Pantone's New Colors

The final word in color just unveiled 336 new colors!  Here is the press release from their website:

Pantone Inspires Designers with 336 New Shades

Expanded PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM now offers 25 percent more color options
CARLSTADT, N.J. and SAN FRANCISCO, April 24, 2012 – Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT) and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced the addition of 336 New Colors to its PANTONE® PLUS SERIES, bringing the total to 1,677 colors.

Introduced in 2010, the PANTONE PLUS SERIES is the next generation of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® – the defacto standard for color communication in the graphic arts market. The PLUS SERIES provides an accurate way for designers to communicate and control color throughout the entire design process – from inspiration to final output. The 336 New Colors offer designers more options and flexibility in the creative process and will become permanent standards in the PLUS SERIES Color Library.

The 336 New Colors enrich the current PLUS SERIES palette, providing a more comprehensive selection. All color families are extended to include a wider variety of values, saturation and undertones – from subtle pastels and reliable mid-tones to the intensity of deep tones, vivid brights and vital, nuanced neutrals.

“Color is integral to every project. The more colors I have to choose from, the easier it is to translate from fragrance to color,” said Matt Fadness, partner at Through Smoke Creative in Sausalito, Calif., a design firm specializing in home fragrance and body care scent and packaging design for brands including The Gap, Restoration Hardware and William Sonoma. “We need to form a strong connection between fragrance and color during the product development process and spend a lot of time choosing the precise hue. The additional colors in the PANTONE PLUS SERIES will give us greater flexibility and latitude to translate color into product.”

The New Colors were inspired by the PANTONE Goe™ System and add depth and breadth to the PLUS SERIES Color Library with fresh hues that did not previously exist. The Goe System represents important technical improvements in the area of ink film consistency and coatability, and these benefits have migrated to the 336 New Colors. Formulated using consistent ink-film thicknesses, the 366 New Colors can be easily reproduced by printers worldwide. All 336 New Colors will be available in coated and uncoated formats and are printed on text-weight paper to match popular print specifications.

Time to update your Pantone library!!  More at http://www.pantone.com/