I just love modern interpretations of neon. The glowing colour is full of possibility from chic typography to inspiring installations. ‘Arise’ by Anselm Reyle is one such installation I wish I had seen in person. The Berlin-based artist created the large-scale piece in 2010 out of neon, chains, cable and transformers. I love the thinness of the neon pieces and the reflecting jumble they create together. That last detail shot of a few bits of neon on the floor (and a well-placed heart) will have me dreaming of modern neon for many days ahead…

(photographs via the modern institute)

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)

TANGA-TANGA typeface by Velckro is definitely brightening up my morning. It’s as if petroglyphs and modern design had one awesome typographical baby. Love the subtle but artful shifts between upper and lowercase. I am particularly enamoured with the colour palette used to showcase the face – neons, pastels and neutrals on a midnight blue-purple background. Ah, summer brights and beautiful type…

I think music videos have so much potential to be beautiful, stirring, innovative pieces of art. Lately, they feel more like repetitive product placements than statements of art which seems like a waste to me. On the flipside of that trend is the fabulous band OK Go. They make one fantastic music video after another that showcases how an awesome end result does not need a giant budget. This new video for Skyscrapers is lovely in its simplicity – 3 minutes and 45 seconds of gorgeous colur and dance. I love the travels back and forth through rainbow hues including the vibrant costumes and painted background walls. The video was directed and produced by Grammy Award-winning choreographer and director Trish Sie (she’s the dame part of the couple) and also features dancer Moti Buchboot. Proof that a great music video just needs innovation, talent and a big dash of colour…

(information via the always colourful Colossal)

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)

I love these Modern Zen Gardens by Gardens of Wendiland. Available in colours including fuchsia, yellow, orange, purple, baby blue, black or white, these vibrant gardens are sure to liven up any workspace. Who needs a boring grey Zen Garden when you can have a modern pop of colour and a perfectly placed cactus? I don’t know about you but making designs in bright-hued sand sounds like the perfect way to combat stress…

(photographs via Gardens of Wendiland)
(thanks Catriana!)

My ‘palette of the week’ feature is coming soon. Really! In the meantime, check out these intriguing vignettes of palette. The Colour Field is a great resource for interior design colour inspiration and these photographs showcase their noted 2012 colour trends. I love the unexpected way the hues are grouped together and displayed on angles and shapes. Also like how the background colour becomes part of the palette. An intriguing approach indeed…

(photographs via the colour field)

My love affair with facets doesn’t seem to have an end in sight especially when gorgeous work like the Blocks Series comes to life. Captured and conceptualized by Canadian photographer Evonne Bellefleur with blocks created by prop stylist Caitlin Doherty, the series features dreamy expanses of beautiful colour palettes and fascinating shapes. They are like rocks that have tumbled off of some sort of magical mountain. Not sure I can avoid buying one of these prints. Yep, the facet fetish continues…

(prints available/images via soti)

I posted about Alberto Seveso’s gorgeous high-speed ink and water photographs last year and had my fingers firmly crossed that he would one day work with mixed colours. When I spotted his new series called a due Colori, I fell in love with his work all over again. Dreamy plumes of vibrant colour billowing like fabric underwater? Just beautiful. See the rest of the series here.

(spotted on Colossal)

I have posted about saturated walls of colour before yet my eye continues to be drawn to unique uses of colour in interior spaces. In particular, I have been fascinated by neutral rooms with ceilings that extend beyond the obvious lines and are painted a bright colour so light can bathe the room in a beautiful wash of hue. I am also fairly in love with cement or rough studio walls half painted with vibrant colour. A form of modern wainscoting perhaps? This style colours me happy and is now officially my dream look for a working studio. If all else fails, I say paint a white spotlight right onto your wall and floor. You can be on “stage” every single night…

(photographs via maria alexandra vettese, remodelista, apartment therapy, red house design, simply grove, coco+kelley, hus & hem, simply grove and french by design)

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).

My love affair with Holi, the Indian Festival of Colour, continues to grow by the year. A joyful celebration that includes throwing vibrant powders and pigments? Yes please. I did a rather large post on the topic last year so take a look if you are after colourful eye candy today! I was also lucky enough to be asked to create a t-shirt design focused on Holi for Made in the Now, a Brisbane-based studio/shop that produces a design every 24 hours inspired by a top of mind news story of the day. With just a couple hours of time at your disposal, it is a challenging yet mucho fun project to work on! Long story short, my t-shirt design is only available today so if you are interested, take a look here. My thought was, as India celebrates Holi, the entire country is bursting with brilliantly colourful powder far into the midnight blue night…

(holi photographs via the big picture and tee design by chloé douglas)

How lovely are these Origami Boat Candles by designer Roman Ficek? Available in six colours, they are beautifully crafted facets of thin wax. I would love to see a pool with thousands floating about…

(spotted on design east)

There are a couple of blogs that I truly wish I could live in. At the very top of the list is Griottes, a French style and food blog created by Emilie Griottes that is so gorgeous that I feel slightly giddy when a new post is up. The handmade whimsical aesthetic, sublime colour palettes and beautiful culinary treats… Oy. When I spotted these Pantone Tarts on Griottes this morning, I fell even more in love with the blog. Simple and stunning with pitch perfect styling, these pastries are an imaginative take on the classic colour chips while showcasing the lovely hues of everyday foods. Is it crazy to hope Emilie creates a tart for every colour in the Pantone swatch book?