Artist Lee Baker used 10 thousand metres (or 32,808 feet) of colourful yarn to create his fascinating work ‘Refractive Monolith’. Commissioned by The Future Tense for its SPECTRA I exhibition, the piece utilizes the corner of the gallery to showcase vibrant acrylic strands pulling across a grey gradient pyramid and stylized graffiti-like clouds. A three dimensional reaction to his paintings, Baker explains the installation as the quest to use “vivid colour and extreme perspectives to ‘build’ fantastical meta-cities against a stormy backdrop of ashen clouds and pending darkness”. I love the up-close images of piles of yarn and how the strings intertwine to create different palettes from different perspectives. I imagine “Refractive Monolith” is one of those works of art that you see something new in upon each and every viewing. I would love to see Lee take this idea to the street and bring his grey illustration/bright yarn combination to urban art installation…

(thank you tabara!)
(images via lee baker and ma cup of t)

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…

I recently came across these Pantone Pots by Serax and now can’t stop thinking of all the places I could use one (or twelve). I wouldn’t mind a patio full of colour swatch pots with plants of contrasting hue (maybe some bright blue flowers growing out of that honeysuckle-hued pot?). How about using the pot as a hint of what colour will eventually grow from some planted seeds? For example, some lavender planted in that light purple vessel. Love the thought of one as a kitchen utensil or design supply container. From the Pantone Postcards I posted about before to these Pantone Pots, my Christmas wish list has two official pieces of delightful colour nerdiness.

I was poking around the website of Norwegian-American artist Brit Hammer and became more than a little intrigued by the close-up shots of frescos she creates in cement. I want to reach into the screen and touch the beautiful texture. Doesn’t it feel like you are on the surface of a planet covered in icy, colourful grooves and craters? To create her vibrant frescos, Brit uses cement mortar powder, water and pigments which forces her to work quickly as the materials are fast drying (unlike traditional plaster frescos). I’m thinking Brit could start a side business of selling detail photographs of her beautiful work. Maybe even add some tiny space figures to the shots? I’m picturing a vintage silver astronaut. Hmmm…

I have posted about the work of Elisa Strozyk before or, to be more specific, gushed about her incredible talent for wood design with a fabric-like soul. I was visiting her website a couple of days ago and spied these spectacular Coloured Wooden Rugs. Elisa attaches dyed wood to a fabric base and the result is a dreamy wooden textile. These beauties have only fueled my daydreams that Elisa will one day open a shop of her work. I would be more than happy to camp out for a few days in order to nab one of these gorgeous carpets…

(photographs via elisa strozyk)

I think I just found a new sculpture to add to the top of my “art I would kill to have” list. Created by Canadian designer Miya Kondo, ‘Composition Light‘ is a light sculpture comprised of five different shapes of light with five different frames of colour. Each piece can stand alone as well as be grouped together in an infinite number of combinations. In addition to the beautiful use of light and colour frames, I love the use of bright cords and wiring. Rather than simply make those technical elements white or hidden, they are pops of colour that add to the entire piece and remind the viewer of what is powering the sculpture as a whole. I’m hoping there will be a home version of Composition Light one day. The only other thing needed is a big loft with industrial beams to showcase it in….

(photographs via miya kondo; spotted on via designboom)

Milan’s Cinema Manzoni was one of the most important film venues in Italy for over fifty years before it closed to the public in 2006. In her show ‘Parasimpatico‘, Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist took over the historic space and covered every surface with “a new skin of imagery” resulting in gorgeous and ethereal light, sound and movement installations. Those photographs of rooms lit by coloured gels make me want to hop a flight to Milan and be immersed in hues. How beautiful is that top image of magenta and blue floors with a dash of red light? I also love the ornate Italian details covered in modern colour (including that intriguing chandelier that acts like a screen for projected imagery). If you happen to be in Milan, the show is on until December 18th. See more about the installations here.

