Talked to a vendor at a trade show who made me question our entire color palette

I was at a brand packaging expo in Chicago last month, and this guy from a small print shop told me my brand's signature blue fades to gray on 40% of retail shelves under LED lighting. He showed me photos from a Walmart and a Target, and he was right. Has anyone else run into a situation where your brand colors just don't work in the real world?

2 comments

2 Comments

schmidt.eva18d ago

Found that out the hard way with my own brand a few years back. Spent a ton on custom packaging only to see it look totally washed out under those bright store lights. Get yourself a Pantone book that matches store lighting conditions, not just natural daylight. Also, have your printer run a few test prints and check them under different light bulbs before you commit. Saved my butt when we caught a weird greenish tint on our "black" that way.

angela_carter17d ago

oh man that's such a wake up call. i heard a packaging designer talk about how most stores use 4000k LEDs now which totally kills warm tones and makes cool blues look dead.