Once again, the influence of the promotional products world has extended into the retail market and even beyond. While shopping at Heliotrope, a kitschy home goods store beloved by Pinnacle’s marketing department, I discovered logo mugs imprinted with Pantone colors and corresponding numbers.
For those of you who are not familiar with graphic design or printing, the Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a way for printers to ensure that they reproduce standardized colors without variation. Businesses with very specific colors in their logo often reference Pantone colors and numbers when purchasing promotional products or otherwise displaying their logo. Note, for example, that the red and yellow McDonald’s arches always appear as the same exact shade.
Pantone colors were invented by Pantone Inc (now owned by X-Rite Inc) in the 1950s but have only recently become popular in the retail market. A quick Internet search for “Pantone” brings up business card holders, coin purses and even folding chairs. As of May, 2010, artists, designers, promotional products purchasers and other Pantone color enthusiasts can spend a night at the Pantone Hotel, a brightly decorated lodge in the heart of Brussels. With amenities that include the very same logo mugs I discovered right here in Atlanta, visitors are sure to feel right at home.
Pantone Hotel via Resortrefugees.com
mug photo from L’Amour Olivia on Flickr
Sarah
Marketing Coordinator
