Considering that anybody who spends a lot of time working with Pantone colors ends up trying to guess the PMS color of everyday objects anyway, it’s not surprising that the system has inspired spin-offs. One dear to our hearts is Beertone.
Developed by two advertising-agency designers in Switzerland, each card in this Pantone-style swatch of 200 Swiss beers displays that brew’s:
- Name
- Color
- Beer bottle
- Alcohol by volume
- Brewery
- Description.
And most importantly, you get the beer’s color information in CMYK, RGB, HTML and Standard Reference Method – the system brewers use to classify beer color. (PMS colors presumably were not included for the usual “please-don’t-sue-us” reasons.)
Currently taking pre-orders ($39-$59) for three different editions (the more you pay, the nicer the glass/mug they include), Beertone is the type of product that makes everyone nervous on legal grounds.
But we love Pantone, we love beer, and the color-classification business is a big enough tent to accommodate both in peace. (Translation – Pantone: No lawsuits. Beertone: No copyright infringement. Both sides: Have a beer.)
