Meeting Chroma the Great:Pantone from Chemistry to Fashion and Back AgainMargaret McCormick for Saturated Space

Walk into any art supply store and there are certain expected products: paint, brushes,sketchbooks, etc. but just beyond these materials, usually towards the cash register, is acollection of (for lack of a better word) tchotchkes. Though these are no ordinary tchotchkes, forthey proclaim: “I’m a designer!” and as such are correspondingly expensive. Yet amongst allthese colourful mugs, bags and iphone cases there is one company inspiring covetous desireabove the others: Pantone. Pantone is the definitive authority on colour for designers, architects,and printers, all while remaining that most elusive adjective: “cool”.

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Pantone’s self­designation as the warden of colour is somewhat reminiscent of a children’s bookfrom 1961, The Phantom Tollbooth. In the story, a bored young boy (Milo) enters into a magicalworld that encourages exploration and education. Towards the climax, Milo meets “Chroma theGreat”, the master of colour and “only sane man left in the kingdom” . Yet as is the way in moral2

parables, the boy attempts to usurp Chroma, fails spectacularly and flees, leaving the sky inchaos. It is a lesson in responsibility and deference to knowledge.

1 Images from “Pantone Accessories” Pantone.com http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/category.aspx?ca=33. (accessedJanuary 2nd, 2014)2 Norton Juster, The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth (New York: Knopf Publishing, 2011) 120­125

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But what happens when Chroma, or in the real world, Pantone, isn’t the only game in town? Howdoes “the authority” stay “the great”?

The answer is one of chemistry and marketing, of perceptions and impressions, and it begins,as most things do, in the past.

The Wonderful Wizard of TiO2

Before Pantone was Pantone ®, it was a relatively small commercial printing company inCarlstadt, New Jersey . In 1956 the operation hired a recent chemistry graduate with medical3

school ambitions for part­time work: Lawrence Herbert. Six years later, Herbert found himself as4

head of the Ink and Printing Department with enough extendable cash to purchase the remainderof the company outright. (By this time Herbert’s ambition had shifted from medicine tomanufacturing.) So it was in 1962 the company became “Pantone”.

Up until this point, colour standardization was a messy subject. Indeed in 1941, the AmericanSociety for Testing Materials held a symposium dedicated just to colour, attempting to define amethod of consistent reproduction. Eventually stating that “So far, the work seems to be5

promising, but it has not gone far enough to say anything more about it than that.” 6

Twenty one years later, Herbert resolved the longstanding issue and cemented his company’sfuture with a ground­breaking creation: the Pantone Matching System (PMS). The PMSorganizes colours to an alphanumeric code that printers can match on a standardized basis. Intheory, and arguably practice, if a code is given to two unrelated commercial printers on eitherside of the world, they will produce the same outcome. In one fell swoop, Pantone establisheditself as the Greenwich Mean Time of the colour world: the PMS GMT.

It was a scheme only a scientist would have devised. By reducing the previous industryexpectations of 60 pigments to a much lower number (some sources have listed 10, whilePantone’s 6 colour printing process is listed as US patent 5,734,800) , Herbert restricted control7

3 Carlstadt is also the home of the novelty drink Yoo­Hoo.The New York Times, March 2, 1975. found on the New York Times Archive Website“ People/Buisness; Yoo­hoo: A Carlstadt Success Story” New York Times Online (Accessed December 12th, 2013)http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0913FA3B5C107B93C0A91788D85F418785F94 “Lawrence Herbert Biography” Pantone History. http://kr.pantone.com/popups/aboutus/lhbio.htm (Accessed December 30th,2013. )5 “American Society for Testing Materials ­ Symposium on colour ­ 1941” (Presentation for ASTM, Baltimore MD July 1941)Selections available online via googlebooks. Google Books.com, “Syposium on colour ­ 1941”http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GS2HKpthgwcC&pg=PA44&dq=colour+standardization&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sTqjUo6UNYeqhQf20YGABw&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=standardization&f=false (accessed December 12th, 2013)6 Mr. W. T. Pierce “Discussion” from “American Society for Testing Materials ­ Symposium on colour ­ 1941” (Presentation forASTM, Baltimore MD July 1941) page 22­25. Selections available online via googlebooks. Syposium on colour ­ 1941” Google Books.com,“http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GS2HKpthgwcC&pg=PA44&dq=colour+standardization&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sTqjUo6UNYeqhQf20YGABw&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=standardization&f=false (accessed December 12th, 2013)7 “Pantone’s Marketing and Usage Rules” Pantonebr.com Rules as of January 2010 [FRM­7.2­LIC­01 012010]http://www.pantonebr.com.br/normas_pantone.pdf (accessed January 1st, 2014)

