Designers would be up the proverbial creek without Pantone, and the company knows it. That knowledge has inspired a steady stream of software, books and other tools that have made our lives infinitely easier. However, Pantone’s latest offering may have veered from the merely helpful into the philosophically problematic.
Considering the recent migration of products from Adobe and other companies to “the cloud,” it’s not too surprising that Pantone is jumping on board with Pantoneview.com. Yet this new service isn’t an online version of its famous color matching system, but a sort of CNN.com of color trends. For about $25 a month, you receive:
- Forecasts of hot color trends, regional and global
- Reporting and expert analysis about what’s happening in the world of color now
- Explorations of the latest color technology
- Live webinars and events featuring color experts.
An interesting idea, certainly, and Pantone has shown uncharacteristic restraint in its pricing here. But if creative directors (or more likely, clients who fancy themselves creative directors) latch on to this service, how long before we’re prodded to follow those latest color expert forecasts? “Pantoneview.com says we should be focusing on emerald this year, and they have experts!” Homogenization Land here we come.
