Pantone Project

The other day I read a blog about the 10 Pantone colors for spring of 2011 and I was intrigued.  It's not that I hadn't heard about Pantone colors, I just never really followed them...until now.  Here's a little back story on the history of Pantone as told by designface for Pantone http://designface.co.uk/content/pantonehistory.


Pantone, as it is today, was founded in 1962, when the company—at the time a small business which manufactured colour cards for cosmetics companies—was bought by Lawrence Herbert, who had been an employee since 1956. He immediately changed its direction, developing the first colour matching system in 1963. Herbert remains the CEO, Chairman, and President of the company.

The company's primary products include the Pantone Guides, which consist of a large number of small (approximately 6×2 inches or 15×5 cm) thin cardboard sheets, printed on one side with a series of related colour swatches and then bound into a small flipbook. For instance, a particular "page" might contain a number of yellows varying in luminance from light to dark.

The idea behind the PMS is to allow designers to 'colour match' specific colours when a design enters production stage—regardless of the equipment used to produce the colour. This system has been widely adopted by Graphic Designers, Reproduction and Printing Houses for a number of years now. Pantone recommends that PMS Colour Guides be purchased annually as their inks become more yellow over time. Colour variance also occurs within editions based on the paper stock used (coated, matte or uncoated), while inter-edition colour variance occurs when there are changes to the specific paper stock used.

What I find it really interesting about all of this is how the fashion industry and now Etsians follow the Pantone color trends religiously, so I decided to put it to the test.  The following are the 10 Pantone Colors for Spring 2011:

1 HONEYSUCKLE PANTONE 18-2120

Percentage of designers who used this color: 15.56 percent

2 REGATTA PANTONE 18-4039

Percentage of designers who used this color: 14.81 percent

3 CORAL ROSE PANTONE 16-1349

Percentage of designers who used this color: 14.07 percent

4 BEESWAX PANTONE 14-0941

Percentage of designers who used this color: 13.33 percent

5 PEAPOD PANTONE 14-6324

Percentage of designers who used this color: 10.37 percent

6 BLUE CURACAO PANTONE 15-4825

Percentage of designers who used this color: 8.15 percent

7 RUSSET PANTONE 18-1235

Percentage of designers who used this color: 7.41 percent

8 SILVER PEONY PANTONE 12-1206

Percentage of designers who used this color: 6.67 percent

9 LAVENDER PANTONE 15-3817

Percentage of designers who used this color: 5.19 percent

10 SILVER CLOUD PANTONE 15-4502

Percentage of designers who used this color: 4.44 percent

So here's my plan...wait for it...okay here's the plan.  I've decided to make 10 projects using the Pantone Colors and 10 of the same projects not using the Pantone Colors, so basically two of the same item for as long as it takes me to finish.  They will be listed on my Skate Dog Studios etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop/SkateDogStudios?ref=si_shop under a folder called the Pantone Project.  At the end of the project I will post the stats for the Pantone Colors projects as compared to the off colors.  If anyone else is interested in joining me in my endeavors awesome, pass the word!  Either way I think this project will be a win win, I create new items for sale, and I finished a project:)