Love Your Pantones

Colour is such a fascinating topic, but it wasn't until I took courses last year in Adobe inDesign that I learned how much I really love it. I'm so grateful that I have two jobs that let me play with colour and design, and even though colour matching can be a complete headache (and expensive!) there is something irresistible about how erratic, unpredictable, surprising and beautiful colour can be. When something looks warm and inviting in one kind of light, it looks the complete opposite in another setting. Kind of like a bad relationship that you just can't give up.

So I just joined Pantone's fan community, and frankly, I'm wondering why I never did this sooner. I check the website periodically and I follow @mypantone on Twitter, but for some reason this didn't hit my radar until today.

Pantone colour matching and the organization itself has a really fascinating history, one that is based in my favourite historical time period, the mid-20th century. Before Pantone colour matching system, there was no colour standard in graphic design, an unthinkable concept nowadays. And it all began when a young man named Lawrence Herbert was working at a commercial printing company. He began simplifying the company's ink stocks and did so well that he eventually was running the company, renaming it Pantone.

As someone who relies on colour and works with branded designs a lot, I love this system and it makes it a billion times easier working with printers in various formats.

Plus, if you are a colour nerd like me, you mght enjoy some of these:

LOVE these. I own the bottom one, second from the far left. (Got mine from the Seattle Art Museum.)

Pantone chip cookies!! (via Design*Sponge)

Rubik's cube in Pantone (via IfItsHipItsHere - see more stuff on the link!)

Anyway, for joining the myPantone community, here's what you have access to:

You are now a member of myPANTONE. You will receive, via E-mail, a link to download your complementary issue of Before & After* magazine.
Being a myPANTONE member gives you the following benefits:

• Access to members-only articles
• PANTONE "X-Ref" online color system cross-referencing tool
• Exclusive offers and promotions
• Order status, tracking information and purchase history
• Free software updates
• Full access to our Help Center
• Online 24/7 access to our Knowledgebase
• "Ask a Question" page
• Access to myPANTONE Palettes online community, for color palette sharing
• Access to myPANTONE Forums

If you ask me, these are pretty cool benefits for a free membership. (If you love colour like I do, consider joining!)