What Is Pantone and How It Shapes Branding & Design

Design and branding are no exception; the correct hue does make a big impact. The Pantone colour matching system ensures that colours are consistent across all media and industries. Pantone is a crucial tool for preserving brand identification and aesthetic appeal on both print and digital devices.

The significance of Pantone, its identity and activities, its applications, and how it impacts certain sectors such as printing and design will all be covered in today’s blog. We’ll also talk about Pantone’s influence on trends and the Colour of the Year.

What is Pantone?

Pantone is a colour-matching system in design and printing that is used to standardise colours. It was founded in 1963 and still is an absolute industry standard in the domain of getting the colour consistent over a large range of media.

This means that in the Pantone system, there is a unique code for every colour so when you use it somewhere people know exactly what colour to use – whether it’s in paint, or on a piece of ‘art’ created on a computer. In particular, this standardisation is important when companies need to match their branding materials with a precise colour.

What is a PMS Colour?

The term PMS (Pantone Matching System) colour is a particular colour in the Pantone system. Each PMS colour is assigned a unique number; designers and printers can then use the same amount of the same colour across different platforms.

Business cards, brochures, and signs all have the same colour quality when PMS colours are used. This is crucial for companies that want to maintain consistency in their branding across online and offline platforms.

What is Pantone Colour of the Year?

Each year the company Pantone releases its Colour of the Year, a selection based on intense research of social, cultural, and global trends. This colour is meant to capture the mood and spirit of the times and influence design trends in dissimilar industries.

Let’s take as an example, 2023’s Colour of the Year: Viva Magenta — a vibrant red, symbolising energy and vitality. By incorporating the Colour of the Year into your brand identity, you can engage with customers on a trend-aware level.

Use of Pantone Colours in Printing

Most printing industry uses Pantone colours because they are very precise and consistent. Pantone guarantees that materials printed as brochures, business cards, or large signages will always have the same colours, regardless of printer or medium.

Let’s take the example of aluminium composite boards – if your company is using these boards designed by a professional printing company as the choice material for signage, then it is obvious that they will ensure the colour consistency between digital and the finished print. With the Pantone system, your logo colours are guaranteed to match regardless of your device.

The Significance of Pantone and Colour Consistency

Consistency of colour is essential for a strong brand. Customers should notice the same hues used in your brochures, website, logo, etc. Inconsistencies in hue can cause confusion and damage brand credibility.

To solve this, Pantone ensures that colours are reproduced with the same consistency across all of the platforms. Pantone colour use ensures your brand identity remains uncompromised whether you’re printing materials or designing a website.

Pantone in Film Prints with Backlighting

Pantone colours can also be used in another important application that includes backlit film prints. These prints are frequently used for lighted signs, and obtaining genuine colours is crucial in this case, particularly if your branding will need to remain brilliant in future lighting situations.

In backlit prints, Pantone also guarantees that the specific colour used is bright enough during daylight and at the same time when backlight is applied the colours stand out, thus keeping your signs professional and orderly.

How Pantone Shapes the Future of Design

Pantone is not only about printed products: Pantone affects other materials as well. That is why, with the help of the digital platforms Pantone has developed ways to define colour accuracy, creating the appropriate solutions for websites, applications and online design tools.

When it comes to digital media in future, Pantone colours will always become a significant tool for ensuring consistency within any brand. Web designers, graphic designers and brand marketers can now use Pantone colours to guarantee that their designs are consistent with the brand.

For more insights into materials like composite boards and the impact of Pantone colours, you can read our detailed blog on composite board printing.

Impact of Pantone’s Colour of the Year on Design Trends

Pantone Colour of the Year is not only a colour in its physical sense but also an expression of current mood and trends. When using this colour in your projects, you can consider your business to be cutting-edge as well as trendy from the current emerging trends.

Pantone Colours and Consumer Preferences

More information about consumers in the UK is critical to understanding the effectiveness of colour management in branding and design.

The Attest 2024 UK Consumer Trends Report shows that colours play a very important role in consumer behaviour and brands. This aligns with the need to maintain a brand image, a task that Pantone offers. Pantone colours, therefore, help the brands to maintain a consistent image across different media and types of communication items that in turn improve the recognition and trust of the customers.

Green brands – which were usually slightly more expensive – were one unlucky victim of this behaviour change. But in our 2024 picture, we find consumers beginning to go back to Brands they identify with in terms of Morals with an impulse figure of +12.2 percentage point increase of willingness to pay a premium for green/ethical product.

Conclusion

Pantone’s colour system is a valuable asset for designers, printers, and any commercial company in question to be on the safe side when dealing with colour in varying surface types. Pantone comes in handy whether you are in the process of developing promotional items, making errors, creating websites, or even when you are in the process of creating signs. Are you ready to level up your branding? Contact us today to seek professional service covering, vibrant prints on aluminium composite boards and backlit films.