Bold typography, bright colour AND a handcrafted one-of-a-kind soul? Now that is the recipe for great print design. I love this simple but striking flyer design by Amsterdam studio OK200 for The Amsterdam New York Pop Up Show. Using the pink poster designs they hand-silkscreened for the event, the duo added a navy blue layer of flyer information on top. They sliced through the now chaotic surface to create 16 beautiful and unique flyers. I love the abstract typography crops and smashing mix of hot pink and navy blue…

(photographs via OK200)   

A fantastic print campaign for Expedia by Ogilvy & Mather that uses airport IATA codes to form clever travel-related phrases. There are over 9,000 three-letter IATA codes for airports around the world so I can imagine it was quite the task to sort through them and find witty copy. For example, WSH EWE WRE ERE (or Brookhaven, Ewer Indonesia, Whangarei, Erave) and SUN SEA SND SEX (or Sun Valley, Seattle, Seno, Sembach). I love the pops of colour and stamps in the corner providing a bit more context to the travel code wish. Oy, so simple and brilliant. There is plenty of fun to be found in the luggage carousel…

(photographs via/spotted on creative review)  

Statistics are just better when you add colour, yes? I love this data visualization of interior design colour statistics by designers Mie Frey Damgaard and Peter Ørntoft for global paint brand Jotun. A seamless combination of handcrafted design nd consumer data. I’m not completely certain about the colours selected but the diagram concept and its styling are fantastic…

(photographs/video via behance)

Modern neon, bright colour and strong typography — is there a better combination? The Melbourne Theatre Company utilizes all three elements in their 2013 season identity created by Interbrand. I love the custom typography called ‘MTC Neon” and its modern angles, glowing finish and nod to theatrical heritage. A glowing typeface could easily appear cheesy or fake in print but I think Interbrand does a smashing job of using the effect in an truly elegant way. Appearing on dark photographs and backgrounds, it allows titles and type to dramatically “light-up” different scenes (regardless of application). I particularly like the program covers as they highlight how the typeface could be used in photographed or physical 3D. Arts are an illuminating pillar in our society and here, Interbrand has crafted an identity that really captures that sentiment…

(spotted on and images via BP&O) 

Partners for Mental Health installation, by Blok Design (Toronto, 2012)

Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery installation, by Rethink (Vancouver, 2005)

I love public art installations, especially when they are thought-provoking, colourful and initiate public interaction. A great example? The button wall at top created by Blok Design for the Partners for Mental Health campaign “Not Myself Today”. The identity, which uses different emotions and their corresponding colours, was turned into a wall of “mood pins” in a heavily travelled section of Toronto. It reminded me of a similar installation I saw in Vancouver a few years ago. Created for the Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery, Rethink Communications printed 50,000 buttons with a single word representing one of a hundred possible responses to contemporary art. Both walls use colour and pattern in different yet equally compelling ways. They also serve as striking interactive public art that draws attention to important topics and sparks dialogue. Oh and they add rather fabulous colour to streetscapes and collars…

(photographs via rethink and blok design)  

Monochromatic paper craft makes a beautiful backdrop for Cédric Ragot’s new Henri Mazelier collection. Focused on turning the pocketknife into a sculptural piece of dinner cutlery, I love the juxtaposition of delicate paper shapes and sharp blades. The use of just one colour creates dimension but makes the knives the stylish star of the photograph…

(spotted on trendland)   

Fantastic posters for Kibon ice cream by designer Renata El Dib. Love the clever rolled edge hinting at ice cream cones. It’s amazing what a two-sided print and some iconic neapolitan colours can do…

(images via renata el dib)

In my final guest post for yellowtrace, I showcased the fabulous styling of HAY, a Danish furniture company. The HAY 2012 Catalogue has a behind-the-scenes, raw cement type of vibe mixed with play-like sets of interior design. Their product shots are equally great (check out those artful stacks of boxes). I just love that end shot of all of the catalogue pieces taking a final “bow” in colour-coded sections. I wouldn’t mind framing that photograph! HAY’s 2012 Catalogue is sure to become one of my favourite examples of brilliant styling. To see all of the photographs and read my whole post, please pop over to yellowtrace.

