When a business starts, one thing you should add to your list of things is to pick a color that represents your business. This color could bring you a lot of business since some colors are what a customer remembers about your business along with your name. You also may have to match the color at some point. It may be a vehicle wrap or any other kind of signage. Having information about the color you use in your logo and branding is important. Here is a list of things to remember about color matching.
How to get a color
- Pick a color from swatches (get these at a paint store)
- From the color you pick, the primary colors are used to make the color
- Many paint stores have the same primary colors
- You will get a name and number of your color scheme to keep for future use and matching
When you might need to match colors
- Opening another business in another location (ex. state)
- Switching sign companies to do printing
- A new vehicle wrap needs to match the original color of an older wrap
Color Systems
Pantone and CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color systems are used in printing and design but are different. There are many variables when it comes to printing and is complicated and overwhelming. Unless you are a graphic designer or work in a paint store, you probably don’t need to know or understand a lot about this. Basically, the difference between the 2 types of printing is accuracy. CMYK is usually used in inkjet printers combining the 4 colors to produce secondary colors (yellow and black makes green). Pantone is color specific and creates exact colors.
When to use Pantone
- The name and number of your color makes it easy to use at multiple locations you run to produce the exact color without you being there (ex. Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz)
- Produces consistent branding and logos
Landscaping business uses a special green in all their vehicle wraps.
When to use CMYK
- Exact color isn’t a concern
- Less expensive than Pantone
Coroplast signs are usually temporary and color isn’t as important.
As you can see, this is an important part of your business, but complicated. That is where we come in with our expert designers and printers. We can help you pick out a great color if you are starting out or we can usually match a color if you have used a good color system in the past with your business. We love working with color and find it a very interesting part of our printing business like Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz is Pantone’s color of the year which celebrates 25 years of the color of the year program this year.
