As an ad design student, I can admit that color is so important for brand recognition, but sueing over color when nothing else matches is absolutely hilarious and wild.

Pantone: “We want to use one of our colors to highlight the problem of climate change!” Also Pantone: “We are granting color exclusivity to large conglomerates responsible for climate change!”

I spent more time in graphic design school yelling expletives at my printer than completing A+ assignments.

As a graphic designer... thank you. The whole print industry is full of scams. Long live freetone!

21:18 "Colours are a business for Pantone, but for us humans, they're still powerful vessels for moods, feelings and emotions." Sums it up perfectly!

There is something so horribly dystopian about the idea of owning colors

As a screen printing artist/designer/illustrator, I found the best way to get intense color from CMYK or process color space is to treat the individual CMYK as Spots some of the time. On T-Shirts, this works very well, and we (most screen printers) utilized what we called 7 color process, which is basically a four color process with a white "bump" and two other colors to add both contrast and intensify color ranges. This gave us a huge range of options, as well as photographic detail, without sacrificing intensity of hues.

I like the idea of an ink recipe to achieve colour consistency across different products, but yeah, blocking off access to commercially using the colour spectrum is madness

had to start using the pantone swatchbook because i started making enamel pins, and that's how you communicate colors with your manufacturer accurately. spending $200 on the book set physically hurt, but on the bright side most people don't need both books so i was able to re-sell the uncoated one. on the downside i now have to deal with pantone and they are another entry on my long list of overly-capitalistic shithole companies, all for reasons like this @ _ @ hell is real and it's called being an artist, but at least the colors on my pins all slap hard

OKAY, STORY TIME... Used to work at a library at my art school. Lady running the Graphics Design department is stuffy AF (power suit, cravat, those glasses that make you go 'yup, that's the lady I never want to talk to', the WORKS), comes in, demands why her students have to use outdated Pantone swatches. I didn't even have to turn around, my manager was right there. WHOO, GD lady must do that often, because my manager called the lady out, by first name, and told her that they had been through this before... "Pantone is expensive, there is never any significant change between the colors, we do not and are not given the budget for recent Pantone binders." (Learned later we wait a year or two, sometimes more, between updating them. Because, you know, prices go down.) Lady looked like a chicken that was just told what nuggies were made out of. Que a long and exhausting conversation that went in more circles than a carnival ride, and then she stormed off, proclaiming that the Dean would hear of it. I was told she does this about every quarter. I worked there a year. Never failed, about two to three weeks in when the first of the assignments are handed in, she was there to cluck about it. This, and a later wiki-walk that somehow ended me up in reading about the BILLIONS of lawsuits that come up around these colors, had convinced me to just use hex colors and pray for the death of Pantone as an idea and entity. **And I'm, technically, an amateur artist at this point in my life.**

to me pantone makes sense as a consistency thing. a friend of mine made enamel pins and was able to communicate with a manufacturer on which colors they wanted through that book (the manu ended up getting the colors wrong anyway which is another conversation lmao) i think that's a pretty huge advantage IF it would like, actually work. given that they're switching out their formulas, and the consumers are dependent on their swatches being consistent enough that everyone's going to be seeing the same thing, it's more than a little silly. like, you could be making recipes for new colors every year and instead you're doing legal battles with companies and continually gatekeeping access?

I'm glad you're doing better. The scar is indeed metal af. I wish you a speedy recovery. Also fuck Pantone

Knew two long-time employees of Pantone who didn't have many nice things to say about the people in charge there. It's just another greedy family-owned company that treats many, or at least the two I know, employees badly.

my brain every 3 minutes of this video: Premenstrual syndrome Premenstrual syndrome Premenstrual syndrome

"It's a colour! You didn't invent it!" -- they can kind of claim they did. At least, they lay claim to the formulation of that colour with their technology and inks. I agree though that they can't really copyright it though. You can't copyright something that a CMYK or RGB colour wheel in any art program can replicate.

