While making my nightly visit to the website of Room 6, one my favourite Vancouver stores, I spotted these gorgeous and colourful handwoven beaded cuffs by designer Julie Rofman. I immediately began to drool. Don’t they look like a chic, high fashion take on friendship bracelets? A mixture of matte, translucent, opaque and shiny glass beads, Julie uses a small bead loom to weave geometric patterns. Each piece is part of a limited edition and is finished with sterling silver clasp beads and ribbon ends. Inspired by global pattern and colour, each bracelet is named after brightly hued places in the world such as “Rio“, “Galapagos” and “Havana“. I don’t know if I can resist buying one of these bright and beautifully crafted designs. The only hard part will be picking which one!

(if you are similarly drooling, pop over to julie rofman or room 6 to purchase)
(photographs via julie rofman, room 6, shop big things, bikini bird, gem gossip & shop bop)

British photographer Louis Lander-Deacon is one of those artists you just know you are still going to be hearing about 30 years from now. His work reveals an immense talent and curiourity that can only result in spectacular photography. I love this series Louis created using coloured powder and a few willing friends. The very subdued and cold hues of the forest are a perfect backdrop to the vividly pigmented clouds of colours. Colour powder and smoke bomb photos seem to be growing in popularity and I personally love the randomness that results. Who knows what photograph you will end up with? The first image shown above has a colour palette that actually took my breath away. Yep, I need to find some willing friends and see what colour I can cover them with… (p.s. these photos also remind me of posts I have done on holi celebrations and silence/shapes by filippo minelli)

Now that plenty of colour is approaching its four month anniversary (yes, I’m going to celebrate each month!), I plan on launching more unique features. I am always going to showcase the many colour-loving designers, projects and items that inspire me but I’m also looking forward to having a couple more custom features to play with. I thought I would give a sneak peak of a new feature I am experimenting with – Assorted Colour. There are many blogs featuring colour palettes extracted from photographs which I love and am definitely inspired by. When I started this blog, I thought about going down a similar road but then I considered how I personally see colour palettes. A yellow car passing a red street pole and blue umbrella, a magenta paper clip next to a piece of turquoise twine and scrap of lavender felt – I realized that my inspiration for colour palettes came more from objects and the 3D world rather than just photographs. So, I decided to turn this realization into a new feature. I am very excited to experiment with objects and themes to create these Assorted Colour palettes from collections of colourful treasures. (p.s. forgive the quick shots but I was eager to play with this idea yesterday!)

(items in kitchen palette: mukitchen bamboo dishcloth in pacific, black tea, chive blossoms, le creuset mini cocotte in caribbean blue, kitchen craft colourworks spoon spatula in pink, kidney beans & tumeric)

(items in workshop palette: rubbermaid duster, screws, blue pool tile, duck brand duct tape in blue, vintage tinner’s snips, vintage mini robertson screwdriver, powdered chalk and green painter’s tape)

(photographs by plenty of colour)

Designer Jay Fleck illustrates in a modern way that somehow manages to retain a vintage soul. I love his resulting graphic style and bold use of primary colour. And what a clever typographical take on “plenty of fish in the sea”! To see more of Jay’s brilliant work and where you can buy t-shirts or prints, check out his Flickr page.

This book and video of the Wimbledon Men’s Final (Federer vs. Nadal) by designer Bryan Ku is the perfect merger of three of my very favourite things: books, tennis and cleverness. How brilliant and creative to interpret a sport this way. Love those sport scores in iconic tennis ball yellow-green too. Here’s hoping Bryan ponders doing a whole sport series!

(video via vimeo)

Ligatures make me happy. Originally created when type was set by hand and letters like “f” and “j” could not be placed next to each other without creating a large space or unattractive overlap, ligatures are now an elegant element of typography that merges two letters into one harmonious, visually-appealing character. In a digital focused world, I like how ligatures harken back to a time of handcrafted typography and design. Designer David Schwen has created a set of colourful prints with cheeky ideas of how letters are joined into ligatures. Gum, paper clips, staples… I love how David’s mind works! (you may remember my post about his brilliant ice cream pylons…)

(To buy one of David’s prints, pop over to Society 6.)

It’s always nice to see a car advertisement that is a bit different from the usual shiny car/people enjoying said car/masculine surroundings combination. Volkswagon seems to be the king of going a unique direction but this Land Rover piece really caught my eye. The ad captures Land Rover’s off roading brand essence by showcasing all of the colours you will see when exploring the world in your new car and where these colours will appear longitude and latitude-wise. I love the global colour names including Mont Blanc Blizzard, Mauna Loa Lava and La Palma Banana. Anyone fancy going on a global colour scavenger hunt?

(to see a bigger version of the ad, click on the image)
(image via ads of the world)

I imagine Emily Poe from Sparrow Nest Script has the most gorgeous grocery and to do lists ever. I have admired Emily’s writing for quite some time as it really makes formal calligraphy into something modern and casual but also elegant and full of personality. Sparrow Nest Script is a showcase of Emily’s beautiful work. How can you not lust after these cheeky notecards with beautiful india ink hand-calligraphy and vibrantly coloured paper? Email is fabulous but there is nothing like getting a real card in the mail. Especially if it says “Howdy” at the top!

