Pantone的野心: 只要顏色，都歸我管

Pantone，已不單單是設計師人手一本的色票。從廣告界到紡織業，甚至食品科學界，只要是有顏色的地方，就有Pantone的角色 : 定義Ben & Jerry’s的蛋糕色、紅酒醇度辨色，貧血血液樣本辨色、金鱼品種判別...等等。Pantone 的影響力，已開始跨足其他產業。

進入文章前，請先想想下列英文怎麼說：

 a) (地位) 不可撼動

b) 古板，老掉牙

c) 家喻戶曉

A few minutes into the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy opens her eyes and surveys the Technicolor world around her. Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road. She arrives at the Emerald City, and she clicks her Ruby Red slippers. Those vivid hues 1) are seared into your memory. And guess what? Pantone has names for all of them. If you wanted to explain the precise colors to anyone, anywhere around the world, all you have to do is dial up Pantone 14-0957 (Spectra Yellow), Pantone 16-6339 (Vibrant Green), and Pantone 17-1664 (Poppy Red).

走進奧茲國，桃樂絲眼睛環顧四周，腳步沿著著黃磚道繼續走。到了翡翠城，她跺跺自己的紅鞋。《綠野仙蹤》裡那些栩栩如生的顏色，一直都烙印在我們心中。而這些顏色，在Pantone 都有它們自己的身分證。想和任何人解析上述精確的三種顏色，只要輸入Pantone 14-0957 (光譜黃), Pantone 16-6339 (亮綠色), and Pantone 17-1664 (罌粟紅) 你就會找到答案。

The elaborate web of products represents the Pantone company's strategic and a) unwavering quest to become the universal language of color—and a brand synonymous with good design. While Pantone does not disclose earnings reports, it 2) was acquired by X-Rite, a manufacturer of color measurement tools, for $180 million in 2007.

Pantone的網站，展現了這間企業想要統一顏色語言的企圖：不只是全球色彩系統，更是傑出設計的代名詞。它們向來沒有公開收益報表的習慣，只知道在2007它被X-Rite以1億8千萬美元的高價收購。

One of the trends Pantone has noticed—and really loves—is students are decorating their graduation caps with Pantone chips. "It's a huge recognition that even young designers, who we worry we might be losing because of the perception that Pantone is a b) stodgy old physical printer, think the brand is pretty cool," Potesky says.

Pantone留意到年輕族群中所散播的一股潮流 : 畢業生開始用Pantone色票裝飾他們的畢業帽。副總裁Potesky說 : 「年輕設計師族群覺得Pantone蠻酷的，這對我們是很重要的認可。我們一向擔心年輕人會覺得Pantone是個老掉牙的舊式公司。」

History has shown that businesses who try to recalibrate and become mainstream haven't always 3) fared well. Take Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren, two fashion companies whose reputation and value has tanked because of over saturation. But here's the difference with Pantone: becoming a c) household name furthers its ambition to become synonymous with color. Sure, Minion Yellow will come and go, and Sephora will undoubtedly discontinue some of its licensed lipsticks, but Pantone's credibility for designers—its base—isn't married to those things. It's tied to the color standards and that's here to stay.

縱看商業史，那些嘗試要重新定位自己，成為主流的品牌，最後都不是太順利。像是知名的時尚品牌Michael Kors 和 Ralph Lauren，最後企業的名譽和價值都因為過度擴張而沉寂了。 Pantone 卻走出自己的一條路：用「色彩主宰」之姿，變成家喻戶曉的品牌。當然「小小兵黃」熱度可能會退燒；和彩妝公司 Sephora 所合作的年度唇膏色彩總有停售的一天，但Pantone品牌對設計師族群的公信力不會受旁人影響。那些累積的信任感，是因為Pantone設下了精準、難以撼動的色彩標準。

口語詞彙

1. be seared into... 烙印在...

sear 是「燙；印」的意思。事情深深烙印在記憶中便可以說 ''be seared into memory''。

The disaster is indelibly seared into the villagers' memories. 那場災難烙印在村民記憶中，難以抹滅。

2. be acquired by... 被...收購

acquire 除了「獲得技能」之外，也有「購買；置產」之意。be acquired by 的用法常常出現在新聞標題中 : Jerry Lewis' personal archive is acquired by the Library of Congress. 搖滾先驅Jerry Lewis 的個人資料已被美國國會圖書館收購。

3. fare well 進行順利，情勢看好

farewell一個字是指「一路順風；再見」。但兩字拆開，fare 是指get along「進行」的意思；fare well 意指進行順利。something doesn't fare badly 意思就是指事情不大妙。

It's unlikely that the marine industry will fare any better in September. 看來水產業9月後也不會有任何成長了。

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