I love typography made out of unexpected things (especially when it becomes 3D). The primary colours and teasing nickname Richard Perez used to create this woodblock piece are instantly childlike yet the typeface is handsome and so beautifully constructed. I hope there is more where this came from!
(images via friends of type)
There must be something about today that just screams for more pink images. Upcoming Spring maybe? In any case, I love this photo by Florian Hildebrandt and how it makes standard post-it notes into a piece of textured, layered art. I think I need to dig around in my office supplies now…
(image via yay everyday)
Photographer Oliver Schwarzwald uses colour in such a dynamic and bold way. I just love how his mind works. The colour palette is beautiful and so brilliantly constructed. I’m not sure these photos would be as eye-catching without the grey sheet or the richly textured clothing choices. The white car topped with gifts in all shades of pink sort of blows my mind!
(images via oliver schwarzwald)
I can’t believe plenty of colour has actually been around for a week! Thanks everyone for your support, comments, retweets and visits. Over the next bit, I will be introducing more of my special features. Also, up until now, I have only been posting once in the a.m. but that should change to several posts throughout the day as it is always nice to have something new and bright to look at during the afternoon slump! If you have any ideas or things you would like to see, please send them my way. Looking forward to even more colour inspiration hunting for many weeks to come! - Chloé
(ceramic clock from west elm)
I am a huge fan of Kevin Van Aelst. His work finds so much magic in daily life and objects that might be deemed simply functional (note the sea full of sailboats created out of blue painter’s tape!). His use of colour, whether it is the perfect shade of purple for a diner counter or a keyboard made of Pantone chips, is similarly striking and full of imagination. In addition to his own work, Kevin creates a weekly piece for “The Medium” in the New York Times Magazine. As you can see from the length of this post, it is so hard to pick even a few favourites! Perhaps it is the Vancouverite in me but I really love the final photo above created out of raindrops. Its title? “And All I ask is a Tall Ship and a Star to Sail Her By”. Beautiful.
(images via kevin van aelst)
Love these clever ads for Comex Paint using iconic cartoon characters and their identifying colours. Bright, eye-catching and to the point: they can match any colour!
(images via coloribus)
Artist Tom Fruin created this vivid outdoor pavilion in the plaza of The Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen, Denmark. The installation featured hand-cut and hand-welded steel picture frames and thousands of reclaimed plexiglass pieces. It really feels like a stained glass window folded into a house. Can you imagine a modern church like this?
(images via cool hunter & designboom)
Graphic Nothing reduced famous paintings and album covers down to 140 circles of colour. Step back from your screen and the image becomes clear. Definitely shows how powerful colour is in creating iconic images! (from top: Mona Lisa, The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’)
(images via some prints)
I love Steven Emmanuel’s “Sorting the hundreds from the thousands”. It’s amazing how rearranging an equal number of objects can result in such different colour patterns. It makes me a bit cross-eyed to imagine sorting all of those sprinkles!
(image via steven emmanuel)
I miss seeing Gourmet magazine on the newsstand. I always loved finding out what the colour scheme was for that month. The clean design and striking food photography really highlights the beautiful colour of food and cooking. Fingers crossed another magazine like it comes along soon.
(images via cover browser)
Love the work of Malaysian illustrator Lim Heng Swee and his Doodle Everyday project. It is hard to pick a favourite but I fell in love with this doodle in particular. If you live in Vancouver or anywhere that gets a lot of rain, this should give you a new perspective on how whimsical and jolly rain clouds can be if you choose to see them that way!
(image via Doodle Everyday)
I didn’t intend on making a theme of sight today but it just seemed to happen that way! I guess I have always been fascinated by braille and it reminded me of a paper installation I took a photo of in Montreal last spring. It was a stunning piece featuring handmade paper birds fluttering about. In this case, any other colour would have been distracting from the feeling of peace and serenity.
(photographs by chloé douglas)
Now this is some intense attention to detail! Artist Lauren Dicioccio assigned a specific colour to every letter of the alphabet and a different shade of grey to every number. Laying a sheet of mylar over select pages of text from Vogue fashion magazines (such as the masthead up top), she meticulously translated the entire page into her very own language of colour. I love how she calls it “a system of Braille for the colour inclined”.
How do you help a sighted person understand how a blind person experiences colour? The Black Book of Colours by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria uses gorgeous embossed nature illustrations so the reader can “feel” colour rather than see it. The entirely black book has accompanying braille and regular text that describes each colour through all of the senses (“brown crunches like fall leaves and smells like chocolate”). Intended as a children’s book accessible to both the sighted and the blind, the final result is a striking and elegant piece of art that opens our minds to a new way of understanding colour.
(images via brain pickings)
I am huge fan of Skinny laMinx, a South African line of handmade textiles and products. Its designer, Heather Moore, posted some photos of her colour strike-offs and they are beautiful. Something functional becomes a piece of art. The palette created is not only connected and complimentary but also reflects Cape Town as well as the elements of nature and ancient rock art that inspires the collection. I would love a tea towel in every colour (including one based on the colour palette!)
(images via skinny laMinx)
Spring is just around the corner which always makes me think about tulip fields and the vibrant, fabric-like patterns they create when acres of colour line up against each other. I hope I can visit the Netherlands one day and see them in person.
(To see more, take a look here)