I've just realized why I feel anxious when I watch your videos. You talk in a calm and methodical way. I've gotten so used to watching people manically scream at their camera that when I watch you I grow tense, waiting for you to raise your voice. (I also love your super educational videos and am glad your neck surgery went well.)

i was gonna comment on the shadiness pun but then i figured that was a silly thing to notice but i am SO GLAD IT WAS INTENTIONAL. as for the video itself, you did a really good job of summing up the problems with pantone. color is an integral part of how so many people experience the world, and when pantone tries to pretend they *own* that, i'm gonna have a problem with that both as a person and as an artist. fuck 'em! great video :) edit: i also wanna say your scar looks so cool. congrats on getting rid of the tumor

Really interesting video. As an illustrator who get jobs that are printed Pantone is a great tool to keep consistency and have more predictable results. For years I had an old Pantone "fan", a beat up thing from a printing shop, recently I manage to buy a new one and I can tell you the quality of their ACTUAL product, is going down. The paper is thinner and there is more pages now, but they keep the fan system so it's really inconvenient to use. And the "achievable in CMYK" and or "achievable in RGB" logos have disappeared making it harder to know if your computer can display them accurately of it you can keep the same file for a CMYK print. It's baffling.

Precisely everything I dislike about Pantone! 🙌 I've been in the industry for over 20 years. The company I work for (it's...global) got sued by Tiffany over an RGB that was a medium teal on a jewelry ad my coworker created; not even a Robbins egg blue. We're not a jewelry store - we sell *everything*, if you know what I mean... So fellow designers, be careful out there! Also fun fact regarding the blind community: a study was done several years ago while I was still in college that observed how the blind perceived color when entering a space. Though a lot of them can't see color, they can legit FEEL it!! Super neat stuff. This is something interior designers consciously have to keep in mind when designing spaces, especially for those with ADA requirements.💕

So good to see you’re back in the swamp known as KZfaq. This topic has always been strange to me so thank you for the HUEge amount of work you put into this video post surgery. Recovery is a marathon not a sprint, healing takes time and your audience will wait for as long as you need :)

Glad to see you're doing better. 16:16 What!?! They fade? They charge so much money but can't make it lightfast? In heraldry, because it is quite old, there is no specification as to what particular shade any colour has to be whatsoever and it works. Gules is red and the shade does not have to be consistent at all.

Just a couple days ago I was driving along the highway with my mom and we saw a Pantone billboard with a color (I don’t remember actually) on it. She asked how does it make sense to copyright a color? I’ll have to show her this video. Thanks :)

Welcome back! We missed you, hope you are healing well

First off, I'm happy the surgery went okay. While I'm a graphic artist, my day job is in printing. I'm not exactly worried about pantone because offset printing is losing ground to digital printing. Smaller shops have phased out offset altogether for digital (xerox, canon, ricoh, etc.) So what you get is a cmyk mix. Some production machines have a 5th color bay which can aid in coming closer to hitting some of those harder to hit pantone's, like 021 orange. A lot of corporate inplant printshops have these 5 color machines.

Replacing the swatches every year? How bad is their ink lightfastness to fade that bad that quickly? Now I want to see a light test made on the swatches kept in the case, out in the light and brand new. It has to be a cashgrab

If you need an alternative I'm pretty sure Stuart Semple made an alternative to Pantone that is completely free.

As a musician I’m sitting here imagining what it would be like if Bankers Life owned the C# note and anyone who dared to use it could get sued. The whole idea is so absurd that it’s hard to really comprehend.

Spinal scar club (gentle) high five! I'm glad you're doing well. I knew pantone were a pretty scummy company but I'd forgotten about them and Adobe (another pretty scummy company) holding people's back catalogue of work to ransom.

Thank you for making these very good points. The Adobe-cloud-fee ist more than extremely annoying! 😩🤬Luckily for us here in Germany, we use a system called HKS which is used for paints you can buy in any store as well as for printing as well as RAL. Btw. Stuart Semple is one of my heroes!

Hey, coming outright: don't have the energy to watch this video right now, but clicked on it for the health update. And, gosh we are so incredibly glad you are doing better. We hope recovery keeps going smoothly.

Stuart Semple continues to be amazing for the common accessibility of art and I am thankful he exists.

Your video on scam art school made me feel so vindicated with my own experience :). I also watched your vide just now on your spinal tumour and I am so glad youre back! Thank you for your amazing content

Well this is as if dictionaries claimed monopoly over words and trademarked them to brands. Like think about the "React" situation that happened here on KZfaq.

