NRF STANDARD COLOR AND SIZE CODES COLOR CODING GUIDE GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING COLOR CODES PRINCIPLES FOR SELECTING COLOR CODES CODING FOR: ONE COLOR DIFFERENT SHADES STRIPES, PLAIDS & MULTI-COLOR DESIGNS NO COLOR CODE METALLIC COLOR NO DOMINANT COLOR NO RECOGNIZABLE BACKGROUND WHEN ADDITIONAL CODES FOR A SHADE ARE NEEDED WHEN ALL COLOR & OPEN RANGE CODES HAVE BEEN USED GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING COLOR CODES The primary guideline fr selecting the crrect clr cde is that it will always be based n the predminant backgrund clr f the prduct. Generally, it is prper t cnsider nly the backgrund clr in selecting the apprpriate cde. Hwever, there are cnditins where multi-clr patterns and plaids need t be distinguishable fr tracking sales activity. Manufacturers wh need such analysis shuld assign additinal clr cdes t facilitate this infrmatin gathering. When assigning cdes t designate clr with an individual style/mdel number, there must be a cnsistency in their use by retailers and vendrs. The UPC Vendr Catalg must include the selected clr in the Clr ID field. Retailers will extract this infrmatin fr inclusin in their merchandise database fr prducts carried in their inventry and use it in their reprting systems fr the benefit f the merchandising persnnel using these reprts fr inventry decisins. With this unifrmity in designating clr fr general merchandise, the exchange f infrmatin between retailers and their resurces (e.g., clr analysis and market preference prfiles) can be greatly facilitated. This is particularly apprpriate in light f the emerging cperative inter-industry market data interchange prgrams such as Quick Respnse and Just in Time. T insure the effective use f standardized clr cding, the guidelines fr merchandise intended fr the general merchandise marketplace are listed belw: A clr cde will be selected frm the apprpriate sub-grup t represent each f the clr designatins in the current prduct line. As an example, the clrs cffee, chclate and carb all fall int the dark brwn sub-grup, 201-209. Each clr shuld be assigned a unique cde (e.g., 201 cffee, 202 chclate, 203 carb). The exceptin t the abve guideline is fr thse vendrs whse clr descriptins exceed the capacity f a clr sub-grup. An example f this is a manufacturer having mre than 10 clrs falling int the dark brwn (201-209) categry. In this example, the manufacturer with 11 dark brwn clrs may assign the same clr cde t mre than ne f the clrs (e.g., 201 kla nut and chclate ).The clr descriptins bearing the same clr cde must never be used fr the same style number. Yes Style number 145 kla nut (#201); style number 622 chclate (#201) N Style number 356 kla nut (#201) and chclate (#201) If the abve uniqueness f clr cding cannt be accmplished within the apprpriate clr sub-grup, the manufacturer must select cdes frm the prper verflw cdes in the 240-249 r 900 series f numbers. If ne f the assigned clrs (e.g., kla nut) is discntinued, its clr cde can be used fr a new clr descriptin that falls int the same sub-grup (e.g., walnut). In this case, the manufacturer must include the crrect clr descriptin and its assigned cde in the Vendr s Catalg. PRINCIPLES FOR SELECTING COLOR CODES 1
Principle 1 Vendrs select their wn NRF Clr Cdes. An pen blck belw each clr cde number is prvided fr affixing swatches. Users can prepare their wn clr/shade-specific wrk sheets by duplicating pages and attaching clr swatches apprpriate t each U.P.C. Prduct ID. Principle 2 NRF Clr cdes are based n the dminant backgrund. The vendr determines the dminant backgrund. Principle 3 Uniqueness and Cnsistency A unique NRF clr cde must be assigned t each clr variatin within a particular prduct ID Principle 4 The same NRF Clr Cde may be used t represent an entirely different shade fr anther prduct with a different prduct ID. Principle 5 If a clr is discntinued, its NRF Clr Cde may be reassigned t anther shade within the same prduct ID after the required retentin perid. NRF COLOR CODE EXAMPLES COLOR CODING FOR ONE COLOR The first number in each clr grup serves as the Uncmpared clr cde designatin It shuld be used whenever n shades f clr (e.g. dark blue, pastel blue) are used fr a particular vendr Prduct ID Example Using One Clr A vendr ffers nly ne shade f green sweater fr a particular Prduct ID N shade cmparisn is invlved Slutin The vendr selects NRF Clr Cde 300, the cde fr Uncmpared Green Green Dark Green 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 Cde 300 is Used COLOR CODING FOR DIFFERENT SHADES OF A COLOR If a vendr ffers a Prduct ID in mre than ne shade f a particular clr, then numbers are selected fr each different shade frm the mst apprpriate shade range fllwing the general principle shwn belw. General Principle: The lwer the number, the deeper/darker the shade represented. Example Using Different Shades f a Clr A vendr ffers a Prduct ID f men s shrts in 4 different shades f Blue The prduct is available in: 1-Blue/Black 2-Medium Navy 3-Medium Blue 4-Light Blue Slutin Cde Reasn 2