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and regulated results. No more “close enoughs”, which also meant a more efficient use of8

supplies. Products would be printed right the first time. Everytime.

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The most famous case study of Pantone’s early success is that of Kodak. In the 1960s Kodaknoticed that a strong percentage of their film was not selling in certain areas. An anomaly surely,as the product was exactly the same everywhere. Soon it was found that even though theproduct was brand new, the packaging looked old: some boxes were a radiant bright yellow,while others were more of a mustard colour. It was determined that the inconsistency had beenbrought on by the use of area­specific printers, so when Kodak switched to the PMS, their profitswent up significantly and Pantone was on its way.10

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8 “Quick History, Pantone”, Apartment Therapy.comhttp://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick­history­pantoneretrospec­163877(accessed December 12th, 2013)9 Image from “The Remington Site” Soundfountain.com http://www.soundfountain.org/rem/remcovart.html (accessed January2nd, 2014)10 “Patone Company History”, Funding Universe.com, http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company­histories/pantone­inc­history/(accessed December 12th, 2013)11 Swatch Image from “Pantone ­ Mimosa” Pantone.com http://www.pantone.com/images/pages/20633/image2.jpg (accessedJanuary 2nd, 2014)12 Kodak images from “Quick History, Pantone” Apartment Therapy.comhttp://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick­history­pantoneretrospec­163877 (accessed January 2nd, 2014)

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It was a solution very much of its age. The instant and mass communication of television,particularly colour television, let people know what something “should” look like. So naturallyhaving consistency in colour and image would be essential to large scale manufacturing. Tofrustrated advertising agencies, the PMS fan must have seemed like a catalogue of possibilitiesenthusiastically proclaiming “look for the Pantone seal of freshness! IT’S THAT EASY”. So easyin fact that mass­standardization of colour and printing would be wryly referenced by AndyWarhol in just a few short years.

Through the PMS, Pantone became a great friend to designers, but in reality, its one true lovewas business. By taking colour away from subjectivity to a specific place on a pointed spectrum,Pantone helped to create branding in its most capitalist sense. If originality is only as good as itsperception, having Tiffany Blue, Coke Red and UPS Brown is like printing money itself. In fact,13

the PMS was such a strong balance of a regulation and customization that would goconceptually unrivaled for almost forty years.

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However Lawrence Herbert was not the first to invent packaged colour standardization. In 1931,Le Corbusier created a series of standardized “soft pastels and brights” to be produced by

13 “Quick History, Pantone”, Apartment Therapy.comhttp://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick­history­pantoneretrospec­163877(accessed December 12th, 2013)14 Image from: “Pantone ­ Celebrating 50 years” Pantone­art.com, http://pantone­art.com/blog/?p=401, posted May 29th, 2013(accessed December 20th, 2013)

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Salubra, a swiss manufacturer. Frank Lloyd Wright oversaw a similar collection for15 16

Schumacher Paints in 1955. 17

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Though while both precedents had their relative successes, they were ultimately limiting. As thework of specific people, with specific intents the colours had the inescapable burden of vision,demanding submission to achieve success. What Herbert, and subsequently Pantone, diddifferently was not to highlight colours by a certain set of aesthetics but to create a tool for theirmanipulation and production. It was a humble approach and forged Pantone’s fairly passivepublic persona, that is until the first wave of their massive expansion in 1977, when the companywent public. The move changed their average yearly revenue from around $2 million in the 1970sto approximately $500 million by the mid 1980s. It was at this time that Herbert and company20

began to eye the world of fashion to keep expanding their colour fan choices:

