Most business professionals understand the importance of brand management. In essence, it revolves around how a company’s brand imagery is used to maintain consistency. Consistency in brand imagery, especially with colors like red color or blue logo elements, strengthens the brand’s recognition and value. Conversely, inconsistency, such as seeing different versions of a logo designed with varying colors, makes the brand confusing and forgettable. (For some really good snippets on brand management, check out Cronin Creative’s blog at cronincreative.net.)
Pantone Guide
The most recognized aspect of brand imagery is a company’s logo, often featuring a stylized version of the company name. When a professional designer creates that logo designed for brand impact, they typically use specific colors tied to the brand standard. Think of iconic brands where color is central to their identity: Coke Red, IBM Blue, or McDonald’s red and yellow. These brands work diligently to maintain color integrity, ensuring that color combined elements, like red and blue colors, are always presented as intended.
How Are Colors Specified?
Many brands rely on the Pantone Matching System® (PMS) for color consistency. Each Pantone color is assigned a unique number, like “PMS 2718” (known as IBM Blue). This ensures the blue logo or any red logos you see across different materials always look true to the brand’s standard.
Pantone colors, however, are conceptual rather than physical. Real-world applications require custom-blended paints or inks to approximate Pantone shades, which is effective for large-scale applications like painting but impractical for precise logo designs.
Virtually all color printing today is a four-color digital process. Whether through a laser printer, ink jet printer, or offset printing, four colors – cyan, magenta, yellow, and black – are applied to the surface in precise ratios to appear as a custom color. The printer requires a CMYK color code to know how much of each (from 0 to 100), expressed as “CMYK 75 43 0 0” (that’s the CMYK equivalent of IBM Blue).
On-screen graphics are different altogether. Your computer screen mixes red, green, and blue to create colors, so it needs an RGB or Hex color code. IBM Blue is expressed as “RGB 75 107 175” or “#4B6BAF”. (The Hex code is just the RGB numbers restated in hexadecimal format.)
Piece of Cake – If I Give You One of Them, You Can Make Anything
Here’s where it gets tricky. (1) The different color specifications have different theoretical and practical ranges, and (2) there is no direct translation between the three specs. The CMYK and RGB codes noted above for IBM? Someone determined those are the closest approximations to Pantone 2718; they are not exact matches.
A skilled designer anticipates brand image use across multiple media and includes all three color specifications in the brand guidelines. One of our clients, for instance, includes a visual guide in their brand standards, specifying which colors to use across various platforms. So, whether you’re working with a blue and red logo, red logos, or applying a color-change vinyl wrap, ensuring these colors are exact preserves the brand’s consistency and impact.
I Designed My Logo in PowerPoint (or Photoshop, or Online)
Chances are your resulting logo file contains RGB colors. Fear not, we can work with that. (By the way, unless your monitor has been calibrated, there’s a good chance the colors you chose are not what you think, and will probably look different in print.) A bigger problem with self-created logos is the file format; typically you end up with a .jpg or .png (raster format) file, which will not have the needed resolution and usually has corrupted colors. (See my blog on artwork quality for more information.)
This image was created from three simple colors, but when saved as a .jpg, the edges changed colors. Usually, when we receive a .jpg file, the corruption is much worse. The question is, which color is the correct one?
(Side note: I actually create the MetroCenter Signworks logo design in PowerPoint before I knew anything about color management. When I figured out it was not going to print as expected, I recreated it in proper design software, set the colors, and wrote the brand standard.)
What’s the Solution?
At MetroCenter Signworks we receive artwork in a variety of formats and a range of qualities. Sometimes it’s excellent, and the correct color information is embedded in the file. Sometimes the quality is poor, but we can almost always work with it. And sometimes we don’t get a working design, but a request to create a sign with the company colors. We’ll probably ask you one or more of these questions:
- Do you know the PMS colors (if the project will be painted)?
- Do you know the CMYK colors (if the project will be printed)?
- Do you have a written brand standard? That will tell us what we need to know.
Please understand that we’re not asking to make our jobs easier. We do it to make sure we are producing your brand imagery in line with your company’s standard, which (go back to the beginning of the story) strengthens your brand.
Want to Ensure Your Brand Is Represented Correctly?
Or maybe you just want to learn more about brand management, artwork quality, and color management? Call MetroCenter Signworks today for a free consultation at 615-649-5003, or visit MetroCenterSignworks.com.
FAQ
My logo features both blue and red colors. Can I still make a sign with these colors?
A: Absolutely! Incorporating red and blue colors into your sign design is completely achievable. Whether you have a blue logo or a red logo, or a combination of both, our team at MetroCenter Signworks can work with you to create a sign that accurately represents your brand identity. We specialize in custom sign designs and can tailor the colors, size, and style to match your logo specifications.
How are colors specified in brand standards?
Professional brand design typically utilizes the Pantone Matching System® (PMS), which assigns specific codes to colors. For example, “Pantone® 2718” corresponds to a particular shade of blue, such as IBM Blue.
What if I’ve designed my logo using software like PowerPoint or Photoshop?
Logo designs created in programs like PowerPoint often use RGB colors, which may not translate accurately to print or other mediums. Additionally, raster formats like .jpg or .png may result in color corruption and low resolution.
What’s the solution if I encounter color inconsistencies in my artwork?
When working with artwork of varying qualities, it’s crucial to provide accurate color information. We may ask for PMS colors for painting projects or CMYK colors for printing. Having a written brand standard ensures consistency and strengthens your brand identity.
How can I ensure my brand is represented correctly across different mediums?
For assistance with brand management, artwork quality, and color consistency, contact MetroCenter Signworks for a free consultation at 615-649-5003 or visit MetroCenter Signworks in Nashville, Tennessee.