In a previous post, we outlined the difference between CMYK and RGB colors, and while explaining the possibility for variation in CMYK printouts we mentioned that specific colors could possibly be controlled through the use of a spot color. But what IS a spot color?

Most commonly, a spot color is a color selected from the Pantone Matching System (abbreviated as a PMS color). Pantone produces a large palette of colors (the Matching System) using very specific pigment recipes. They produce printing inks that match up with each color in their color palette, which they sell to printers as pre-mixed inks. Printers use these inks in their presses to consistently print a specific color. These inks are referred to as spot colors, because they are best for printing solid areas of color, and would not be desirable to us when printing an image that involves several ink colors overlaid (such as a photo).

We often work on creating logo identities and websites for our clients. At some point, it seems to be inevitable that our clients come to us wondering why the color of their logo on their business cards doesn’t match their website perfectly. Although it seems to them that there must have been some sort of mistake in the printing or in the development of their website to produce this discrepancy, the real reason for the difference is that the ways colors are created on printed collateral and the way they are produced on websites are each done in very different ways.

When having items printed onto paper, the colors are produced in a color space called CMYK (also called 4-color process). When a website is created, the colors used are produced in a color space called RGB. There are also additional color spaces outside CMYK and RGB, but these are the most commonly used.

CMYK Color Space

As mentioned above, the CMYK color space is used primarily for print. The acronym CMYK stands for Cyan (a bright shade of blue), Magenta (a bright pink color), Yellow and Black, which are the four colors of ink used in 4-color process printing. During the printing process, these colors are printed over one another at varying opacities in order to produce a broad spectrum of colors. When the inks are printed onto paper, they are absorbed into the paper. Because the color is absorbed, the CMYK color spectrum is not as broad as the RGB color spectrum. The calibration of the press that your printed piece will be printed on can easily vary from press to press, so if you want to try to keep a color consistent across multiple printed pieces you will want to be sure to stick with one print vendor, and if possible, have the pieces printed on the same printing press. If you are especially particular about having a certain color printed consistently, you may wish to look into printing that color with a spot color.

 RBG Color Space

The RGB color space is used primarily on screen, and you probably encounter it the most when viewing websites. The acronym RGB stands for Red, Blue, and Green, which are the colors of light that are combined to render an even broader spectrum of colors. The RGB color space can produce a broader spectrum of colors since they are created from light sources combining to create the colors. Brighter colors can also often be produced using RGB. Similar to CMYK printing, a color produced in RGB can be rendered differently based on the screen that it is displayed on. However, unlike CMYK printing, it is impossible to control the calibration on the many, many screens and growers across the world that may be displaying your website. Like all things web-related, we need to simply accept that when working with the web there will be slight differences in color across different screens and browsers.

As you can see, producing a color in CMYK and in RGB entail completely different methods. Understanding this will help you understand how there will be slight differences in the color of your printed items versus those viewed on-screen. I compare it to trying to stain a solid wood piece of furniture so that it matches a laminate piece of furniture—these two materials are completely different, and although you can probably mix a shade of stain that comes close to the color of the laminate, like CMYK and RGB colors, they’ll never match perfectly because they are just different kinds of media.

A few months ago, there was been an incredible website, Start-Ups, This Is How Design Works, circling through social media. The mission of the site is clear: teach start-ups why they should value design. This got me thinking that maybe we should address that topic in our own way here on the blog.

Throughout the years, design has gotten a reputation as the profession of making things “look pretty.” While it is always a designer’s mission to make a piece as aesthetically appealing as possible—and don’t get me wrong, this is a very important quality for your brand to have as well—design is much deeper than that.

At its core, design is about solving problems

The real function of a designer is to help solve communication problems and make things usable for your audience. A designer’s mission is not simply to make a piece look pleasant, but to help make it communicate the proper message to the intended audience. This means that a great designer won’t simply take design orders, but will push back when things don’t make sense and will try to realign the project when necessary in order to help it work as well as possible.

Aesthetic appeal + usability = win

Please don’t take this message to mean that aesthetics are not important. They are incredibly important to creating a rich experience for your customer, and typically that is heavily influenced by the aesthetics of your brand. However, it is important to remember that no amount of aesthetic design will make a bad experience a good one, so it is critical to allow design to permeate the appearance of your project and into the way it actually works so that you can to provide the best experience for your audience.