“We had a consultant who would get a committee together and find out, for example, whatcolours are showing up in Milan, what colours are showing up in Paris,” [Herbert] recalled. “Itseems that a lot of designers all decide that coffee brown might be a good colour in the sameyear.”21

Almost as a reflection of this research, Calvin Klein is rumored to use a Pantone chip in hiskitchen to indicate what colour his coffee should be.22

15 Alice Rawsthorn “His True colours” New York Times Magazine Online. Published Sept 28th, 2010,http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/his­true­colours/?_r=0 (accessed December 15th, 2013)16 Le Corbusier would repeat the technique in the 1950s one he entered into his “Baton Brut” phase.ibid. (accessed December 18th, 2013)17 Schumacher’s Taliesin Line of Decorative Fabrics and Wallpaper (Published by E.W. & Co. ­ Sample Books, Chicago, 1955).Diane Maddex, “Frank Lloyd Wright’s House Beautiful”, Hearst Books (London, UK) 2000, page 3618 Image from Alice Rawsthorn “His True colours” New York Times Magazine Online. Published Sept 28th, 2010,http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/his­true­colours/?_r=0 (accessed December 15th, 2013)19 Image from “Schumacher Paints” Steinerag.com, http://www.steinerag.com/flw/Artifact%20Pages/Schumacher.htm#Paints(accessed Dec 15th, 2013)20 “Patone Company History”, Funding Universe.com, http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company­histories/pantone­inc­history/(accessed December 12th, 2013)21 Pagan Kennedy, “Who Made That Pantone Chip” New York Times Online . Published February 22nd, 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/who­made­that­pantone­chip.html?_r=0 accessed December 15th, 2013)22 ibid.

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The Pantone of the 1980s was looking to fashion for inspiration, a mirror image of the companyto come, but it wouldn’t get there too fast. The game suddenly changed, dangerously andirretrievably because when the digital age hit Pantone, it hit hard.

The Once and Future King

In 1991, the CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) colour selection grid became the digitalstandard in graphic design with the release of Photoshop 2.0. CMYK took the same systematic24

colour understanding of PMS but brought it into a contactless world. Further, the function ofPhotoshop was fairly user friendly so individual users felt more confident in their own work,rather than paying professional printers. This newfound confidence affected the industry somuch that by the mid­90s “typesetting as a separate trade and function had ceased to exist.” 25

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23 Image from “Pantone Coffee colours” Redbubble.comhttp://www.redbubble.com/people/naf4d/works/4233501­pantone­4­coffee­4c?p=sticker (accessed January 2nd, 2014)24 “Adobe Company History”, Funding Universe.com,http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company­histories/adobe­systems­inc­history/ (accessed December 12th, 2013)25 Paul Sherfield “My Adventures with ISO 12647­2 and colour Management” blog post for “Missing Horse Graphic ArtsConsultancy” posted November 9th, 2012http://www.missinghorsecons.co.uk/wordpress/2012/09/my­adventures­with­iso­12647­2­and­colour­management/ (accessedDecember 12th, 2013)26 Image from “CMYK Printer Test” Presentation Magazine.comhttp://www.presentationmagazine.com/cmyk­printer­test­page­8048.htm (accessed January 2nd, 2014)

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As personal printers became more and more affordable, colour printing was becoming themedium of companies like LaserJet or Dupont, with its “DuPont Digital Cromalin” Standard. Forits part, Pantone was attempting to join the party before they were washed away, first bypartnering with NeXT Computer Inc., Adobe, Bitstream, Deneba, MultiAd Services, Quark, andVentura from 1991 to 1992. The following year, they expanded their brand with AGFA, Aldus,Corel, Gold Disk, Linotype­Hell, and Serif. These partnerships were joined by their own27

attempts to regulate the computer printing system including the Pantone Open ColorEnvironment (POCE), Color Systems Cross­Reference Software and ColorDrive, “a desktopcolour­management program free of specific applications.”28

The partnerships had varying degrees of success, but all of them were certainly gambles. Forthe first time in Pantone’s history, it had to work for its prestige. The people who were buyingcomputers were not necessarily “industry people” but they suddenly had access to industrytools. What did it matter if the product was Pantone or not? If it looked good, that was enough.Knowing that at any moment a new technology could overtake their position, Pantone shot in alldirections, violently attempting to save themselves.

