For Panto’N’RollFrench design studio Chic & Artistic replaced the colors named in pop anthems with Pantone chips. The Beatles’ The Yellow Submarine was switched to ”Pantone 129C Submarine” and Elvis Presley’s 1956 anthem became “Pantone 299C Suede Shoes.”

“Panto’N’Roll” by Chic & Artistic
“Panto’N’Roll” by Chic & Artistic

The recent Instagram project Pantone Smoothies displays photos of raw ingredients pre- and post puree, to produce smoothies that match existing Pantone numbers (likely with a smidgen of Photoshop magic).

Screenshot from the “Pantone Smoothies” Instagram by Hedvig A. Kushner
Screenshot from the “Pantone Smoothies” Instagram by Hedvig A. Kushner
Image: Hedvig A. Kushner

Pantone chips also have inspired manicures, bakery goods and even in Halloween costumes.

“We love seeing designers use Pantone in their designs for fun as long as they’re not selling it,” comments Potensky.

Beyond Pantone’s universe

Pantone, whose parent company X-Rite was acquired by Danaher Corporation, has defined 1,755 proprietary colors for print graphics, and 2,310 colors for fashion, home furnishings and interiors. But beyond the market dominance of the Pantone color matching system and its thriving Pantone Universe licensing side business, the very design of the Pantone chip seems to have seeped into contemporary culture as a visual shortcut—if not a graphic cliché. The current interface for Google Play’s music dashboard, for instance, looks a lot like the iconic color chip’s layout.

Google (Pantone?) Play
Google (Pantone?) Play

The Pantone brand has been so omnipresent lately, that it’s even become the subject of parody. The unlicensed faux-Pantone project “Undertones,”  for example, offers “panteloons” and panty hose in criticism of the brand’s perceived overexposure. (Real life, Pantone-licensed underwear are available in Japan.)

It doesn’t seem to matter that the numbers and technical information at the bottom of Pantone’s iconic color chip make no sense to non-designers. In the same way that Kodak became synonymous with photography in the 1900s, Pantone’s brand—propagated through its thousands of licensed and unlicensed guises and coupled with the company’s own vibrant marketing programs (like Pantone Color of the Year)—has become global shorthand for the infinite variety and importance of color in the human experience.

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.