OH MY GOD SOOOOO happy to see your face again, in the last video I honestly thought you might die and that terrified me. i am so grteful for your existence, keep it up!!

When i went to the new school, a lot of my friends went to parsons and the amount of them who had to purchase Pantone cards, the Pantone adobe plugins, etc. was so ridiculously expensive

That scar looks cool AF and I hope the closure holes manage to stick around, but you can always take photos of the scar in detail just in case they don't. That way you could get it tattooed on in the future if it ever fades away. That is what I would do but I also wear all my scars with pride even the ones caused by my OCD that I made when I was a kid and I don't even remember what caused the initial wound lol (that I then compulsively picked at causing it to scar)

Usa Kasikbo! Im so happy to have found you! Im glad you're healing and gifting this fantastic video essay on Pantone. Im a Queer 2Spirit death doula and art therapy undergrad , Im excited to check out more of your videos and such!

they literally made colors into nfts 💀💀💀

CAT!!! so glad to see you back!! thanks for continuing to make content even during recovery, you're incredible

oh as I saw the title of the video I was waiting so badly you talk about that color of the year shenanigan! Thanks for yet another great video!

I'll be honest, this is the first video of yours that I've seen, and was incredibly nervous to read the comments due to how icky the comments sections of other pro-LGBTQ+ creators tend to be. However, this is the first comments section in a very long time to make me feel safe to exist. You all are incredible, and you have a new subscriber

So happy to see you back!

Thank you for this fascinating dive into Pantone; I never thought to look into who they actually were. I had always just assumed that they were a sort of color reference guide that was free. I had no idea they were basically the Chromo Mafia.

Your scar IS metal 🤟 Also, hi, happy to discover this channel, adding bunch of videos to the queue right now 😆

No idea why this was recommended. But it was absolutely fascinating. Brilliantly presented. No idea if you made this all up or researched it to a high degree of accuracy because it’s a totally new topic to me. But you were very convincing for sure. Thank you for making a dull evening filled with back pain more tolerable. Glad your head didn’t fall off in surgery, fingers crossed everything works out long term, must have been terrifying. So pleased the algorithm sent me your way.

i worked at a printing press for two years, and was mostly responsible for mixing the pms colours. ive had this stuff in my haur, clothes, underneath my nails. everywhere. cool video, thanks

I don't know how is this legal. as if they invented colors. I see the necessity to have a system to organize colors, but trademarking them is ridiculous. when I first learned about pantone back in school. I could not believe it. even less that no one seemed to question it. so much bs

I got an Adobe Photoshop ad at the end of the video... how ironic

This directly affects my wife's work and kept me from deciding to pursue design professionally because...Pantone sucks. They're trying to Color as a Service *glares in software engineering* NO Edit: I feel the need to point out that my wife is from Austria. So this is also an EU problem.

How can a person be so cute while talking about such a important and weird thing that's happening here! I love the bold glasses with you're curly hair

The separation of Pantone subscription from Adobe is weird… I always thought the swatch palettes just functioned as a preview, so if you were aware of the corresponding code and a CMYK approximation of the colour, you could probably create your own Spot swatch, and ask your printers to use the Pantone code of choice at the printing stage in place of that swatch. But I might have it wrong. (Oops… was covered in the video)

3:57 my intro to Pantone was learning their codes are what manufacturers use

"I went on this deep dive and now you have to" has strong "DON'T MAKE ME PULL OVER THIS CAR! SWEAR TO--" vibes lol

Love your vids Cat, always so eloquent and thought provoking. You inspire me. Really glad to hear that you're doing okay and getting through it. Keep on swaggin on

I love your glasses. I'm so glad you made this video, as a small designer, self learning I didn't understand why we "need" to use their colors. I got really confused with their different types. I love it when a youtuber makes a video about a topic I've been pondering about. Glad your video got recommended to me! Sending you well wishes. Healing isn't linear, so be gentle with yourself😊

I have a scar just like that down the front of my leg! I broke the fuck out of my ankle, and they had to put a plate and screws in. I'm glad you are back and doing well!

Yes, your scar is very metal 🤘really happy you're doing well!! 🎉 Thanks for doing all that research on pantone. I am so glad I never bought their products when I started making digital art. I thought they would always be the industry standard back then.