Salvation finally came in 1996, when NeXT Computer Inc. was purchased by Apple and formedthe basis of the new Mac OS. The partnership meant that Pantone could still be relevant to thegrowingly popular Macbook set. So much so, that all CS editions of Photoshop post 2005 havecolour plugins for Pantone specifically. However the lesson Pantone learned was that relying29

on specific industries and technology is a dangerous game. It was much safer to make peoplelove them and follow it from there: a charmingly machiavellian solution to a practical problem.

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27 “Patone Company History”, Funding Universe.com, http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company­histories/pantone­inc­history/(accessed December 12th, 2013)28 Ibid.29 “Adobe Company History”, Funding Universe.com,http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company­histories/adobe­systems­inc­history/ (accessed December 12th, 2013)30 Image from “Pantone Xmas Balls”, Seletti.it, http://www.seletti.it/objects/pantone/pantone­xmas­ball.php (accessed January2nd, 2014)

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In 2007 Pantone was purchased by X­Rite, a former x­ray equipment production company thatalso focuses on colour measurement with Hebert staying on as President and COO (ChiefOperating Officer). Though by this time, in the wake of the digital age, Pantone had changed.31 32

The company had shifted its ambition from being the secret knock of design to seizing the throneoutright. It was about survival as much as dominance, for now the two were linked as one.

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A Technicolor Tomorrow

Pantone also has its rivals for colour theory in the early 2000s. When Colours was releasedunder the direction of Birkhauser Publishing in 2001, it could boast submissions from RemKoolhaas/OMA, Norman Foster and Alessandro Mendini, with all contributors focusing on therelationship between colour and architecture. Colours maintains that colour creates a visceralimpact on the viewer and condemns the overly white structures of the 1980s as being snobbyand limiting. Ultimately the book determined that designers could no longer ignore anenvironmental factor that carried such weight. As Koolhaas phrased it “the future of colour isbright.”34

Further, in all the writings is the subtle but accepted notion that colour as a packaging agent ofideas is a thing.

“The idea of a ‘range’ has become tiresome and uninteresting. Paint now seems brutal as colouris given by glass, plastics, artificial light, translucencies and transparencies, a kind of universequietness and disappearance” 35

31 Lawrence Herbert is now retired. His daughter, Lisa Herbert remained on as vice­president of consumer licensing.Pagan Kennedy, “Who Made That Pantone Chip” New York Times Online . Published February 22nd, 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/who­made­that­pantone­chip.html?_r=0 accessed December 15th, 2013)32 “About Us ­ X­Rite to Acquire Pantone, Inc. Extending Reach in the colour Industry” Pantone.com, 2007 Pantone Press ReleaseArchive http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20479&ca=10 (accessed December 12th, 2013)33 Image from “Pantone Visa Card” Pantone.com https://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=20748&ca=33(January 2nd, 2014)34 Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Alessandro Mendini, Colours (Geneva Switzerland: Birkhäuser Publishing, 2001) Excerpt fromKoolhaas Essay, ‘The Future of Colours is Looking Bright” page 5­635 Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Alessandro Mendini, Colours (Geneva Switzerland: Birkhäuser Publishing, 2001) Excerptfrom Koolhaas Essay, ‘The Future of Colours is Looking Bright” page 5­6

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And to the credit of the argument, the world had gone distinctly quiet in terms of colour rangetowards the end of the 20th century. Only a few years prior to Colours, Richard Meier hadproclaimed that:

“...White is the light, the medium of understanding and transformative power”36

The bulk of the book seeks to counter this assertion, with individual colour samples submitted byOMA employees, ranging from bright and defiant to textured and passive, without overarching orobvious schematic objective. In its own coy way, Colours is a strict reaction to the packaging ofcolour as “Designer” (even though it gives the initial appearance of the opposite). The content isnot intent on the glorification of an individual aesthetic and argues that the selections are notdogma, but a particular, individual affiliation within a diverse medium. To that end, theorganization is specifically unorganized: a hodge­podge of personality from a certain population,looking in turns serious and expressionless in black and white photos.

