huey® Expands Monitor Calibration Tool Line With New Packages in the Pantone Tradition

huey brings professional-grade calibration technology down to an affordable, easy-to-use consumer product introduced by Pantone Inc. and GretagMacbeth.

huey® is a new monitor calibration system designed for digital photo enthusiasts, gamers, or any computer user looking for correct screen colors and display clarity. Developed in partnership with GretagMacbeth and brought to market by Pantone, Inc., huey brings GretagMacbeth's technology for professional-level products to consumers in an affordable, easy-to-use tool. Pantone also seized upon this product launch as an ideal opportunity to refresh the PANTONE brand.

About the size of a small marker, huey delivers excellent results on LCD, laptop, and CRT displays without requiring users to have any knowledge of color management. In addition, huey is the first monitor calibration device to continually adjust the monitor as room lighting changes.

"huey breaks new ground in terms of size, performance, and ease-of-use," says Iris Mangelschots, vice president and general manager of digital imaging at GretagMacbeth. "We've been able to leverage the technology used in our professional products, package it in a very affordable and convenient form factor, and combine it with new software designed specifically for the non-technical user."

A pivotal time

Pantone and GretagMacbeth joined forces with the expressed purpose of expanding the Eye-One® brand of monitor calibration tools into an affordable consumer product in the under-$100 range (the current huey MSRP is $89). This opportunity was seen as no less than a pivotal and critical time to renew the PANTONE brand. Pantone believed that many things could be accomplished with a strategic product and package introduction, and each could build on the other. They sought to:

• Introduce a professional, affordable product
• Reinvent PANTONE brand with iconic packages
• Educate all about the need for calibration
• Increase awareness of Eye-One products

To accomplish all this, Pantone brought G2 Worldwide on board for naming, branding, and package design assistance. Although GretagMacbeth already had the two Eye-One products, the strategy was to create packaging that would unite all three products.

Drew Coburn, senior partner, strategic services at G2's New York office, says, "Ingenious products require ingenious brand invention to stage them as stars in their respective category." Regrettably, Coburn witnesses many pivotal opportunities lost in the marketplace. In this case, the goal was to create an exciting consumer brand for Pantone, founded on the professional authority that the company enjoys in the business-to-business sector.

Since developing the PANTONE universal color standard in 1963, the respected Pantone company became known as the "chip book" company. This iconic association with the chip book was both an asset and a liability. This brand image did not convey the company's innovation. Doris Brown, vice president of marketing at Pantone, realized that there were great opportunities available with huey. If both the brand and the packaging are done right, Brown thought, "You only need to know that you can trust Pantone."

Brown posed the question to herself and G2: "How do you renew the image of Pantone as a cutting edge, revolutionary company?" In order to build the Pantone image past the chip book, she thought, you would either have to add new branding images or add new proof points of the current brand image in or on new products.

A cool brand

Early on in the design and branding process, one G2 employee suggested the name "huey," probably not expecting to be taken too seriously. Many laughed out loud at the idea. "It was so irreverent, it was cool in a relevant way," Coburn recalls. A similar reaction happened at Pantone, and G2 was a little surprised when that reaction turned into a "go" for the idea.

Whether it is simply a playful extension of Pantone's expertise with color hues, or whether it conjures up memories of the adorable robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from the cult sci-fi movie Silent Running, the name invites closer scrutiny, as do many of the elements of these packages.

Millions of creative professionals consider the PANTONE chip as the smallest contract in the world and, according to PANTONE, an asset that can not be underestimated. "It was all inspired by the chip," says Lou Antonucci, principal, creative at G2 New York. If the package does not immediately remind consumers of a large version of the chip, it certainly must work on a subconscious level.

Antonucci recalls that the design brief was very open, so he proposed that the new package have the exact 70/30 chip proportion transferred to the calibration tool packages. Antonucci then divided the color fields into nine blocks of slightly gradated hues to simulate the pixelation on a computer screen.

Antonucci believes the block effect in the color fields of each package also simulate nicely the pixels on a computer screen, without being too like a checkerboard. The package as a whole is both pleasing to view and technical at the same time. In a way, the package is showing the product "in use," as the tool is placed on a pixelated computer monitor.

G2 Worldwide helped Pantone design the packaging, and emulated the famous PANTONE® chip in its exact proportions in the three calibration tools in the line.

Calibration made easy

Consumers generally are not aware of why calibration is so important, though many would probably identify with the problem of digital picture prints not matching what was on their computer screen. As much as the back panels of each product educate would-be buyers, the idea of an extra belly band on the huey became an essential element for getting the huey message across quickly.

Retailers were concerned that the purpose of the huey product would not be easily ascertained by aisle-browsers. With "before" and "after" sunflower pictures, the huey belly band communicates the purpose of the product very quickly, even at first glance. The words "monitor color" are cleverly placed directly under the brighter, clearer "after" sunflower picture. "We brought the problem to the front of the package," explains Brown. The belly band also offers the option of changing the message at a later time, or targeting regional markets.

"It's about the order of the shop—from 5 feet, approaching, picking up, inspecting," Coburn emphasizes, "to telegraphically show its sleek, unique form to help people pick it up." After picking a package up, shoppers usually turn to the side panels to learn more. On this package, they will immediately find that using the product is an easy three-step process, made clear with simple line drawings and steps: 1. Install, 2. Plug-in, 3. Calibrate.

Antonucci tried to design the structure to please the toughest critics—other designers. "A lot of designers like to keep cool packaging," he notes. The prominent, centered presentation is ideal because it removes mystery and helps consumers get a feel for the size. Antonucci also likes how it opens, sliding open gradually, letting the customer get to the key component, the calibrating instrument, first.

The structure is also ideal in that the package does not have to be destroyed during opening. Pantone thought ahead to the possible return rate that this product might encounter, especially early in its introduction, and included this goal in it design brief. Also in the brief was the notion of the single line product line, where huey and Eye-One might help boost awareness of each other.

Helping the consumer choose which product in the line was important, but more important was conveying that one of these three products would surely fit any consumer's needs. Antonucci believes the balance of simplicity and contrast will break the clutter of computer store shelves, and the package system is very open for new product extensions or brand expansion.