Lovely to see you back. Glad the recovery is going well ❤

the shadiness title impressed me so much tbh i'm glad to find it was intentional

1. They put out a book with a bajillion colors of dirt. DIRT! My daughter is an archeologist and at least one person on the crew has to have that book. Of dirt colors. They even have dirt colors locked down. 2. I was a commercial sculptor for one of the best companies around that made stuff for movies, commercials, and the major theme parks ‘round here. And, uh, no-one kept updated Pantone books around. They were the most battered, paint spattered, dog eared, rachet things around. More importantly, none of our clients ever noticed. One was 10 years old. Most people can’t color match that finely. Thank dog…

KZfaq showed me this video unexpectedly in my feed, and I’m so glad about it. 😊

I guess I'm the only one who kinda likes that my colors look slightly different depending on how they're printed.

This system feels like a deeply perverse commodification of one of the most basic parts of the human expierience, the perception of light and the emotions it can conjure. Just wait until they "patent" single wavelength of sound, specific states of viscosity or the haptic expierence of a type of wood. People need to understand that these companies don't make money by providing you with something, but by restricting the access to something that should belong to you in the first place.

I can’t get over the title of this video it’s PERFECT!!!!

This was the first video i have watched from you but i am going to binge many more!! Your video was well made, well edited, and has a lot of resources and education behind it. Thank you for making your video and art! Im glad your surgery went well and that scar looks sick as hell!!

RETURN OF THE GOAT

I’m really enjoying this video, but I can’t continue watching until I tell you how much joy your matching glasses and nails gave me. So good. 🥰

This was an awesome video. I knew some of the things, especially from artist friends about the fun with photoshop, bust still this was nice and comprehensive. also must say the scar is so cool! hope you continue doing good in healing from the surgery :)

Pantone is supremely useful for people who design physical objects, particularly in a variety of materials. There is no substitute the way there is in digital media. It's incredibly useful, really to the point of being an absolute necessity for disciplines like fashion and interior design. I wouldn't cry about a less expensive, non-proprietary system though. I would also like to add that Pantone does put work into their colors. They're very human, and they look like "real" colors in the way colors on a screen or even a lot of hardware store paint swatches don't. The service they provide is definitely worth the money, depending on what you do.

Absolutely not related to the video, no idea how you ended up on my recommended, but I love your hair and vibe!

I didn't get the pun in the title until the very end but that is so smart

rad scar! wishing you a solid & lasting recovery.

Never watched this video because I wasn't too interested in Pantone but i remembered the title, watched new vlogbrothers where John Green mentions pantone is owned by the price-gouger Danaher, now I'm back here!

Thank you! I feel cautious about the practice of companies or anyone owning “everyday” things like color. On one hand it is “smart” to develop new ways of owning the means of producing non proprietary products, but also strange seeing them manufacturing ownership in a way that limits general access and creativity. The movement toward how to sell free stuff is only gaining more traction with the idea that selling free stuff is providing value although only to those able and willing to pay to play.

Hey! Hope you get better very soon, sending you lots of good energy and love ❤️

As a graphic designer by education but no longer by career, yes please we need to take down these ridiculous businesses that gatekeep tools of the trade. You can trademark a logo, but it is absolutely ridiculous to trademark a freaking color.

This reminds me so much of the lawsuits around chord changes in songs (like Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye), etc.

I’m so happy you are doing so well! Your scar is metal!!

you had me in the first minute w that golden intro omg

Wow. I’m convinced daily that ownership is just bad, all around. No one really owns anything, we just borrow for a time. And wouldn’t you know it, more and more powerful people are refusing to share.

Found out your channel today and I love it here! Keep up the good work ❤

Good to have you back. May the ever hungry algorithm devour this comment.

Forgot to comment this the first time I watched, but so glad you're back! I didn't expect to be seeing another youtube video for much longer as you recovered, I'm so happy you made such a quick recovery, love your videos

Your skin healed so well!!

i smiled when i saw you on my TL again!! I wish you all the best for your recovery!

Glad to see you mention Culture Hustle and Stuart Semple. He is developing paints to match these colors of the year as well as doing freetone.

