Or at least that's what it seems like. Everywhere I turn these days I run into some product bearing a solid field of color anchored by the familiar white band with black Helvetica letters. Once only recognizable to designers, this color-speccing system's visual device is now as ubiquitous as a Starbucks (their green is Pantone 3425, btw). Mugs, cell phone cases, water bottles, bags, furniture, christmas ornaments…if you can think of it, it's available! If you google "Pantone Products," you'll see this: It's pretty amazing, this plethora of retail products bearing the Pantone mark. This made me wonder: how and when did all this start? Well, a little bit of background about Pantone for those not familiar with the company and what they do: " In 1963, Lawrence Herbert, Pantone's founder, created an innovative system of identifying, matching and communicating colors to solve the problems associated with producing accurate color mat...