Who Made That Pantone Chip?

Who Made That Pantone Chip?
This emerald green color swatch released by Pantone is Pantone LLC's Color of the Year for 2013, beating out all the other shades of the rainbow. (AP Photo/Pantone)
This emerald green color swatch released by Pantone is Pantone LLC's Color of the Year for 2013, beating out all the other shades of the rainbow. (AP Photo/Pantone)

In the early 1960s, as Lawrence Herbert drove to work in a blue Cadillac with cherry red seats, he mulled over a problem: How to create a "universal language" of color. Herbert, the owner of the Pantone printing company, had just produced a retail display card that helped shoppers choose pantyhose. He had to hand-mix the subtle beiges of each swatch, because it was so difficult to buy the exact shade he wanted from an ink manufacturer. Each company defined colors differently, and when you ordered "wheat" or "taupe" or "cream," you couldn't predict what you'd get.

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