(spotted on and photographs via designboom)

You know those round nonpareil sprinkles that are liberally tossed about during holiday cookie decorating? Imagine meticulously placing 221,184 of them by hand using jewellery tweezers and a pixelating computer program. Are your eyes burning from that thought? Mine are! Canadian artist Joel Brochu was inspired by a previous project he created exploring the pointillism technique of applying small dots of colour to create a larger image and decided to re-create a photograph with sprinkles. Using a photograph of a beagle by Shingo Uchiyama, Joel needed just six colours of sprinkles (red, orange, green, blue, black and white) to create a surprisingly large spectrum of hues. It’s amazing how colour can be suggested and created with the right combinations and placement. Nonpareils are just 1/16 inch thick so 221,184 of them were needed to re-create the 4′ by 1.5′ photograph. Crazy, painstaking work that makes me wonder what Joel could do with a dozen cupcakes…

(spotted on my modern met)

‘Blinking City’ is a project investigating how traditional maps for cities can never accurately reflect the speed of urban growth nor the rate at which things change. In other words, “as soon as the map is done, the city it describes has already gone”. Created by artists Marcella Campa & Stefano Avesani of instant hutong, the chalk pastel piece is a collage of several Hutong neighbourhoods of Beijing and was stenciled onto a wall of a dilapidated courtyard house in the Xianyukou district of the city. The colours were also assigned meaning to illustrated some of the ever-changing events that occur in a big city every day (see the legend here).

(thank you jorge!)
(photographs via instant hutong)

I love these photographs by London-based author, stylist and designer Sania Pell that explore a contrast of neon paint and real sprigs of berries and hydrangeas. The palette of dark and light natural hues mixed with vibrant artificial neon is stunning. These are just “photo sketches” at the moment so I can only dream of where the idea will lead Sania…

(photographs via sania pell)

behind the scenes

A second Kate Spade post this week because their holiday collection is just that good. I love “Give Colourfully”, the Holiday 2011 campaign video. It is bursting with bright colour, pattern, design supplies, paper and all things devoted to the season of festive wrap. It’s quite impressive how much Christmas comes across without relying on traditional colours, snow scenes, winter clichés, etc. Continuing with the theme, the front page of their website animates colourful presents you can “unwrap”. A larger Kate Spade post will pop up one of these days as their design team and brand as a whole is one of my true ‘colour heros’. Check out the behind-the-scenes video too. The team used 1,000 yards of coloured tape, 15,000 square feet of tissue paper and 400 yards of paper ribbon to create the mini-film (including wrap a 1965 VW beetle!)

Helmo is a great design studio from France and I recently came across some work they did in 2009 for the Sonorama Music Festival in Besancon, France. Th CMYK typography is fantastic and the black and white illustrations are playful yet modern. What a mix! I love the program and its rainbow of one-colour photographs. The wayfinding is my favourite though as it brings so much life to the streets and grey weather. If I had been at the festival, I probably would have walked away with all of the merchandise (and an illegally procured bus shelter or wayfinding poster!)

Oribbon, a mixture of origami and ribbon, is a sticky strip of paper scored in a multitude of directions so it can folded into different shapes including the origami bows above. Talk about turning a regular present into a work of art. What a ridiculously clever design by Azumi Mitsuboshi.

(images via upon a fold where oribbon can be purchased)

A stop-motion music video featuring coloured pencils? I’m in. Film maker and animator Dropbear (otherwise known as Jonathan Chong), created this soothing and happy-inducing ode to a classic art supply for Melbourne-based band Hudson. I’ve always had a feeling hanky-panky was going on in my design supply boxes…

(thank you florencia!)

Airports are fascinating places. Some are rather frightening and clinical, some are gleaming structures of great design. The latter category more than fits ‘Harmonic Convergence’ by Christopher Janney, a spectacular interactive sound, light and colour installation at the Miami International Airport. Created in the walkway from the rental car terminal to the main airport, Christopher used diamonds of coloured glass, the constant sun of Florida and a liberal coat of white paint to create a dazzling hall of pure colour. The pattern created on the floor is stunning. When the sun finally sets, the installation remains vibrant via computer-controlled LED lights. Christopher also designed a “sonic portrait” or composition of constantly changing tropical birds, thunderstorms and other distinctly Floridian sounds to interact with the coloured light. Christopher says his installation “announces” the airport to visitors as they enter or exit the main terminal and I am certain this component of the trip would be unforgettable. If I ever visit Miami, I can now count on one thing – a lengthy trip to the airport. You can find me in the hall of colour, staring at that pattern of light…

(spotted on designboom)

Mouta is a natural object and furniture collection by Bordeaux designer Caroline Gomez. The wood she uses to craft her work is a dreamy hue and a perfect neutral for punchy pastels and sherbet hues. In addition to beautiful wood work, Caroline’s sense of styling is fantastic. I love the pops of colour she stacks on that handsome table. How about those beautiful lamp cords? Or the illustrations with perfectly selected tape hues? Caroline’s images have created a distinct brand palette of natural cool-toned wood, muted neons and traditional pastels. An inspiring combination. There is so much to love but that cutting board with the holes for fruit steadying is making my day…