How important is it to get a color match from Pantone ink to CMYK to RGB? Do we even care any more?
When I first started as a designer, the digital world was just getting started. I worked on a boxy little Macintosh desktop and big concerns at the time were whether the client could afford a 4-color job or a specialty paper stock. (The answer was almost always no – and sometimes “are you kidding?”).
Attending press checks to make sure the piece is printing as expected, and that the client’s signature color matched their color chips perfectly. The only time you had to consider an RGB version of a logo is if your client was advertising on TV. Personally, I had no such clients.
Now that the internet and social media is deeply woven into every aspect of our daily lives, many clients with vibrant and active brands barely print anything anymore. All of their marketing is online. Most folks want a business card, but gone are the days when full color brochures, printed annual reports and direct marketing figured large in the annual marketing budget.
With regards to developing a visual brand, it’s now far more important to focus on brand consistency across multiple different screens and operating systems and not nearly so much on how it looks when printed in 4 color vs spot color printing.
So – let’s do a test. Admittedly it is not an accurate test as it is being displayed onscreen so inherently RGB. But bear with me – I think the concept still works.
Example
The first row is a palette chosen from an RGB palette. The second row is the same colors when translated to CMYK.
You’ll notice that the second row, while still blue, red, green, purple and rust, there is a marked lack of vibrancy in the second row. The blue green and purple are most changed, while the red and the rust colors don’t show as much of a change.
These are concerns that should be addressed during branding development.
