What is a Pantone Colour?

Written by Selena Kemp

Assigning a Pantone colour to your brand in the early stages of logo design is invaluable for future brand identity & development.

But what is a Pantone Colour?

A Pantone Colour, sometimes referred to as a PMS Colour (Pantone Matching System), is simply a universal system whereby colours are assigned a reference code. This reference code provides a way for people to accurately communicate colours to ensure consistency of output.

Why do you need a Pantone Colour?

Imagine if I said to you “can you print my logo in red”. What would that mean? Is it a blood red, a flame red, an orange red, the options are endless & chances are I’d been imagining a red that isn’t the same as you.

By providing a Pantone reference I immediately know what “red” you are meaning.

For example if you told me your Red was Pantone 032, I would be able to look it up in the Pantone Guide book & see that your Red should look like this.

There are roughly 1,867 Pantone Colours in the Pantone colour system. Obviously this doesn’t represent all the possible colours in the world but for most people it gets the job done!

Having Pantone colours assigned to your logo from the get go means that no matter what you are doing with your logo, whomever is reproducing it should be able to easily match your colours to ensure consistency for your brand.

Each year Pantone publishes a “Pantone Colour of the Year”.

For 2022 the Pantone Colour of the Year is Very Peri, described as “a warm & friendly blue hue with a carefree confidence & joyful attitude, emboldens uninhibited expression & experimentation.”