You’ve spent the better part of a year working on a rebrand. You aligned your ownership team, fought through countless stakeholder meetings, dialed in the Brand Strategy and positioning, and finally signed off on a beautiful new packaging system.

The first production proofs arrive.

Something feels… off.

The colors aren’t what you approved. The cans look darker than they did on screen, but somehow flatter, too. The cartons don’t quite match the cans. That metallic accent you were so excited about barely catches the light. Everyone gathers around the conference table trying to figure out what happened.

Here’s the frustrating part: Nobody necessarily did anything wrong.


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Hi there.

Cody here.

Isaac handed me the newsletter this week because color management has quietly become one of the biggest parts of my job. Today, I want to explain why this happens, why it’s become more common over the last several years, and share a handful of practical things we’ve learned at CODO to help our clients avoid expensive surprises.

(Above): Cody here, the more talented CODO partner.

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Color management isn’t glamorous. Nobody gets excited about Pantone books or print specifications. But I can tell you from experience that this is one of those behind-the-scenes details that separates polished brands from brands that always feel just a little off.

It’s also become significantly more complicated over the last several years.

It used to be relatively straightforward. You designed for painted cans, maybe a few printed pieces, and called it a day.

Today, that same brand might live across digitally printed cans, shrink sleeves, pressure-sensitive labels, cartons, websites, social media, merchandise and tap handles. Each production method reproduces color differently. Each has different limitations. Every new production process introduces another opportunity for your brand to drift.

So why does this happen?

Because your brand isn’t produced once. It’s recreated dozens of different ways. Every printer, substrate and production process has to interpret your colors within its own technical limitations. Managing those translations, not eliminating them, is what color management is all about.

The first thing to understand is that there isn’t one version of your brand’s color.

There’s the version on your laptop. Your phone. Your printer’s calibrated monitor. One that’s printed on coated paper. Another that’s printed directly onto aluminum.

None of these are displaying, or reproducing, the exact same color.

That’s because every medium works within its own color space — a fancy way of saying it has its own range of colors it can accurately reproduce. Your monitor creates color using light. Your printer creates color using ink. Your can manufacturer has yet another process entirely.

The material you’re printing on matters just as much. Ink behaves differently on bright white paper than it does on corrugated board. It behaves differently on a pressure-sensitive label than it does when printed directly onto aluminum. Even the finish — matte, gloss or metallic — changes how your eye perceives the final color.

That’s why a color that looks incredible on screen can suddenly feel darker, duller or flatter once it reaches the canning line.

It’s not because someone screwed up. It’s because color is constantly being translated from one system to another.

(Above): The transition from bottle labels to cans *should* be straight forward, but it's usually a nightmare that requires several rounds of proofing to dial in.

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So how do you keep everything under control?

Here are a few principles we’ve adopted over the years.

– Start with Pantone whenever possible. Pantone gives everyone, from your designer to your printer to your can manufacturer, a common language to work from. It removes a lot of interpretation from the process.

– Never judge important color decisions from your monitor alone. Every screen is calibrated differently. If color really matters, compare against physical swatches or printed proofs whenever possible.

– Understand your substrate. Ink behaves differently on aluminum than it does on white paper. Metallic inks behave differently than opaque inks. Even the finish of the material can dramatically change how a color is perceived.

– Build complete specifications for every application. Your brand guide shouldn’t just say “our blue is Pantone 286.” It should include Pantone, RGB, Hex, CMYK and any production-specific specifications your vendors will need. Good documentation prevents a lot of expensive surprises.

– Expect some level variation. This one frustrates people, but it’s reality. Even with perfect specifications, two production partners using different equipment can produce slightly different results. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is consistency within acceptable tolerances.



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Proofs are insurance

Digital proofs are mostly a sanity check. Unless someone accidentally swapped artwork, dropped a dieline or introduced another production error, the PDF you receive should be the same file you originally approved. (I could write an equally boring — but equally important! — BBT issue on file management and making sure printers never get a file until everything is approved, but Isaac probably won’t let me.)

Print proofs are a different story. They’re the only reliable way to confirm your packaging will actually look the way you expect. Yes, they add time. Yes, they sometimes cost a few hundred dollars.

But would you rather spend $300 on a print proof or discover your mistake after ordering 20,000 cans?


A quick note on printers…

They’re not all created equal.

Some are exceptional. Many aren’t. The frustrating part is that this decision is often out of our hands, whether it’s dictated by your can supplier, distributor, production schedule or simply a COGS consideration.

This is exactly why proofs matter. They’re your last opportunity to catch problems before they become 20,000 expensive mistakes.

If you’re constantly releasing new packaging, build a physical reference library. Save examples of cans that nail a particular color or finish. Being able to hand a printer a real can and say, “We’re trying to match this metallic blue,” is often more effective than trying to describe it over email. It’s a blunt instrument, but in a pinch, it can make all the difference.


Invest in physical references

One thing I’d add to that list is this: Spend the money on proper color references.

Pantone guides, INX books for aluminum cans and other production references aren’t cheap. I think our latest INX guide was something like $2,500. But they’ve paid for themselves many times over by allowing us to make decisions based on actual printed color instead of hoping our monitors are telling the truth.

Remember this:

Color on a screen is a prediction.

Color in your hand is reality.

Wrapping up

The more time you spend making decisions from physical samples instead of digital approximations, the more likely your finished product will look the way you intended.

Customers don’t care whether your designer used the correct Pantone bridge or whether your printer was working in the proper color profile. They simply notice when something feels polished, or when it doesn’t.

Packaging is full of details customers never consciously notice.

Until they’re wrong.

Color management is one of those details. Get it right and nobody says a word. Get it wrong and your brand feels just a little less polished than it should.

If you’ve wrestled with color issues, or have a horror story of your own, hit reply and let us know. I’d love to hear it.

(And if enough of you ask, maybe Isaac will let me hijack the newsletter again.)