Expansion signifies Pantone increased investment in a digital design future through the leadership of Elley Cheng, Pantone’s newly appointed General Manager.

Carlstadt, NJ – Pantone LLC, the global authority on color and provider of professional color tools for designers, today announced the latest version of Pantone Connect, a digital platform for designers that streamlines their color decision-making and communication. The platform, which provides access to all 15,000 Pantone Colors available in the cloud, has added features that will provide opportunities for designers across the world to have a holistic tool that will allow creation of digital mood boards, palettes and enable live collaboration within teams, clients and partners throughout the design workflow globally.

The Pantone Connect platform, first launched in April 2020 and then in June 2020 with the Pantone Color Match Card, has evolved to the rapidly changing needs of the designer; specifically to adapt to a new creative and working environment that has merged physical and digital like never before due to the pandemic. Pantone worked closely with designers across industries to understand the nuances of the designer’s new workflow, updating the product to best match their needs. As a result, Pantone has streamlined the platform to be an all-in-one digital tool, where designers can easily integrate color through the entire design process from start to finish. The platform is available in the Adobe Extension Marketplace for use in Adobe Creative Cloud software, App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) for your smartphone, and as a web application in a web browser.

“Pantone’s process for product design is very personal. We like to get in the trenches with the design community to understand how our tools can better help their process from inspiration to creation,” said Jung Sin, Global Director, Digital Product Management at Pantone. “With this newest iteration of Pantone Connect, we believe we created a unique tool that has evolved to how designers naturally work, and we are excited to continue adapting and updating our tools to accommodate that.”

The Pantone Connect new features include:

• Mood board function. Allows users to upload digital photos of inspiration on the platform and automatically match it back to the nearest Pantone Color Equivalent.
• Palette creation. Allows designers to create and store palettes securely and allows users to see how palettes will be perceived by people with common color blindness and how palettes will look against light & dark backgrounds for contrast
• Collaboration tools. Allows designers to share palette info with people across the design workflow and work together with teams, clients, printers, and brands to reach a shared vision and definitive color consensus.

This latest announcement builds upon the company’s continued strategy to diversify its products and offerings for a fully integrated customer experience that connects consumers digital habits with the need to connect with the physical world. To help lead this strategy into the future, Pantone has tapped digital design veteran, Elley Cheng, to serve as the new General Manager of Pantone. Elley joins Pantone with over 20 years’ experience in strategy, operations, and finance at technology and digital media companies from Shutterstock, where she was responsible for the company’s eCommerce channel as well almost a decade in Adobe and Shutterstock serving in corporate development roles and strategic partnerships.

“Now more than ever, we rely on digital communication to get inspiration and collaborate with one another. In order to better serve our customers and fans, our focus is set on expanding our portfolio of digital services to better support designers on their day-to-day journey, from getting inspiration from social media to ensuring accurate physical reproduction of their work,” said Elley Cheng, Vice President and General Manager of Pantone. “Pantone Connect is the newest product that exemplifies this focus and I am extremely excited to work with the team to build toward a more digital future.”

To formally introduce the product, Pantone Connect will hold a virtual event on November 16th that will feature designers across industries to discuss color in the design process. Register for the event here.

For more information on Pantone Connect and how to create a new account, visit www.pantone.com/pantone-connect. Mobile apps for iOS and Android can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, respectively, while the Pantone Connect Extension for Adobe® Creative Cloud® can be downloaded from the Adobe Creative Cloud Exchange website.