Thank you. I will share this on my socials, and send it to fellow artists

Thanks for your perspective, Cat. To be honest, I haven’t done as much research on Pantone as you have with regard to its motives or strategy, so I think I need to hold off on forming a fully fledged opinion on the company as a whole. On one hand, I agree that the monetisation and monopolisation of colour is absurd. Pantone bills itself as a consulting firm-almost like a nonprofit!-but you don’t have to look far to see them peddling their merchandise. The legal and artistic ramifications you mentioned are very real and important to consider. On the other hand, I will say that I do tend to like many-though certainly not all-of their Colour of the Year forecasts. I’ve never bought any of their official merchandise (I’m sure we’ve all supported them indirectly), and you won’t catch me buying a ticket to the “Magentaverse” exhibit anytime soon, but I have been inspired by them more times than I can count. “Emerald”, which Pantone made aware to me, is now probably my favourite colour of all time, and I just painted an accent piece in my bedroom to match the sophistication of “Marsala”. I figure if they can profit off of colours they didn’t invent, I can profit from their research without giving them money. 😉 One thing I do disagree with, though, is the possible implication from the quote you read that optimism in the face of tragedy and hardship is inconsiderate of those who are suffering. Indeed, there would be no need for hope if there weren’t tragedy that defies it. One could argue that Pantone was trying to sell hope with optimistic colours, taking advantage of vulnerable people, and I understand that, but I don’t feel like that’s the case, at least not for me. Maybe I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, but colour was very important to my mental health in the worst throes of the pandemic, and I actually appreciated Pantone’s reminder to look to colour for cheer and joy when I was feeling hopeless with the world. I appreciate your thoughts, Cat. They’re definitely something I need to consider!

whenever you're mad at people owning shades of color just remember taylor swift trademarked 1989

as someone who studies print, there are attempts being made to expand the CMYK gamut so that spot colors are not needed! including colors like Orange, green, and violet. using the new 7 color printing process, we can match about 90% of Pantone colors.

I find it so wild that people (or even corporations) think they can own COLORS. Like, what are they gonna do if they see one of their colors in nature? Sue nature? If they find one of their colors on a solid color t shirt or a painted building, are they gonna sue the T shirt or the building? Not only that, but if you're solely relying on a COLOR alone for people to recognize your brand, that's a skill issue in marketing.

yes i got the shadiness/shades of colour pun! only halfway through the video though 🤭 this was your first video i watched and it turned from an "want to see more" to an "instant subscribe" when you added the note about (colour-) blindness. everybody who is authentically willing and able to detect and amend their own biases is in my team immediately 💕

This tickled the same part of my brain that researching the color plum tickled.

From work experience, I know that for catalogs a web-offset press typically has CMYK and one or two other inks of a custom color. Usually related to a major sponsor. Target red or Pepsi blue, for example.

SO happy to hear the spinal surgery went well. That shit is terrifying and I was seriously worried about you. Super happy to see you in my sub feed again!

I tinted paint at a hardware store. Our department members, at that particular location, took a lot of pride in being able to do some seriously custom colour matching - colours that we didn't have formulas in our brand (tint set) for, that we had no sample to let the photospectometer test (It bounces light off a sample, and creates a formula of tints to make that colour) or that the sample, wasn't compatible with the spectrometer. (Magazine images are made up of dots - a machine can't read that accurately as a colour). Oh, and the company supplying our tints/in house formulas, changed some of them part way through my job there. So suddenly, a client wanting the same colour they bought a week ago... as a "perfect" match to finish a job. well... uhm... you see... it might not be the same. We can figure it out for you, we'll get it right... but it might take 10-30 minutes (as opposed to the 6min it ought to take if you bring in the previous can). It was fascinating. But yikes.

I cannot tell you how frustrated I was as a designer to learn that I now have to pay a subscription to be able to have full access to all of the pantone colors in illustrator. ANOTHER SUBSCRIPTION? TO USE COLORS?? It looks like freetone is great for digital printing but I'd still have to use pantone if I want to do spot colors :'(

babe wake up cat dropped another banger video

When I learned about colors and pantone at a graphic design school, my teacher told our class that copy/print shops have these pantone swatches and would let you borrow them (probably for a small fee). Especially when you're a young designer and need to use them once or twice for a client, they'd understand. Though I'm from the middle of Europe and can't say how it is in other countries, but I hope this might help nonetheless. Doesn't hurt to ask at a local print shop idk 🤷

Yessss glad to see you back!!!