(visit the Sparrow Nest Script Etsy store to view more)

Created by designer Derek Chan, Front Page Fingerprint is a visualization of the formal elements of the New York Times front page such as white space, headline size/length, body copy, imagery and overall colour palette. Each column is one day of February 2011 newspapers. A fascinating study of colour and design elements. I really want to view the colour palette element close up to see what trends emerge! From these images, you can see the more colourful papers are definitely weekend editions. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see this idea applied to a years worth of papers or even notable periods of history?

(images via uw design)

I always love visiting Anna Garforth’s site to see what she has been up to. The diverse materials she uses to craft typography is full of creativity and wonder. Dried flowers, dough, moss, rolled rubbish, folded advertisments or leaves – Anna creates installations that are not only beautiful but commentaries on sustainability and natural materials. I have loved her moss work for several years and they have a special place on my inspiration board as joyous and thought-provoking bursts of colour. Also, considering the only available option seems to be those boring block letters, I can’t help but wish Anna would come out with her own cookie cutter line!

Confetti System is a studio that creates the most incredible works of paper, mylar and fabric art. They have really revolutionized so-called party decorations by turning them into dynamic and modern stage backdrops, window displays, decor and fashion pieces. How gorgeous is that silk wall they created for a New York clothing store? (second image from the top). With clients ranging from fashion houses like Opening Ceremony, magazines like Martha Stewart, stores like Bergdorf Goodman or Urban Outfitters, events like The New York Ballet and bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Confetti System are constantly exploring new avenues for creativity. It is so refreshing to see this kind of well-designed handmade craft appreciated and used in so many arenas. Computers are amazing but they can’t make a giant wall of gold mylar! If designers Julie Ho and Nicholas Andersen asked me to move to New York as a Confetti System sweeper, I would be on the next plane tomorrow. Seriously.

(p.s. The Selby did a fantastic ‘behind the scenes’ photo piece on Confetti System. Have a look here.)
(photographs via confetti system, the selby & 100 layer cake)

Sometimes something so delightfully random and creative comes along that proves just how insanely awesome the Internet is. The Cosby Sweater Project is a site dedicated to cataloging and illustrating the crazy and colourful sweaters won on The Cosby Show. I love the fantastic interpretations of those patterns. Whomever is behind this site: I officially love you. (p.s. when I started this week, I had no idea there would be two Cliff Huxtable references by week end. You never know what a week will bring…)

I am already pretty in love with India as it is a country that embraces colour like no other. While trying to learn more about the nation, I saw gorgeous images of Jodhpur, a city in Northern India with the nickname “The Blue City”. One glance at the cityscape and its abundance of vibrant blue hues and the nickname needs no explanation. There seem to be many theories as to why the heavy use of blue exists but most focus on the past caste system, mosquito and termite prevention or the ability of blue architecture to remain cool. Whatever the reason, this part of India is pretty magical. Blue homes, brown desert features, bright sari patterns and a rainbow of market goods – Jodhpur is the perfect spot for a true colour lover!

(photographs by soundstorm vfx, foreign devil correspondent, arjun, dwrawlinson, nevil zaveri, bb, nekineko, entrelec, borgan, sreekanthmm, sunyuta, nekineko, l_prusecki, nameet & sachinritvika)

Maya Hayuk is an artist with talent in a ridiculous number of design areas from painting to photography to absolut vodka ads. I particularly love her murals/installations as they are bold pops of colour on otherwise mundane or uninspiring urban landscapes. Just imagine how dull that barn would be without Maya’s colourful addition! Her newest piece was created in Brazil and is a mural woven in fabric. Can’t wait to see this unique idea develop…

Did your breakfast this morning look anything like this? I hope so! With the goal of “showcasing food in a beautiful and unusual way”, studio Bruton Stroube created this stunning video. I love the dreamy atmosphere but I think what captivates me most is the graceful movement of the food and the moving palettes created. Did you see the orange juice, raspberries and blueberries mix mid-air? A beautiful colour scheme. As our meals usually sit fairly still, it is easy to forget that each food has its own unique qualities that, with a bit of imagination, can turn into gorgeous art. I had no idea pancakes in motion could be so elegant!

(Take a look at Bruton Stroube’s site for behind the scenes photos. How they created this piece is fascinating!)
(via tasteologie)

I would love to go to lunch with artist Arthur Buxton as he looks at colour in a truly fascinating way (you may remember my post about his Van Gogh pie graphs.) His newest piece focuses on British Vogue magazine covers from 2001 to 2011. In reverse chronological order, from left to right, each block is a separate cover. Within each block, the strips of color that vary in width, represent the five most common colors proportionally found within that specific issue. The larger bands represent the years, starting in May and moving backwards. (If you’re like me, you will need to read those instructions a couple of times!) While there is the expected influence of skintones, it is interesting to see how similar the colours stay across soft tones, pinks and some fall hues. Even though a variety of colours became popular in each of those years, the covers don’t really deviate from a feminine palette. Other than two issues of blue, there is very little from the yellow, green, blue or purple colour families. I would love to see Arthur use this method in different eras. I imagine the 1960′s are full of vibrant powdery hues, the 1970′s are a blend of warm tones and the 1980′s are bursting with colour and neon. A really fascinating commentary on what colours are used to sell magazines.