Neuland for nerds: bewitched colors.
Recently, we've been asked several times if we could also provide "hexadecimal values" for the colors of our markers. If you don't immediately know what that means, then you're most likely not a web designer. Because, just like in print, it's important on screen that...
For example, colors chosen for a website must be displayed reliably. Therefore, a standardized naming convention for these colors has been agreed upon in screen design. Don't worry, this isn't going to be a technical seminar. If you want to know all the details, we invite you to read the relevant Wikipedia article . Here's just a brief overview:
Yes.
Yes, for every new color, we will in future also provide the hexadecimal value that most closely matches it as a screen color. However, this isn't so simple – as experience on paper shows: If we print the CMYK base colors cyan, magenta, and yellow across the entire surface of very smooth, bright white paper, they still largely* correspond to the standard colors from a printer's ink tube.
However, every paper has a different absorbency, and the "whiteness" of the paper can also vary, ranging from cooler to warmer, darker to truly brilliant white. This is also visible in the print.
The same applies, of course, to our marker inks. They shine brightly on white and are quite close to a printed result.
On grey, absorbent paper, which also warps when exposed to moisture, it looks a bit different.
This means that our hexadecimal color chart will certainly be helpful, but the individual values can only ever be approximate. We apologize for that – a little.
Do web designers really believe that every monitor in Germany and the world is color-calibrated with absolute precision? The two monitors I have in front of me right now show a minimal difference in brightness. One also has a significantly stronger contrast, while the other has a slightly reddish tint. So even with the most precise color coding, there's no guarantee that a chosen color will appear exactly as the designer intended.
One can regret that. And all the more reason to enjoy the fact that not everything is predictable. And that sometimes it is precisely the unplanned drawing with markers that leads to the most beautiful result.
With that in mind: have fun!