01/24/2022
By Thomas Mueller, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of ViewSonic Western Europe
“In developing a range of advanced displays for the creative community, we realized that we had a much bigger role to play than simply delivering hardware.”
When we launched the ColorPro series five years ago, we did so with a single commitment in mind: to create cutting-edge displays for creative professionals that not only align with but anticipate and exceed industry trends. At first, this was a purely technical undertaking, as we continuously sought to refine a line of products with market-leading color accuracy, and sleek, minimalist designs that allowed creators to focus on their workflow. More so than ever, the lines around the creative community have expanded; now, the label includes everyone from vloggers to digital nomad influencers, to children’s book illustrators.
Fast forward to 2022, and I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come. We’ve worked to diversify our line of products to lower the entry point for creators, while still being able to offer them products that are validated by Pantone, and can achieve full coverage of the sRGB, DCI-P3, and Adobe RGB color gamut. We’ve designed software and hardware tools to enable consistent color accuracy for long-term use, such as the ColorPro WheelTM, a color sensor which gives users precise display calibration and on-screen control through a physical dial.
Recognizing that there are many who deal with vision issues, we’ve also been working with safety and quality certifiers TÜV SÜD to co-create the first display testing standards around colorblindness. Now, TÜV SÜD can offer certification for displays that accommodate users’ colorblindness while also helping creators to develop materials that are suitable for those who are colorblind.
We spent a lot of time listening to the rapidly changing needs of creators to better understand their workflow needs, the challenges they face, and the solutions that will help them on their diverse journeys. The place we’ve arrived at with our Coorparoo series is about much more than technical specifications—it’s now about realizing the possibilities of partnership. As more people undertook creative endeavors, we saw that there was an opportunity to build platforms to connect and inspire an increasingly decentralized community. ViewSonic’s products allowed them to create and edit—we also want to help them share their work and knowledge.
It was with this ethos of sharing in mind that ViewSonic launched the “ColorPro Award” in 2020: an international photography contest with no restrictions around equipment or style, but that focused on a single theme of “Kindness”. Given the difficulties that many were going through, we wanted a unifying, positive focal point for our entries. We received thousands of entries in our inaugural year, and then in 2021, with the theme “New Adventure”, the number of submissions tripled. It was truly a privilege for us to be able to provide a space for creatives around the world to share inspiring pieces of work, bringing some much-needed optimism to an incredibly difficult time for many. Last year also saw us launch the ColorPro Talks, bringing together some of the world’s leading creators, with the aim of helping to strengthen the global creative community, and to offer practical insights for those that are in the early days of their creative journeys.
We will continue to deepen our partnerships with industry leaders like TÜV SÜD and Pantone to reimagine what’s possible with colors as well as broadening our ColorPro VP line to include new portable displays that meet the needs of creators who are increasingly on the move. But perhaps more than anything, we want to deepen the work we’ve started in connecting the community of creatives worldwide. After all, what is creativity if not something to be shared?