It was a moment where the discussion on colour was not controlled or prescribed but suggestedas a topic of conversation. However, it was not to last. At least not commercially.

Turn to the Left, Fashion!

As Colours was being written, Pantone made a radical change in their marketing by introducingthe “Color of the Year” with the first selection being “Cerulean Blue”. Naturally, it came with adesign statement to match:

"Surrounding yourself with Cerulean Blue could bring on a certain peace because it reminds youof time spent outdoors, on a beach, near the water ­ associations with restful, peaceful, relaxingtimes. In addition, it makes the unknown a little less frightening because the sky, which is apresence in our lives every day, is a constant and is always there," 37 38

Some of the later colours consist of Fuschia Rose (2001), Aqua Sky (2003) and Tiger Lily(2004). Each selection arriving with a whimsical explanation as to what the colour means to thatyear. Thought the most conflicting to be portrayed as a “fashion trend” is 2002’s True Red whichwas chosen as a patriotic nod to the September 11th attack.

36 Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Alessandro Mendini, Colours (Geneva Switzerland: Birkhäuser Publishing, 2001) Excerptfrom Gehard Mack Introduction Essay, “Between Surface and Space: Colour in Architecture” page 1­337 “Color of the Year 2000 Press Release Archive ­ 1999 Pantone” Pantone.com,http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20194 (accessed December 12th, 2013)38 This statement, by the way, would only be relevant if you live somewhere with consistently nice weather.

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Arguably the chief figure for the “Color of the Year” promotions is Leatrice Eiseman, ExecutiveDirector of the Pantone Color Institute. Where Herbert anchored Pantone as a product divisibleby chemistry, Eiseman’s work is cross section of psychology, market research and trendwatching.

“So we do a lot of homework and we look at art collections and is this colour playing into theworld of art? What is happening as far as the big soccer matches in Brazil? Where is the homecountry? Is this colour indigenous to that country? We look at the, of course, the fashion industryis always an important indicator and we're certainly seeing a lot of that for spring fashion andwe're starting to see indications of the colour in not only women's fashion, but in men's fashionas well. So there are lots of indicators that lead us to the “Color of the Year”.40

Also stating that:

“People are fascinated by it [the Color of the Year] and start to look for it or find ways to use it. Itdoesn’t necessarily mean the whole world will love it, as everyone has personal likes and dislikes— but when they become more aware of the colour, it challenges them to find a place for it. Italways starts with touches first — in fashion, it could be a pair of sandals, a piece of fun jewelry,a pair of tights, or a scarf, and then what happens is they often want to get more of it.”41

This frivolous impression of what the “Color of the Year” does stands in contrast to a Slate article

39 Image from “Pantone Color of the Year” Fresh­Development.comhttp://fresh­development.com/blog/The_colour_of_the_Year_2013_in_Web_Design#.UsRUy6JX­pg (accessed January 2nd,2014)40Scott Neuman “Pantone's 'Orchid' Is A Purple Hue That Doesn't Seem The Same” WJCT News , Public Broadcasting Servicemember­supported station, Jacksonville, Florida. Posted December 6th, 2013http://news.wjct.org/post/pantones­orchid­purple­hue­doesnt­seem­same (accessed December 12th, 2013)

41 “Best Job Ever ­ Pantone’s colour Specialist” Modlcloth.com Blog, published January 29th, 2013,http://blog.modcloth.com/2013/01/29/best­job­ever­pantones­leatrice­eiseman­colour­specialist/ (accessed December 20th, 2013)

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from 2012 which painted Pantone’s research gathering as if it were a meeting of the Illuminati. 42

“Twice a year, in some European capital, in a room purposely chosen to be drab andsparse—so as not to influence the colour mood—[David] Shah gathers a stable of colourists,each of whom works with his or her own country’s national colour groups (who traditionally haveworked with textile companies and others to set colour standards), as well as consulting withcompanies ranging from Airbus to Zara to Union Carbide.”43

