Presentation is Just Part of the Story

The operative word here is "early." If Matthews has a brand-owner relationship, Chop says, the expectation is for Matthews PG&D to sit in as far upstream as possible to avoid bottlenecks later. "We keep our finger on the pulse of realism," he adds.

Color by numbers

While Matthews PG&D has its own in-house design agency, Chop also conducts training with outside design agencies, sharing generic color profiles for flexo, high-end sheetfed, folding cartons, etc. Much of the training centers on image editing, showing designers how their monitors are affected by environmental conditions (variable temperature, changes in lighting, etc.), and that decisions based on perceived color alone are unreliable. Some designers are receptive, others are not.