I have a fetish for well-designed cushions so these handmade Kisshions by the fabulous British shop Room39 make me giddy. I love the unique shapes and overall combination of vibrant colour, metallic pattern and metallic leather piping. Two very different but equally great sides make for twice the interior design options. Pink or jade with gold, tangerine or vert with silver and a dual-sided charcoal denim pattern… One of each please?

(photographs via room39)  

Black and white packaging with a pop of colour just plain tickles my fancy. Showcasing the colour contents of a product, serving as a copy or brand hue highlight, creating a colour-coding system, adding a burst of bright hue — there are no limits to the various ways this approach can look fantastic. With so many great examples, perhaps this post will need parts one through ten…

(photographs from top: lovely package, prospector co., anaise, the dieline, heydays, the dieline, frontier, mox botanicals, refinery 29, design work life & packaging of the world)  

The hues attributed to fruit photography often focus on juicy primary colours. Captured by Jojo Filer-Cooper, this beautiful photograph caught my eye because it is a unique showcase of the elegant colours and textures of fruit (all against an ocean turquoise backdrop). Not your average fruit bowl…

(photograph via jojo filer-cooper)  

Wow, it is 2013? That sounds rather futuristic. Shouldn’t we be living like The Jetsons by now? Best wishes for a happy, healthy and creative 2013. May the new year be so wonderful that colourful confetti explodes all around you (literally or figuratively). I may take matters into my own hands and make a joyful wall like Beci Orpin….

(photograph of beci orpin’s confetti wall in find and keep, via wee birdy)

British artist Richard Caldicott creates beautiful abstract colour in his series “Chance/Fall”. What could easily be striking geometric paintings are actually layered photographs full of ethereal and filtered light. Oh, the blocks of vibrant colour…

(photographs via galerie f5,6) 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday week! Back to regularly scheduled colour posting. On that note, maybe you need some vibrant correspondence for your festive season thank you notes? This Pantone Stationery Set might be the ticket. I particularly love the colour chip salutation stickers that seal each envelope…

(photographs via urban outfitters)  

White, pops of colour, edge painting, letterpress — the personal identity of Brooklyn designer Daniel Renda is chalk full of details I love. The colourful logo slash and back of the letterhead are particularly strong punches of hue. Oh the power of colour and personal branding…

(photographs via daniel renda; spotted on design work life)

I am woefully behind on my Christmas cards this year. Let’s hope they don’t turn into “happy spring” messages! While I may be in denial of how far we are into December, I wanted to round-up some holiday cards that have tickled my fancy this year. It’s not too late to mail cards, deliver them in person or choose winter-focused designs that can be used for “happy new year” messages. While there is plenty of interactive potential in e-cards, there is just something warm and wonderful about a true paper card. Beautiful illustrations or modern typography, I love how holiday cards manage to be full of great design and messages of good tidings from your loved ones. Oh and they sure perk up mailboxes and mantles…

(designers/sources from top: sugar paper, terrain, cotton on, the indigo bunting, the indigo bunting, pretty paper please by mélanie kimmett, paper source, Rifle Paper Co., kate spade, pretty paper please by mélanie kimmett, slim paper, cotton on, terrain, present+correct)

Sometimes, it seems the many options that brands have for displaying colourways are sort of neglected. That’s why I’m always thrilled when colours are not only displayed but showcased in design-focused and 3D ways. J.Crew is tops in that department. I love how they cut squares from actual fabrics, pop in real pins and snap a photo (allowing one to see texture and hue). I made the above mashup of their Spring 2013 and Holiday 2012 wedding hues. So many fabulous palettes for fashion, home and design (and some great colour names too)…

(images via j.crew)   

I love this floral installation designed by Paul Hecker and executed by Fleur’s Florist  for The Cool House pop-up boutique in Melbourne. Seriously, how fabulous is that gradient? What a modern showcase of all the dazzling colours nature creates through flowers…

(photograph via the cool hunter)  

I seem to be smitten with modern hologram effects lately and I am downright mesmerized by the Stella McCartney Olegram Hologram Clutch. Part of the designer’s Resort 2013 Collection, it is a gorgeous kaleidoscope of constantly changing colour. Click here to watch it turn in dreamy fashion…

(video and screenshots created via saks fifth avenue; photograph via new york magazine)  

I spotted this DIY project on Country Living for creating a wall of shutters and was struck by the palette. A unique gradient of weathered colour including dashes of dusty grey and soft tints of acid yellow and robin’s egg blue. Ah, how colour and texture combine…

(photograph via country living)  

Designed by Swear Words, I’m fascinated by the packaging of Australian brand Jacqueline Evans Skincare. The combination of amber glass and dusty (almost pastel) primary colours is rare and hard to pull off. Mixed with simple typography and a tiny emblem flourish, the final look is striking. The colours just work together and create a modern and instantly recognizable palette. Any bathroom is going to look chic with these bottles in the medicine cabinet…

(photographs via jacqueline evans & lovely package) 

I love the aerial photography of Katrin Korfmann and the striking way she highlights the beauty and chaos of people and places. What gorgeous colour madness she captures at Holi in India as thousands of people throw vibrant powder. Katrin layers several recordings of a place into one image so both time progression and the energy of a location can be felt. From example, in the group above, she photographs a graduation at Cambridge University over 2 days, Madison Avenue in New York over 64 minutes, a Hong Kong highway over 40 minutes and people waiting for Julia Roberts on a Berlin red carpet over 30 minutes. Such a fascinating study of time, people, colour and composition. I particularly love Katrin’s image of a busy market in Vrindavan, India. Oh how I’d love to have a print on my wall. It showcases that hot pink really is the navy blue of India…

(check out katrin’s portfolio where you can zoom into each image and see every little detail. captivating!)

(photographs via katrin korfmann; spotted on design boom )

Yes, the festive season is officially here and since I am holiday bonkers, expect some posts devoted to the topic! In my latest post for Rena Tom, I focused on how festive details can be applied to retail (online or brick and mortar). Holiday shopping can be stressful but with the right atmosphere, any retail space can be full of joy and striking creativity. Packaging, seasonal photo styling, welcoming decorations, online details, window displays, interior installations – the post is plump with inspiration. Oh and it can certainly be applied to home holiday decor too! Take a peek here if you are interested…

(photographs via confetti system, cox and cox, habitually chic, real simple, martha stewart, a beautiful mess, platinum blonde life, CAMP and black eiffel)

I’ve posted about the fascinating embroidery design of Evelin Kasikov before (whoa CMYK colour chart) and I love her latest work “Analogue/Digital”. In it, four paper objects represent print and screen formats where “pixels and dots, single elements of digital and printed image, become physical using hand embroidery”. RGB pixels stitched on a tablet screen, CMYK typography highlighting the print process, stitched TV signal bars enveloping a book and a 7 colour GIF bursting across a hardcover – it is a gorgeous exploration of the analogue and digital themes that dominate our lives. Oh how I would love one of these striking books on my shelf. Have you ever seen a pixel look more beautiful?

(photographs via evelin kasikov)