PMS vs CMYK for a client logo, I was wrong for 6 years

PMS vs CMYK for a client logo, I was wrong for 6 years. I always pushed CMYK for everything because it's cheaper and most shops default to it. Then last month I did a run of 120 shirts for a food truck in Austin and their orange came out looking like a faded traffic cone. Client was pissed, I was confused, we tested everything. Finally the press operator ran a spot color just for that orange and it popped exactly like their brand. Turns out CMYK can't hit that bright fluorescent-ish orange no matter how much you tweak the curves. I switched my whole process now, I ask about spot colors first for any logo with a bold custom color. Anyone else have a color that just refuses to work in CMYK and forced them to change their approach?

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nathanking14d agoMost Upvoted

Did you check the shirt material too, or just the ink setup?