Color Perception Archives - insights4print.ceo

Strategic Insights

Our mind not only plays tricks on us,
it even invents reality…

You probably thought what a silly question that is in the header image. “That’s Coca-Cola, obviously!” But check again, read the letters on that can out loud, very carefully, one by one… Did you notice? […]

Strategic Insights

Beyond the P1/P2 light booth:
What color actually looks like on the shelf

If you work in printing, or if you are a brand owner, print buyer, or designer who cares about the quality of print products, you probably know very well what the press control station or […]

Strategic Insights

Why are print buyers holding single-use print jobs to a higher standard than the reference they use?

Serious question: why are print buyers holding disposable FMCG packaging to a higher standard than their reference: their copy of the Pantone color guide? Why would consumers – who are not color savvy, typically looking […]

Strategic Insights

It’s proven: color differences can confuse consumers!
Well… if the colors are some 50 dE00 apart…

If you are a regular reader of my blog or my LinkedIn posts, you’ll probably know I have been questioning the claim that color differences confuse consumers and negatively impact sales. And guess what: I […]

Strategic Insights

Tolerances in brand color reproduction:
one size – fits all?
Why printing needs expectation management

When talking about tolerances for the reproduction of brand colors in print, you often hear just one number. Whether it’s 2, 3, or 4 dE00, it’s just one number. And we have to ask ourselves: […]

Strategic Insights

Probabilities and priors
How a maths theorem defines brand and product recognition

While on vacation, I finished reading the book ‘Everything Is Predictable – How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World’ by Tom Chivers. And yes, you may question my choices of books, but I have to […]

Strategic Insights

We need a new metric:
the smallest actionable difference (SAD)
JND and JAD don’t cover consumer behavior in shops

‘JND’, the ‘just-noticeable (color) difference’, is a core concept in color science. Next to that one, there is also ‘JAD’: the ‘just-acceptable (color) difference’. But these are not sufficient, if you ask me. That’s why […]

Strategic Insights

The biggest print quality experiment ever?
And nothing happened???

Do you remember my article from last fall about the redesign of the Oreo logo, which featured a 10+ dE00 difference between the old and new versions? Both being used jointly on the shelves? Ah! […]

Strategic Insights

The wisdom of the crowd has spoken, again!
Confirming first test: myth busted

Did I already mention that I love LinkedIn? Not just to keep in touch with people I know, but also to find and share interesting information. Plus, it’s also an excellent place for me to […]

The web embraces OKLch (OKLab),
when will print follow?
A better way to describe color

Science evolves, based on experiences, experiments, and new insights. And that includes color science. Although the use of CIELab color description is fundamental to current color specification and reproduction, CIELab is ‘icky’, as John – […]

Strategic Insights

The Impact of Color on Brand Recognition:
Re-evaluating the 80% Claim
A guest post, by Google Gemini Deep Research AI

Insights4print.ceo is my personal blog. But for once, I had to accept a guest article… Earlier this week, I read a newspaper article about the ‘deep research’ options that several AI tools now offer. And […]

Strategic Insights

And no one called it a brand’s worst nightmare…
(11 dE00 between adjacent packages)

I love LinkedIn. It’s a place to keep in contact with old friends and meet new friends. It’s a place where much technological, business, and scientific information is shared. And it’s a great place to […]

Strategic Insights

The biggest print quality experiment ever?
Brand Colors IRL: the Oreo case

It’s probably – or even better: certainly – not intentional, but Oreo is running the most extensive real-life study on print quality. Why, you might ask. Well: they changed their logo, including the logo color, […]

The truth about the Heinz ‘Label of Truth’

The ‘Label of Truth’ from Heinz and Pantone is going around on LinkedIn again. With raving reviews. Everybody loves it! Genius! Except that it’s seriously flawed and, therefore, a big fail. Pantone should have known […]

Strategic Insights

The wisdom of the crowd has spoken!
The 2dE00 myth busted

While walking through the aisles in a supermarket recently, I noticed these nice Bahlsen packages, four different types of products/designs nicely aligned in a row. And I wondered how close the Bahlsen blue would be, […]