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RGB Systems—What You See On Your Screen

Screens such as your television screen or computer monitor work with an RGB color model. RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue. All of the colors on your screen are displayed by combining different amounts of red, green, and blue transmitted light. I like to imagine an artist mixing colors on a palette, but instead of paint, all colors come from light.

The RGB color model is additive and is based on a scale of 255. This means that when you add red, green, and blue lights together at their maximum values of 255, the resulting color is white. Consequently, when the value of each is zero, you will see black.

Another aspect that makes things even more tricky…and maddening…. is that colors vary from monitor to monitor. Individual screen settings such as brightness and contrast as well as the differences in gamut among screen models and manufacturers make it impossible to predict how a color will look on different screens. For example, I test on 2 screens: one is a Mac and is calibrated, the other is an external monitor which I have not calibrated. The difference in how colors display between the two is great, so I worked to choose colors that achieve as much of a balance as possible. However, the colors look totally different on my brother’s monitor across the room, which is a different brand than mine. This kind of thing can make you want to tear your hair out, but it’s something we as web designers have little control over.

CMYK—For Digitally Printed Mightyvites

Our digital invitations are printed using a 4-color process. CMYK refers to the 4 colors used: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. (The “K” stands for “key”…in 4-color printing, the C, M, and Y plates are carefully aligned to the black or key plate). In 4-color printing, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks are mixed together to make up all other colors. They are measured in percentages from 0 to 100.

The CMYK color model is subtractive and uses reflected light to display color. When cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks are combined and the value of each is 100%, the resulting color is a rich black. When the value of each component is 0%, you will get pure white.

You can already see that we are dealing with two completely different models of achieving color. One uses transmitted light to display color, the other uses inks and reflected light. In one model, white is achieved when full amounts of each component are mixed, and in the other, black is achieved. And as if that weren’t complicated enough, we have one more model to contend with: spot colors.

Pantone/Spot Colors—For Letterpress Mightyvites

Pantone colors are a universal system, an industry standard, for identifying colors. The colors are referenced in Pantone swatch books and given a specific number. For example, the blue color in the Mighty Nice logo, when printed on uncoated paper, is 2905 U. I should be able to give this number to any printer and get the same color every time. Pantone colors are mixed from a set of 14 standard base colors, and there are specific formulas (like recipes), for mixing each color. Since letterpress printing lays down one color at a time, this is the best model for that process.

So, how do we come up with a selection of colors that can hold some consistency across these media and methods? How do you find a CMYK value that comes as close as possible to a Pantone color? How will that color look on my screen? On your screen? On Uncle Fred’s? Talk about tricky! It took some careful consideration, a little bit of compromise for certain colors, and a pinch of guesswork. But we did the best we could. I’m sure adjustments will need to be made along the way, but for now we have a mighty nice palette to work with!

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The death of print. Is it imminent? Inevitable?

While I was pursuing a master’s degree in printmaking and book arts, we talked about this issue. A lot. And with the release of the iPad happening tomorrow, people are chiming in with opinions from both sides. Personally, I am torn. As someone who makes prints and binds the occasional book by hand, I have a love for the tangibility that comes with printed matter. I love the weight of a book in your hands, the way the pages feel, and the sound they make when you turn them. I love holding a print and looking closely at the way the ink sits on the paper, the way it smells, and just the sheer beauty of the medium.

At the same time, things like the Kindle and the iPad completely excite me. How great is it to be able to have the books come to you, rather than have to make a trip to the library or book store? (not that I don’t enjoy those activities, but still…) It would be so convenient, and I think I’d probably read more. Not to mention the virtually limitless selection—all at your fingertips.

At Mighty Nice, we of course have an interest in both. After all, we’ve come up with a product that plays both sides, straddling the divide between printed and digital invitations. So how will the print vs. digital debate affect us? The answer remains to be seen—but I, for one, think that the printed invitation is here to stay. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. THE MESSAGE. Sending a printed invitation to an event communicates much more than just the details of that event. Sure, it will let someone know that they are invited to a gathering, the time, the date, etc. But the fact that the planner took the time to design and send the invite communicates a message, too. It says that the event holds importance to them. It says you should pay attention to it.
2. THE MEANS. These days, most of us communicate through digital means. We’re e-mailing, texting, tweeting, facebooking, etc. So, when something arrives in your mailbox that isn’t junk mail or a bill, it’s always a nice surprise. The fact an invitation comes via snail mail and is different than how we communicate in our day-to-day lives will make you take notice. It plays right into the message that the sender is trying to convey: “come to my event! It’s important and I want you to be there.”
3. CULTURE. Our culture is accustomed to sending out invitations for events. Of course cultural norms shift and change, but some things are here to stay. That’s what tradition is all about. It’s not unlike having cake at a celebration…usually, if there’s a cake involved, there will be an invitation of some sort. And, though invites can take as many forms as flavors of cake, I’m pretty sure that the flavor of print will continue to stick around.
4. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE EITHER-OR. Anna Quindlen touches on this notion in her article Turning the Page: The future of reading is backlit and bright, which showed up in this week’s edition of Newsweek (and prompted me to write this post). She alludes to the fact that the invention of television caused people to predict the death of radio, movies the death of live theater, and recorded music the death of concerts. But we still enjoy all of these forms, don’t we? There is a place for digital and printed matter in our lives. We can have and enjoy both—the birth of one form doesn’t necessarily trigger the death of another.
5. BEAUTY. Let’s face it: a letterpressed invitation printed on gorgeous paper is just so… pretty. It will always appeal to your emotions in a way that a flat screen just can’t. One of the first people I ever printed wedding invitations for told me that when they arrived and she saw the invites for the first time, she cried. I think you’d be hard pressed (pun intended ) to find someone describing a similar experience from a completely digital, on-screen invite.

Don’t get me wrong, digital has its place and makes perfect sense in many situations. I am not anti-digital. I just think printed invites aren’t going away anytime soon…what do you think?

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