Yangguofeng Studio · Custom cushion guides · about 4 min read

Colour is where custom work most often disappoints. The screen is showing you RGB light. The fabric will show you dye under a weave. And the room lighting where the cushion ends up will change it again. Here is how to get it right first time.

Never specify a colour by name

“Beige”, “cream”, “light grey” — these mean something different to every factory, and two samples ordered as “beige” can be visibly different. Always specify with a reference:

• Pantone — the industrial standard. Give us the Pantone code and we match to it.
• Physical swatch — if it must match an existing product, post us the sample. This is the most reliable method by a wide margin.
• HEX or RGB — useful as a starting reference, less accurate as a final spec, because it does not describe ink or dye on fabric.

Colour shifts with the fabric

The same ink behaves differently on different surfaces. This is not a defect, it is physics.

A saturated blue on cotton and the same blue on velvet are not the same product. If the colour has to be exact, use polyester.

Lighting changes everything at home too

• Warm bulbs (2700K) push colours towards yellow. A cool grey cushion reads as beige.
• Cool daylight (6000K+) reveals blues and greys that looked neutral under shop lighting.
• Velvet and flocked surfaces change dramatically between the two — this is the hardest material to colour-match and the most worth sampling.

If you care about accuracy, ask for a swatch and view it in the room, under the lights you actually use, before you order a run.

How to run a colour proof properly

• Request a physical swatch, not just a digital proof. A PDF cannot show you how a dye behaves in a weave.
• Wash the swatch if the product will be laundered. Any colour that shifts after one wash is a colour that will disappoint.
• View it in natural daylight and under your own lighting. Both.
• Compare against the thing it must match — the sofa, the brand guide, the product it accompanies.

Dark and light grounds

• Light ink on a dark ground gives the strongest contrast, and on dark fabrics the ink usually needs a white under-layer to stay bright. That under-layer costs one extra pass but makes a visible difference.
• Dark ink on a light ground prints directly with no under-layer, so it is cheaper and cleaner, and it is less forgiving of fabric texture.
• Matching a dark sofa with a dark cushion is the hardest case. The cushion will read as a black shape rather than a colour. Consider a contrasting ground instead.

Building a range that works together

• Fix one ground colour and vary the artwork. It reads as a collection and simplifies production.
• Or fix one artwork and offer it in three grounds. Also cohesive, and gives buyers a choice.
• Do not run more than three or four colours in one collection on screen. They will look like a swatch book rather than a range.

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