Posted by Olivia dela Rosa on October 14, 2014
It’s amazing how something so ordinary gets to be transformed into a work of art. With a keen eye for detail and a wildly imaginative mind, your daily life can be your canvas. One guy proved just that and the evidence is all over Instagram. The world eventually caught on.
Paul Octavious started a photo series called Pantone Project (#pantoneproject, and not to be confused with The Pantone Prose & Pictures Project), and it is now making the rounds on the photo-sharing app. Octavious is a Chicago-based freelance photographer and storyteller, having worked with clients like New Balance, McDonald's, Wired and Threadless. He took his fascination with Pantones to another level with the Pantone Project series and we took some of his and other Instagrammers' works and posted them below.
Pantone, a standardized color matching system, has been a significant part of the print and design community for some time now. It is a provider of color systems and allows different manufacturers from different locations to match the colors of their materials. Pantones have been usually associated with printing companies, but today they found another niche on Instagram.
Octavious background lies in graphic design, but instead over the years he found comfort working behind the camera: for years, he's been using a Canon 5D Mark II and his iPhone to take photos. Just like any photography enthusiast, the fascination started early during his childhood, when he received a Polaroid as a gift from his parents. As of writing, his Instagram account boasts of at least 500K followers and growing. Same thing for the #pantoneproject, as we find that his followers and contributors from all over the world are buying their own pantone postcards and matching swatches to their surroundings.
In his interview with Wired magazine, he says that so far he only found 12 or 13 matches he liked. "When it happens, it happens," Octavious states. He is always waiting for the right opportunity and the right color match, always ready with the postcards in his backpack and his iPhone in his pocket.
You can see the rest of the project on his Instagram account.
If Octavious was the master of color matching, these people are his students. Taking cue from Octavious' works are other Instagrammers who delight in these color swatches, and there are currently over 1,300 Instagram posts tagged as #pantoneproject so don't be surprised if you see someone holding up a piece of card over some inanimate object. New hashtags are being used along with the photo series such as #iseepantoneeverywhere, #colorinspires, #pantonechallenge and #colorcharted. The project also gets to be shared on another photo editing/sharing app VSCOcam, and sometimes posts take a comical turn especially when the color swatches do not match the objects at all. Here's what the rest of the world thinks of the photo series.
If you find #pantoneproject to be amazing, head over to Instagram to check out the latest posts. How about you, what is your favorite photo project so far? Share your thoughs with us through the comment form below!
Like this? - Share This!
Olivia dela Rosa
Freelance writer and editor since 2011. Major design enthusiast. Resident writer and trendhunter for Printingdeals.
I bought a groupon type certificate for tiny prints so decided to order my Christmas cards there. I purchased a square card and ordered the longer size envelopes because the website said you pay normal postage versus extra postage for a square envelope. When I received the envelopes, the flap was on the side so I oriented my address label and stamps that way. Every single envelope (150) was returned to me because the USPS says I need double postage because of the way the envelope is oriented. I contacted tiny prints and they told me I should have known which way the envelope should have been oriented and they will not reimburse me for the stamps ... They will only send me new envelopes (what does that cost them ... A couple dollars?). So now, I either have to buy all new stamps (@ $75) to send the envelopes as they are or readdress 150 new envelopes, cut out all the stamps off the old envelopes and tape them on the new ones.... And the envelopes are not even arriving until 3 days before Christmas (guess they couldn't afford to ship them any faster) so I doubt I will be able to get them back out quickly enough to be delivered by Christmas. Tiny Prints should tell you you need to orient the envelopes in a certain way or put the flap on the long side where it normally is. I will never do business with this company again. Not only do they over charge for their products (cards were still very expensive even with discount certificate), they give terrible customer service.
Rating: 1 / 5
I been using a local print shop for my business card printing needs, while quality was high, prices were also very high. I heard about Moo from a friend and decided to give them a try. I just received the business cards and I'm pleased: Quality is great, color is correct and the cards have a nice "thick" feel to it, also the packaging is very nice. Overall the quality i got from MOO is even better then the local print shop i used, and the price is a lot friendlier. I hope these guys will stay for a while!
Rating: 5 / 5
I used Print Place only once and was satisfied with their service. My business cards looked very professional and they even spotted a typo which they corrected for me. After reading some online reviews I decided to give them a go and I'll use them for my future projects. Very satisfied, professional service.
Rating: 5 / 5
Have used Cafepress many times, and have absolutely nothing but praise for them. I have recently ordered t-shirts in the wrong size, and also got a mug with a hairline crack along the bottom, causing it to leak droplets of water, but within 30 mins of emailing, I received a response.
They even sent out a replacement mug and told me to the keep the old one, and the same for one of the t-shirts I had bought - that's $25 Dollars and a lot of hassle they saved me, even-though i would have happily returned it.
Best service, i definitely recommend!
Rating: 5 / 5
I do not usually leave reviews, but im impressed with Overnight Prints customer service. After i uploaded my design they contacted me and suggested some improvements to my design. I Accepted but was not happy when the first run arrived at my office.
After i contacted Overnight Prints they offered to do a second run at no additional charge.
Im quite happy with the way the prints turned out and the way they handled this!
Rating: 5 / 5
Copyright © 2026 - Printingdeals.org