Indeed, since the introduction of the “Color of the Year”, Pantone has partnered more publicallywith fashion designers and merchandisers than any other of its manufacturing labels.Particularly in the seasonal “Pantone Fashion Guide”, a packaged colour scheme which isprovided to designers in exchange for their creative indorsement by presenting a similarlycoloured ensemble. The Spring 2014 collection, for example, has submissions fromBCBGMAXAZRIA, Ella Moss, Nanette Lepore, Christian Siriano and Juicy Couture.44

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More than once similarities have been drawn between the “Color of the Year” and a scene fromthe film version of The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep, as a thinly disguised AnnaWintour, dresses down Anne Hathaway’s dismissal of two similarly coloured pink belts, andthereby, the fashion world. Emphasizing with sinister sharpness: “You think this has nothing todo with you?”46

42 For those desirous of a conspiracy theory can note that the 2014 Color of the Year “Radiant Orchid” was hinted at by a 2013interview with Eisenman when she claimed her favorite colour was “purple”“Best Job Ever ­ Pantone’s colour Specialist” Modlcloth.com Blog, published January 29th, 2013,http://blog.modcloth.com/2013/01/29/best­job­ever­pantones­leatrice­eiseman­colour­specialist/ (accessed December 20th,2013).43 Tom Vanderbilt “Sneaking into Pantone HQ: How colour forecasters really decide which hue will be the new black.” , publishedApril 27th, 2012 http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/04/pantone_colour_forecasts_are_they_accurate_.single.html(accessed December 15th, 2013)

44 “Pantone 2014 Spring Report” Pantone.com, http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr/default.aspx?season=spring&year=2014(accessed January 1st, 2014)45 Image from “Pantone 2014 Spring Report” Pantone.com,http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr/default.aspx?season=spring&year=2014 (accessed January 1st, 2014)46 The Devil Wears Prada. DVD. Directed by David Frankel. 20th Century Fox, Los Angeles, CA. 2006

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While the question of “what does this has to do me?” is, by its logic, inescapable, the morepertinent question remains of “what does this have to do with Pantone?”

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When Pantone’s competition wasn’t actually any competition they were able to base theirreputation on delivery. But as the threat of obsolescence loomed over the marketplace, thecompany began to refer to itself as an authority rather than a manufacturer. This was themoment with the product stopped being enough to sell itself. The name is what matters now.Pantone went from tool to trendsetter, subsequently becoming an agent for monoculture indesign: declaring certain colours to be “trending” and getting leading designers to confirm theirselection. Though this authority is, as all authority is, a manifestation of perception. TheEmperor's new colour scheme.

While Pantone still makes a fine product in a commercial sense, what is troubling about itscurrent marketing is just how religiously it’s followed and embraced. Design is seen as avaluable commodity only as a font of originality. Pantone’s marketing, however, encouragescreatives to be in want of a tyrant, angling itself as the benevolent, if conflicted, monarch.

47 Images from “Pantone 2014 Spring Report ­ Designers and Influences” Pantone.comhttp://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr/default.aspx?season=spring&year=2014&from=hpbanner, (accessed January 2nd,, 2014)Radiant Orchid Examples

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“Do These People Come To You?...They Must. I Have Never Gone To Them.”

Pantone’s balance of authority, ego and product is another indicator of the current climate forself­presentation (and self­preservation) in design. Pantone as it paints itself now could just aseasily be a Starchitect: a mix of friendly assistance with a cool, aloof veneer. But one thatdepends solely on consumer appreciation of critical acclaim. For example, would the FrankGehry collections for Tiffany or Michael Graves Target teapots ever have been made without48 49

a vast reputation behind them? Probably not. 50

The argument can be made that brand­name design has been around since the invention of themodern architectural profession in the Renaissance. The powerful want something that is51

aligned with their taste and are ready to present those who deliver to the masses. This isprobably why the June 3rd, 1956 episode of ‘What’s My Line’ required panelists to wearblindfolds while identifying Frank Lloyd Wright: people knew his face as much they knew hiswork. But Wright found himself in the public eye because respected academic institutions hadmade him their icon, he had been made king by the kingmakers. But now the powerful and themasses are the same thing. And while the idea of Wright linking his sketches to ArchDaily’sTumblr and trolling for Facebook likes is absurd, that’s what's expected of designers now. Whybe a teacher when you can be a social­media sensation?

