If 2012 is going to see the end of the world, you may as well go out with some attractive branding! Design studio MENOSUNOCEROUNO created Just In Case, “an end-of-the-world survival kit” or “the perfect brand for the end of times”. The kit contains six iconic products from Mexico re-packaged in bold yellow including dark chocolate, a classic notebook, a simple knife, 40 black matches, liqueur and a bottle of water. This collection may not ensure long-term survival but you certainly will enjoy your final hours… (Read more about the kit here)

(spotted on the dieline)

Pop-up shops, also called temporary stores or flash retail, have grown in popularity and awareness over the last few years. The definition is just as it sounds – a shop that appears suddenly and disappears with similar drama after a relatively short amount of time. Often there is a special collection or limited edition item element as well. Whether in a rented space, a splashy freestanding structure, only online or curated by tastemaking blogs, there are no limits to the innovative ideas flash retail can create. I particularly love that creativity is almost always a vital characteristic of pop-up shops. From big installations (check out that gorgeous net of cardboard boxes above) to bold storefronts to sleek branding, temporary stores seem to form a sublime marriage of retail and creativity. If you interested, I wrote an image-filled article for Rena Tom’s site on pop-up shops which you can read here. Back to dreaming about opening a shop that pops…

(photographs via the fancy, dezeen, hannah dollery creative, decor8, dezeen, we heart and web urbanist)

I love when branding uses an unexpected palette and this identity for Strata Bakery in Barcelona features a brilliant one. P.A.R design studio pondered the many facets of baking and came up with a central theme of layers. From icing cake layers to the layers of ingredients that go into each recipe, the concept fits perfectly and is brought into the branding by layering different papers, materials, typefaces and colours. I love the scrumptious colour combination of mint green and vibrant orange with hits of brown. I also love the stack of business cards in alternating colours as it conjures up a rather magical cake. I think I may need a cookie stat…

(photographs via P.A.R design studio)

Easter is a holiday bursting with happy hues. It’s rather impossible to resist all of the bright, spring fresh colours. I love these modern spins on Easter classic dyed eggs. Jessica from How About Orange made these beautiful Pantone eggs dyed to match their swatch book companions with names applied using temporary tattoo paper. Love them. I also pinned these CMYK Eggs by Martha Stewart a couple of weeks ago and love their vibrant, design-focused designs. I think the technical aspects of printing colour from CMYK to Pantone should be considered a top Easter 2012 trend!

(photographs via how about orange and martha stewart where further DIY instructions can be found)

Sorry for the unexpected delay in colourful posting this week. Many more bright things to come! First off is this Giant Wall Washi Tape by mt and Sincol. I am a huge washi tape fan (my desk showcases that fact!) and have long been intrigued by the idea of bringing the removable, sheer Japanese masking tape to walls. I love these ideas in the Sincol x mt online gallery. Layering, metallics, patterns, brights, pastels – the possibilities are endless. Perfect for custom, easily changed looks especially in shops and rented spaces…

(images via/see the whole collection here)

I love seeing the colour trends that emerge annually and considering how bursting with colour 2012 has been thus far, there has been no shortage of inspiration. One of my favourite popular trends has been the sorbet (or sherbet) colour family. Somewhere between soft, traditional pastels and trendy, in-your-face neons is the sorbet family. What I love about the palette is how clear, clean and cool-toned the colours are. While pastels can have noticeable yellow undertones or a vintage element to them, sorbet hues manage to be airy but still saturated. Marrying a vibrancy similar to neons with a softness similar to pastels, there is so much juicy life to sorbet hues. Mint, watermelon, lilac, peach, lemon, melon, coral, powder blue – sorbets are just plain fresh and optimistic. I wrote a post on the sorbet family for Rena Tom’s site where I pondered the palette across retail, branding, products, fashion and other colour groups. Take a look here if you are interested!

(images via creature comforts , ruby pr, tartelette, rick metz, net a la mode , hollywood life, rusted revolution , blonde got blues, take a look, irving & co, mochi things, studio alto and linda & harriett)

It’s hard to resist the beautiful visual language designer Paul Giambarba created for Polaroid in the 1960′s. A perfectly organized system of vibrant colour bar graphics and a rather handsome News Gothic typeface make for one unforgettable identity. While quintessentially 1960′s looking, I think the exact system could thrive today. Aside from the clean and colourful looks, my favourite part is how the boxes stack. Beautiful.