1-Blue/Black 401 Chsen because cde 401 is the lwest number in the Dark Blue Shade Sub-Grup and because it appraches the darkest shade f blue pssible 2-Medium Dark Navy 414 Chsen because 414 is a middle number in the middle f the Navy shade sub-grup and will allw fr pssible future cding f ther Navy shades, bth darker and lighter, fr this Prduct ID 3-Medium Blue 424 Chsen because cde 424 is in the middle f the Medium Blue shade sub-grup and will allw fr future cding f ther variatins f Medium Blue, bth darker and lighter, fr this Prduct ID 4-Light Blue 434 Chsen because cde 434 is in the middle f the Bright Blue shad sub-grup and will allw fr future cding f ther variatins f Light Blue, bth darker and lighter, fr this Prduct ID COLOR CODING FOR ALL THE CODES IN A COLOR OR SHADE GROUP HAVE BEEN USED OR THERE ARE SOLIDS AND STRIPES OR THERE ARE PLAIDS OR THERE ARE MULTI-COLOR DESIGNS Slutin Use the COLOR DEDICATED OPEN RANGE when cdes in a grup have been used, r when there are slids, stripes, plaids r multi-clr designs * Nte: The dminant backgrund clr is the primary basis fr assignment f clr cdes; hwever, when vendrs and retailers require tracking f multi-clrs, plaids and ther designs, the clr pen range cdes may be used. COLOR CODING WHEN ADDITIONAL CODES FOR A SHADE ARE NEEDED OR WHEN ALL THE CODES IN A COLOR OR SHADE GROUP HAVE BEEN USED Blue Grup Example when additinal cdes fr a shade are needed A vendr ffers a Prduct ID f men s neckties in 12 shades f Dark Blue, but the Dark Blue Shade Grup ffers nly 9 available cde numbers (cdes 401 t 409) Slutin T achieve clr cding fr each f the Dark Blue shades, additinal cde numbers frm the Blue Grup Ranges (460 t 499) may be used Blue Dark Blue 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 Blue Grup (Cntinued) Cdes (401-409) are used fr the first 9 shades f dark blue OPEN 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 Cdes 460-462 are used fr next 3 shades f dark blue Example using slids and stripes A vendr ffers a Prduct ID f plain, un-patterned men s neckties in 9 shades f Medium Red 3
Red Grup Slutin Use 9 f the Red Grup s Medium Red Shade cde numbers (610 t 618). Additinally, the same Prduct ID als ffers 2 f these shades (cded 613 and 616 in their slid-clr versins) in different stripe-patterned versins. These stripe patterns need t be distinguishable fr sales tracking. Slutin Use the additinal cdes frm the Red Grup Ranges (640 t 641) t cde fr the stripes Medium Red 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 Cdes 610 t 618 are used frm the Medium Red Grup fr the Slid Clr Versins 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 Cdes 640 and 641 are used frm the Red Grup Range fr the Stripe Versins COLOR CODING WHEN ALL THE COLOR AND OPEN RANGE CODES HAVE BEEN USED Slutin Use the MISCELLANEOUS OPEN RANGE EXAMPLE USING MULTI-COLORED DESIGNS Example using multi-clred designs A vendr ffers 120 multi-clred abstract designs screen-printed n a white T-shirt All the shirts have the same Prduct ID and are different nly by the screened design Each design must be individually tracked Slutin Use all the white clr cdes including the pen ranges (100 t 199) fr the first 100 multi-clr cdes Use the Miscellaneus Range f cdes fr the last 20 clr cdes fr the multi-clred abstract designs Nte: the terms Vendr Prduct ID and Prduct ID used in this Guide, are frequently synnymus with the term Style Number used by many vendrs. These terms shuld nt be cnfused with U.P.C. Prduct ID defined previusly. Miscellaneus (Cntinued) 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 Use Cdes 960 t 969 fr the next 10 multi-clr cdes 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 Use Cdes 970 t 979 fr the last 10 multi-clr cdes 4
Example when there s N Recgnizable Backgrund r Dminant Clr The clr mixture is such that n backgrund clr can be determined and n clr in the mix Miscellaneus (Cntinued) Slutin Use the Miscellaneus Range f cdes 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 Use Cdes 960 t 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 Use Cdes 970 t 979 COLOR CODING FOR METALLIC COLORS AND SHADES COPPER r RUST Lcated in the Brwn Grup page 0-6 Clr Cdes 220-229 GOLD Lcated in the Yellw Grup page 0-16 Clr Cdes 710-719 SILVER Lcated in the Grey Grup page 0-2 Clr Cdes 040-049 5