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So it was that product and ego in design had a strange exchange of machinery in the digital age.What makes a reputation is now a matter of blips on thousands and thousands of dashboardsrather than an ultimate catharsis delivered to a singular powerful entity. Individual satisfaction andobscurity may be cooler but it certainly isn’t the focus anymore. In 2014, if a designer wants tosurvive they have to be likeable, or at least digitally accessible, to be marketable. Which mattersnow, apparently. Some have indicated this to be the death of the critic, but instead it just provesthe old adage: everyone’s a critic.

Under this reign, Pantone becomes the kindling of Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr as well as a53

48 Levent Osler, “Frank Gehry Jewelry Design Collection for Tiffany and Co”. Dexigner.com, April 14th, 2006http://www.dexigner.com/news/7786 (Accessed January 27th 2014)49 “Final Collection of Michael Graves Design Collection Arrives March 2014­ Febuary 7th, 2012” Target.com Press Room.http://pressroom.target.com/news/final­collection­of­michael­graves­02072012 (Accessed January 27th 2014)50 Buildings could also just be a bigger version of this reputational advantage.51 Mario Carpo, The Alphabet and the Algorithm (Cambridge MA:MIT Press, 2011) 14­2952 Images are screen shots from “Frank Lloyd Wright ­­ What’s My Line” YouTube video, 9:03, posted by “Crepehanger47”September 17th, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbZliXx8kIQ. Shots taken at: , 6:57, 7:09 and 1:06 respectively.53 “Best Job Ever ­ Pantone’s colour Specialist” Modlcloth.com Blog, published January 29th, 2013,http://blog.modcloth.com/2013/01/29/best­job­ever­pantones­leatrice­eiseman­colour­specialist/ (accessed December 20th, 2013)

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go­to for makeup and fashion trending. Presenting itself not as an ego, or individual (which canfall in and out of favour) but as “an authority”. The company seems ground its future interestsinto what are considered traditionally feminine scopes, but as a gender­neutral variable. Thismove might be specifically meaningful as an indication of the growing number of femaledesigners, but more so, it is an alignment with the “cooler” aspects of commercialism.

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Golden Calves and Moleskin Notebooks

One of the side effects of Pantone’s branding change is its shift from timeless organization tothe fleeting, the temporal, and having to maintain that notion indefinitely. For example, in 2011Pantone released Pantone: The Twentieth Century in colour, a book which explores the centurywith over 200 works of art, advertisements, products and more. What the book does not56

overtly imply (and what reviews from its release don’t seem to note) is that Pantone didn’t existuntil over halfway through the century. So really this is an example Pantone’s attempt to seemauthoritative, a company that has simply always been. Moreover this is not the twentieth centuryas it happened, but Pantone’s twentieth century, a coffee table book which simplifiescomplicated decades of major change into what can be sold to consumers.

54 Image from “Barbie Collector ­ Pantone Pink” Barbie Collector.com,http://www.barbiecollector.com/shop/doll/pink­pantone­barbie­doll­w3376 (January 2nd, 2014)55 Image From “Pantone Radiant Orchid 2014” Sephora.com Blog, http://theglossy.sephora.com/articles/785 (accessed January2nd, 2014)56 Imogen Carter, “Pantone: The 20th Century in colour by Leatrice Eiseman and Keith Recker – review” The Guardian Observeronline, published November 13th, 2011 http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/13/pantone­20th­century­colour­review(accessed December 15th, 2013)

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Is it fun? Sure. But it’s also flippant. Colour in this sense is glossy, perfect and a little bit mean:something perpetually new. If appliances, clothes, etc. are anything other than the prescribedselection, their owner can be somehow passe. If, however, the food processor is this year’scolour, then one can be secure in the cleverness of their acquisition. As if that were enough tostave off the inevitability of its obsolescence. This constant consumerism is a lot to ask of aglobal community trying to recover from intense economic hardship. Correspondingly, there wassome criticism regarding the 2013 “Color of the Year”, Emerald. As Tactic Marketing’s blogsurmised:

“What’s that you say? Did I hear you comment on the irony of a year ushered in by a near fall offa fiscal cliff being given the colour of money, precious stones, and growth?”58

Though later in the post Tactic took a more solicitous turn:

“Pantone has given designers an insight into where the general design mood may be this year,taking into consideration the cultural movements, historical precedents, and general ethos of thenews and conversation taking place.”59

In its essential quality, the “Color of the Year” is a snapshot, but a snapshot of world wherepeople are buyers. It’s politically aware, but only so far as it can sell it. It is capitalism in its mosteffective and yet indifferent way: the replacement of a perfectly good colour with a new one.2014’s Radiant Orchid is said to emanate “great joy, love and health” and sounds almost like afortune teller who has been well tipped. And in fulfillment of the prophecy, “Radiant Orchard”60

will most likely be the colour of many a dress, mug and wall until its replacement rolls in justbefore 2015. In this, Pantone has successfully created its own need. A colourful Ouroboros.

57 Images from “Amazon.com Preview Pantone: The 20th Century in colour” Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/Pantone­The­Twentieth­Century­colour/dp/0811877566/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388600973&sr=8­2&keywords=pantone (accessed January 2nd, 2014)58 “Pantone Color of the Year 2013” Tactic Marketing Blog. Tacticmarketing.com, publised January 4th, 2013http://www.tacticmarketing.com/blog/pantones­colour­of­2013­emerald­20130104 (accessed December 19th, 2013)59 ibid.60 “Radiant Orchid ­ Pantone Color of the Year 2014” Pantone.com http://www.pantone.com/pages/index.aspx?pg=21129(accessed December 27th, 2013)

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A sympathetic take would be to see Pantone’s business plan as escapist. Life it hard, people fallout of love, the days get colder, and bills need to paying, but what never disappoints? A fun,bright purple watch! Like a temporary balm for something more troubling. A brief antidote tostruggle and mortality. Though in a way Pantone’s current cult of personality cheapens what thecompany first sent out to be, a tool for design, not its control. The colour equivalent to the likes ofBurberry or Ugg: beginning in practicality but hurtling towards catchphrase.

Categorizing Emotion

The critical pass that Pantone seems have garnered, from its products to its self presentation,is in part generated by the notion of colour being inherently visceral and personal. For this reasonalmost more than any other, colour selection is a tricky endeavor, a cross­section of physicalresponse and memory. The colour of a childhood kitchen is only affectionate if the time spent init was happy and to their credit, Pantone does take their selection seriously. Though itsconcerning when the selection becomes a crutch, a shorthand for originality, a nuanced kind ofmass­narcissism.

Pantone is not at fault for this scheme, indeed quite the opposite. They saw a gap, created aneed and filled it. The fault, if there is one, is on the blind acceptance of design authority. Muchlike in the Phantom Tollbooth, Chroma makes wonderful sunsets, sunrises, comets and thunderbut his power comes from the idea that no one else can do what he does. When Milo tries, hefails because he lacks training, if he’d had it, things may have turned out differently. Chromawould not have been the only master. Yes, Pantone is the current authority on colour ­ but only63

as long as it insures its place as the fetishist of colour. It can no longer escape back to the purelytechnical. Those gates are closed. The direction the Pantone of the early 2000s took gave thecompany a lot more power, but also a lot fewer exits.

It would seem that, in the end, our queen reigns but she does not rule.

61 Image from “Radiant Orchid ­ Pantone Color of the Year 2014” Pantone.comhttp://www.pantone.com/pages/index.aspx?pg=21129 (accessed December 27th, 2013)62 Image from “Pantone Hotel Pictures ­ Brussles” Pantone Hotel.com http://www.pantonehotel.com/en/pictures (January 2nd,2014)63 Norton Juster, The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth (New York: Knopf Publishing, 2011) 120­125

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64 Image from “JC Penny Pantone Collection” JCPenny.comhttp://www.jcpenney.com/bed­bath/bath­rugs­bath­mats/pantone­universe%25e2%2584%25a2­bath­rugs/prod.jump?ppId=pp5002325221&topDim=Categories&topDimvalue=pantone+universe&dimCombo=Categories%7C&dimComboVal=pantone+universe%7C&currentDim=Categories&currentDimVal=pantone+universe&colourizedImg=DP1206201217133968M.tif (accessed January 2nd,2014)

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