(photographs via HAY)

A beautiful campaign for Artisan Make Up Paris captured by French photographer Ludovic Taillandier. Fingers crossed the campaign expands with more images as I just love the burst of brilliant powder against a face with neutral make-up. Colourful cosmetics are a rather inspiring medium, don’t you think? If only this was how they were applied on a daily basis…

(photographs via ludovic taillandier)

I have been meaning to do a post on Saul Bass as he is a true colour and design hero of mine. I spotted this poster for 1957 film Love in the Afternoon today and couldn’t resist posting it. Gorgeous handcraft typography and cluster of primary colour. Don’t you wish modern movies would experiment with illustration as handsome as this? Time to prep a Saul Bass post…

(photograph via brain pickings)

A colourful troupe runs around town infusing hue into interiors, wardrobes, cosmetics and mundane corners of life? Yep, I love this commercial for Target by director Filip Engstrom. Featuring the French-Canadian children’s song “Alouette“, the spot has a beautiful colour palette (love the costumes!) and is just plain fantastic. I especially love how a bounce on a couch results in bright throw cushions and the overhead visual of a grey intersection filling with colourful runners. Anyone want to form a similarly well-styled colour gang who travels by hot air ballon and frolics around adding dashes of hue to life? I’ll send out membership details soon…

It’s hard to go to a grocery store’s vegetable section or a farmer’s market and not be astounded by the vibrant hues of fruits and vegetables. This advert for Lurpak Butter directed by Dougal Wilson celebrates the glorious colours and patterns of vegetables. How exquisite is that purple cabbage pattern? I love the dramatic, cinematic feeling (aided by the voice of actor Rutger Hauer) and how the vegetables move in rapid rainbow sequence. The ad seeks to show that “healthy doesn’t have to taste humdrum” and I think that it more than achieves that goal. I don’t know about you but the ad makes me want to cook and eat a rather large heap of vegetables…

You may have seen the fantastic imagery of Ikea’s cookbook Hembakat Är Bäst created by brilliant photographer Carl Kleiner and stylist Evelina Bratell last year. The way the ingredients were presented in such modern blocks of colour was just sublime. What a way to imagine the components of cooking. The talented duo is back with another a strong overhead series focused on Ikea’s kitchenware. It’s a unique way to represent products and showcases the clean, uncluttered lines of Ikea’s aesthetic. I don’t know about you but I can see some strange faces emerging in those piles of plates and utensils… (p.s. I posted a couple of the original Ikea ingredient shots because, well, they are beautiful. I hope that prints are sold one day as they would look awesome on a kitchen wall!)

How awesome is that long shot of a studio desk? Thin slices of Mac computers, handwritten notes, strange snacks and Pantone guides – it’s design studio heaven. Oneighty Creative, a design studio in the UK, directed a series of shots in the hopes of “unveiling the process” of creativity and brand creation to their clients (as well as a piece of self-promotion). Photographed beautifully by Adrian Ray, I think that fantastic long photograph and the additional images more than capture the process, tools, steps and overall beauty of studio life. There is no design key on computers! Oh and Oneighty had a great description of the shot and goal: “[a] visualised physical timeline of our brand process which creates a sort of mad hatter’s tea party feel”. I really love seeing the desks and studios of creatives so I can only dream that this overhead photography approach to those spaces becomes an entire book one day…

This is probably the longest I have gone without posting since I started plenty of colour 10 months ago! Some decidedly uncolourful things have sprung up but have no fear, I will be posting an avalanche of hue-filled items soon. There are few seasons as colour-inspiring as Christmas.

In the meantime and if you are interested in retail branding, take a peek at a post I wrote for Rena Tom’s website on the topic of gift certificates. So many shops and makers use boring plastic swipe cards or fill-in templates which is a missed creative and branding opportunity in my mind. There are a million small but impactful details that can make the buyer feel like their purchase is important to the seller and make the recipient feel like they got a really special gift. Oh and make your shop or company become a beacon of gift certificate attractiveness and fantastic branding! Take a look here if you are interested…

(images via hyperkit, boomkat, september industry, habit of art, present and correct, ncf studio, creature comforts, sweet paul, rie elise larsen and martha stewart)

Lately it feels like FedEx is leading the way in making clever and effective ads with a handmade sensibility. Remember the parcel via windows one I posted about a few months ago? The latest effort is this advertisement for less urgent shipping between Canada and the US created by BBDO Toronto. We travel between Montreal and Miami via a route of toppling domino-like FedEx boxes and spot many landmarks and geographical features on our journey. The craftsmanship of the set and all of its purple details is fantastic. I can’t even imagine how much work this set-up required nor the terror of having what appears to be one take to do it in. It also warms my heart when a company embraces the creative possibilities of their brand colour the way FedEx has here. The ad is exploded in their signature purple. I’m not sure why a Canadian goose needs to mail a puppy a hockey stick but when the results are this good, who cares why! Both purple offices are fabulously designed from purple dog bones to the purple bow tie-clad goose’s desk photos of his wife and the man at the park who feeds him. How about his poster with the fitting quote “C’est la V”? I love this ad because it not only shows how a brand colour can be explored but it highlights that any company, from tiny to insanely large like FedEx, can make make a unique and truly creative advertisement.