(photographs via aisleone)

While I do have a blog focused to colour, I still love white for its power, purity and ability to make colour look dazzling. I have been particularly enamoured with the recent trends devoted to exploring white in both classic and modern ways. White on White, Embellished, Textured, Dips of Metallics, Pops of Colour, Perforated – there has been no shortage of stunning new techniques and ideas devoted to white. I wrote a post on Rena Tom’s site on this topic so please take a look here if you are interested.

(images via minted condition, september industry, christian bird, de-construct, freedom of creation, design labyrinth, june eleven and nakam)

Furniture photography is often very similar – a perfectly styled eye level product shot or an interior showing the piece in the context of a handsome space. That common style might be why these unique product shots for the Place Sofa by Jasper Morrison for Vitra caught my eye. An intriguing approach that makes the chesterfield feel more chic editorial than catalogue (which also showcasing its wide range of modular set-ups).

As I said on Friday, I am a tad obsessed with colour-focused styling lately. I love these artful and very vibrant compositions on the Urban Outfitters website. My favourite part? The beautiful backgrounds as they transition under the objects from two distinct slices of colour to a lovely gradient of the two hues. Hopefully Urban Outfitters continues creating these colourful groupings as they are rather perfect pieces of eye candy…

(thank you emily!)

Look Books are an inspiring cornerstone of design and retail. I wrote a post for Rena Tom’s site about the various forms of look books, components to consider and some inspiring examples to ponder. I think look books have a life beyond their usual users (fashion) as many product lines and professionals can benefit from creating one. Whether as a beautiful printed piece or digital layout, there is no end to the value look books hold for a maker, collection or brand. Oh and they are often just plain awesome nuggets of design and photography! The styling of look books is one of my very favourite facets of design. If it interests you, take a look at the post here.

(photographs via jeff gros, studio brave, foundry studio, ferm living, castle, hem design and roandco)

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…

I’m a big fan of bold branding and the recent trend of more flexible, customizable features like stickers, stamps and tape. The identity for Round Hill Music, a boutique music rights company with a catalogue including The Beatles, marries creative-focused detail with a slick, trustworthy corporate feel. New York studio Established NYC focused on the necessity of tape in so many facets of the music industry “from notes on a grand piano to markings on a recording studio’s mixing board to taping plectrums on the microphones during a live gig or damping snare drums”. Tape became not only the central logo feature but is used as an bold branding detail across the identity suite. It’s instantly recognizable (always the mission) and I love the mix of hot pink, silver foil and black and white. Elegant and artistic – the best combination possible…

(photographs/quote via september industry)

Pops of colour are a timeless and always enticing cornerstone of style. Many have declared 2012 “the year of colour” as hues from dreamy pastels to saturated tropicals have dominated every avenue of design. Does colour ever really go out of style though? No! From classic strong selling colours to the trendiest short-lived shade, splashes of colour will always be highly coveted and ripe for evolution. I wrote a post for Rena Tom’s site about how these pops can be applied to branding, shops and product design (or perhaps your next chic outfit and interior design project). Take a look here if you are interested in happy-making splashes of hue…

(photographs via km graphique, dingbat press, the dieline, yellows photography, teaching literacy, weekday carnival, best made, tetino-tete and seesaw)

I have seen a lot of Spring interior design magazines popping up lately with a theme of colour and all of their cover designs seem to feature photography of vividly styled rooms. While the lush visuals are enticing, I find myself thinking about this 1948 cover of House & Garden designed by Herbert Matter. Featuring Fall hues from pastels to jewel tones, the illustrated palette really makes you wonder what lies inside. I would love to see a modern interior magazine follow a similar swatch idea or infuse it into a photography-focused cover.

(image via condé naste/art.com)

I wrote a post today for Rena Tom’s site about the value art adds to shops and other retail spaces. From a huge Confetti System foil forest at J.Crew to a tiny selection of curated prints in a wee store, art not only adds visual appeal but also creates a community, brings people in the door and makes a shop buzz-worthy. A stationery shop holding a mini-show of paper craft, a clothing store hiring an artist to interpret their new collection in a large installation or a kitchen store throwing a party for a food illustrator – adding a dash of art to retail is beneficial for both the maker and the shop owner. Plus, 1800 colourful shoelaces hanging from a ceiling just looks plain awesome. Take a look at my post here if you are interested!

(images via hip shops, imagine these, simply pix, suppose, flowers by bornay, the design process, the village and confetti system)