Ben - the app

As a blogger I’m at liberty to write about anything. As a green blogger my posts should have some connection to sustainability. Usually they do. This one’s going to be a bit of a stretch, but really, this is so cool I can’t help myself.

On Monday, June 1, iPhone owners will be able to download a free app that, with the tap of a key, lets you snap a picture of any color and instantly match it to one of the more than 3,300 hues that comprise Benjamin Moore’s color system. Here’s how the application, known as ben, works.

“Simply glide a finger across the digital photo taken with the iPhone’s built-in camera, zoom into a color, and tap the “match” key. In just seconds, a strip of colors will appear below the photo, with the closest paint match highlighted. A simple shake of the phone and ben will provide up to four coordinating colors, creating an entire harmonizing palette based on the original selection. Favorites can be saved and enlarged to the size of the iPhone screen for easier viewing. There’s access, as well, to the full spectrum color wheel, which expands or contracts by fingertip control to focus on a color preference. That, too, can be translated into a Benjamin Moore color and saved as a favorite for future reference.”

That’s right, a complete color scheme based on whatever captures your fancy without ever leaving your home or office. Email it off to your clients. No more paint decks or color samples wasting all that paper or ink. Maybe that’s the environmental tie-in.

Naw, it isn’t. Using this app won’t save energy, reduce carbon emissions or eliminate waste. But – and this is real – Benjamin Moore has been a long-standing steward of the environment with its portfolio of Green Promise products including Aura, über-performance low-VOC paint; Natura Zero-VOC Interior Paint; and EcoSpec Zero-VOC Paint for commercial interiors.

The company’s been helping us specify and use green paint for a long time. Now, ben is making us awesomely cool.