With the release of PANTONE PLUS, Pantone has taken an important step to modernize the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM (PMS), which has been a color communication standard for half a century. When Pantone introduced the Goe system in 2007, many wondered whether this was an attempt to replace PMS. According to Ron Potesky, that was not the case, and Goe is still a viable product. However, adoption has been slower than the company might have expected. Potesky told WhatTheyThink, “Goe is a great product. It is chromatically designed, has more than 2,000 colors and uses a standard ink film thickness that allows for repeatability. But it has not been well understood in the creative market. Goe will continue as part of our strategy moving forward and has a place in the system for certain types of jobs, including packaging and jobs with acqueous or UV coating. But PMS has been and will continue to be the lead core product. It owns brand colors for so many companies and designers, and we don’t want to change that. It will remain our flagship product globally.”

But Pantone has taken some of the attributes and learnings and applied those to the revamped PMS system, including new colors (224 new solid colors) printed at uniform ink film thickness on the guides, more colors and a chromatic arrangement. Pantone has also released new digital tools including iPhone/iPad apps and more. While none of the existing formulations or numbers have been changed nor have any colors been removed, the arrangement is different and the system includes an index to help uses find specific colors. Potesky also pointed out that all books and guides will be printed on FSC certified text-weight stocks with bio-friendly ISO certified inks. One of those cool tools is the ColorChecker lighting indicator, which will be in all of the guides. The two patches of color will match in D50 daylight conditions but will look different in bad lighting. This makes me think of all the times we had to take paint chips outside at Home Depot to see what they really look like. The system will also have 42 new neon colors, which Potesky says meets a growing trend. Although there is a minor price increase, Pantone has attempted to keep pricing in line with the old system to encourage designers and others to purchase the upgraded system and take advantage of the new capabilities.

This is a smart move on the part of Pantone and should find good reception as the company makes its announcement during the opening days of IPEX