What a hammer is to a carpenter,
the Pantone fan deck was to the graphic designer.
Always within reach.
Color-true, clear, reliable.

In the days of print, it was indispensable.
Opened countless times for a logo,
a visual identity, a business card.
No screen could compete with it.

Now it sits here.
Edges browned with age,
a bit loose at the hinge.
Caught between RGB and HEX.

I use it far less these days.
But when I pick it up,
I remember why I started in the first place.

Sometimes a single color says more
than a thousand pixels.