Color themes in Creative Cloud

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Years ago, Adobe introduced Kuler, a tool for selecting colors and groups of colors. I always enjoyed playing with it, although I rarely exported the palette I created and imported it into an Adobe app.

Kuler is now Color CC and is still available as an online tool. But Color CC is incorporated throughout Creative Cloud as Adobe Color Themes:

  • InDesign: Create themes with InDesign with the Adobe Color Theme palette.
  • Photoshop: Open the palette by going to Window > Extensions > Adobe Color Theme.
  • Illustrator: You can't create new palettes, but you can access color palettes that you've saved to your cloud account. There is a link to the online tool from the Adobe Color Theme palette.
  • Capture CC: A mobile app that let's you create color palettes on the go and share them with your other CC apps. Building a color palette from a picture is actually really cool. 

Integrating Color CC throughout the ecosystem is just another way Adobe is merging their online tools, applications and cloud experiences. They are slowly adding more and more value to the subscription.

Every Wednesday, I post a quick tip on an Adobe app.

The Color Theme palette in Indesign CC 2015

The Color Theme palette in Indesign CC 2015

* The Capture CC app replaces the older Color CC app and includes more than just color features. But we'll save that for another tip.

Request: Pantone inks for Fountain Pens

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Last week, Pantone released their Colors of the Year for 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity. Pantone’s product line and army of licensing parters has expanded over the last decade. They’ve never been scared to extend their brand to another product line. And so it’s surprising to me that Pantone has never offered ink for fountain pens. 

There are all sorts of products that have licensed the Pantone brand including hotels and restaurants. They’ve expanded their brand from providing a common color reference for printers and designers to becoming a worldwide authority on color.

Considering their expertise with press inks, it would seem like a natural fit. Partner with a company like Lamy, Pilot or J. Herbin to offer a range of fountain pen inks that match the most popular Pantone colors. I personally would purchase several bottles of Pantone 202* ink to use at work. 

They could leverage the color of the year by releasing an annual limited edition ink color based on the Pantone Color of the Year. Maybe even some special limited edition pens. I would buy a Lamy Safari Limited Edition Pantone Color of the Year pen.

As a designer, the Pantone brand is well connected to my professional life. I really do think that partnering with Pantone to offer products for fountain pens would seriously increase interest in fountain pens and inks from designers. 

I don’t know enough about the economics of fountain pens and inks to know if there is enough profit margin in the industry to make it feasible. But personally, I’d love to see Pantone fountain pen ink on the market.

* Pantone 202 is the official color of the University of South Carolina – my alma mater and my employer.