The Pantone Matching System (PMS) has been the standard color guide for the graphic arts industry for decades. It has remained a constant among designers and graphic artists and is responsible for very accurate color reproduction within professionally designed materials. The Pantone Color Matching System is truly a valuable resource.

As the internet and the vast universe of websites came into being, and email became a regular method of artist-client communication, the speed and efficiency of the proof and approval process grew exponentially. Whether it was a logo design, a new brochure layout, or some other form of printed collateral, quickly-transmitted electronic proofs helped speed up the process.

Frequent trips to the designer’s studio were now less critical, and clients and artists alike were now able to work with people that are not necessarily in close geographic proximity. Artists can work more efficiently, and clients are able to reap the benefit in terms of cost savings. Everybody wins.

However, without face time with the client, the artist is frequently challenged by the inconsistencies among color monitors, displays, and printers with which the client is able to view the work. What looks green in the design studio may look blue on the client’s monitor. And while the artist designated a specific warm grey for a logo, the clients printer rendered yellow. This problem will remain for quite a long time, and there is no foreseeable, universal solution, as long as electronic proofs take precedent over traditional, color-matched printed proofs.

Splendor Design Group, a full service design and marketing firm based in New Jersey, has developed a useful resource in an attempt to confront this issue. Splendor’s new Online Pantone© Color Guide depicts a large library of PMS colors in a chart that displays both sample color swatches and the corresponding Pantone number. While this guide is still subject to the great inconsistencies and disparity among the multitude of monitors in the world, it offers non-designers a glimpse at the variety of industry-standard colors available at most printing facilities.

Splendor’s Online Pantone© Color Guide is in no way a replacement for the actual Pantone Printed Guides, but it makes a valiant effort at bridging the gap between what the designer sees and what the client sees. PANTONE© and other Pantone, Inc., trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc.

Adam Taylor is the owner and creative director of Splendor Design Group, an award-winning boutique design studio specializing in logo design, web design and print design for small to medium-sized businesses. Learn more about his team at www.splendorgraphics.com.