the right time, so I thought it was a fashion industry decision they
had bought access to.

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pcunite
Even though I don't work with photo realistic images and thus have to ensure
accurate color, I still enjoy my NEC 2490WUXi2 monitor bought back in the day
when I was an image editor. I was targeting sRGB for a webzine I was a part
of.

As applications break out of the grayness that once defined them and become
HTML5 based, designers would do well to understand how their colors will be
displayed. Eventually, all displays will probably be IPS or some similar tech
and be calibrated at the factory. The new Microsoft Surface Book has good and
accurate colors from what I understand.

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Niksko
I think factory color calibration for every device with a display is a pipe
dream. It simply doesn't provide enough value to the user for the extra effort
you'd have to go to.

I think the more realistic option is some sort of easy home calibration
solution, perhaps leveraging smartphones or consumer DSLRs.

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mrob
There's also a strong temptation to increase the saturation and gamma to stand
out in brief side-by-side comparisons. It's the visual equivalent of loudness
war audio mastering.

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sjwright
My local sports stadium (Allianz Stadium, Sydney Australia) recently installed
two enormous ultra-wide 27 by 10 metre screens. They are astonishingly clear
and bright, however the saturation is pumped up so hard that grass looks like
Simpsons-esque nuclear sludge and many team uniforms look fluorescent or
luminescent.

It's particularly surprising because it's constantly being used to replicate
the reality right in front of it. You can just look at the pitch to see what
grass _should_ look like.

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anon4
No, you see, the display shows you what the grass _really_ is and what it
would look like to you if your eyes could pick out the vibrant hues in real
life. /s

