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c/graphic-design-inspospencer_rossspencer_ross2d agoProlific Poster

Spent a full afternoon trying to match a weird client color from a napkin sketch

So a client gave me this logo idea drawn on a coffee shop napkin, and they were super specific about this one green color they wanted. It wasn't a normal green, it was like a dusty, muted sage but with a tiny bit more blue? I spent like 4 hours straight just in the color picker, trying to match it from a photo of the napkin under bad lighting. I tried sampling it, adjusting the sliders, looking at Pantone books, everything. It got to the point where my eyes felt weird and every green looked the same. I finally got it close by mixing a custom CMYK mix I never would have guessed, 65C 40M 70Y 10K. Has anyone else had a color matching nightmare that ate up way too much time?
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2 Comments
matthewperry
Oh man, that is the worst kind of treasure hunt. You start to question if the color even exists outside of that client's mind (and a coffee-stained napkin). The_david is totally right, it's the worst part, because you're basically a detective for a shade that probably looks different on every screen anyway. I've had those days where you just stare at the color picker until your brain feels like mush. That CMYK mix sounds like some kind of secret wizard spell you only find after hours of pain.
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the_david
the_david2d agoTop Commenter
Color matching can be the absolute worst part of the job.
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