The very best of design combines aesthetic beauty with vibrant thinking and powerful solutions. I love the “People for Smarter Cities” project by IBM and Ogilvy because it truly brings that combination to life. The goal is to help cities all over the world get smarter (check out the details/interactive element here) and to spread the word, Ogilvy created functional outdoor advertising. A bench, a shelter, a stair ramp — I love the bright colours and most of all, the brilliant concept. It proves that advertising need not be flatly slapped on our buildings but rather, serve an actual purpose in urban life (and hopefully be a bit beautiful too)…

(video via ogilvy paris, images via/spotted on designboom & dezeen)

I just spotted prototype shots of a simply beautiful weather app called ‘Brisk‘ and it has put a stop to all my complaining about the sad weather icons that dominate technology. Designed by Eddie Lobanovskiy of Two Solid, the app works like a regular thermometer with temperatures moving up and down bars. It looks like there will be local forecast and detailed weather info too. Of course, I am most smitten with the gorgeous colour coded bars depicting heat levels. Instinctual and clever. I can’t wait to see how Brisk will develop. Colour coded weather is just better…

(sign up here if you want to know when Brisk makes its way to the App store)

Spanish photographer Lola Guerrera created her series ‘Nebula Humilis’ in the deserts of Mexico and I love the juxtaposition of harsh, neutral rock formations and soft, vibrant plumes of coloured smoke. The red image really feels like a magical volcano, don’t you think? (p.s. I am a huge fan of this coloured smoke movement in art. Take a look at my other two postings on the subject here and here).

(photographs via lola guerrera)

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)

I love bright coloured paint jobs so these photos more than made my day. I love the feature wall completely saturated in one vibrant colour including coat hooks, radiator and shelving. I also love the idea of colour splashed randomly and artfully up one wall. Who says you ever have to paint your walls in a traditional fashion?

(photographs via 101 woonideeen and agent bauer)

One of my very favourite food blogs is Matt Bites. Matt Armendariz is ridiculously multi-talented in the areas of culinary creation, food photography, styling and general design flair. The recipes Matt features are always drool-inducing and the photography? Well, it makes you want to pop through the screen and live in Matt’s world of fabulously styled cuisine. Matt’s latest post focuses on Winter Citrus and the images are full of crisp shades of yellow, green and orange. I love this citrus peel title Matt created and its handsomely handcrafted typography. Maybe citrus colours are the perfect anecdote to a grey January?

Today is a bit like the Academy Awards for colour as Pantone announced their Colour of the Year for 2012. Who took home the top prize? Meet ‘Tangerine Tango‘ otherwise known as PANTONE 17-1463. An exotic and provocative reddish-orange with what feels like a pink undertone, this hue is anything but subtle. The inspiration for Pantone’s Colour of the Year is found across every avenue of design, technology, style, sport and world events. The economic and world uncertainty was captured in a series of more dark and muted colours over the last decade but in 2009, more optimistic hues took the spotlight as consumers looked for positivity and encouragement in products and clothing. Last year the colour was a summery coral-pink named ‘Honeysuckle’ that “encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor” and this year’s Tangerine Tango continues the trend of warm, uplifting hues with a tropical soul that is meant to “provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward”.

Orange in general has grown wildly in popularity and the Spring 2012 Fashion Weeks demonstrated that trend as it was a focal point in many collections. Orange seems to be all over furniture, branding, retail design and homewares as well. I’ve never met a boring person who’s favourite colour is orange. They have been, without exception, the most creative and intriguing individuals you could ever come across. Do a short ‘favourite colour’ survey at your upcoming holiday parties – I guarantee the orange-lover will be the most interesting! My grandmother had a completely Tangerine Tango apartment and I thought it was the most magical place ever. According to colour theory, orange is the hue of creativity and stimulates creative thought. That might explain why so many innovators and creative types love it so much (and why I could have sat and coloured in my grandmother’s apartment for days on end). It looks like she was about 20 years ahead of her time with her obsession with Tangerine Tango!

Oops – I digress from the Pantone Colour of the Year. I think Tangerine Tango is a bold choice and a great one. It is not a safe pick as orange is a pretty polarizing hue – you either love it or hate it. But I think it captures the recent trend and love affair with orange perfectly. It truly has been ubiquitous and it looks like that will continue far into summer. It is undeniably uplifting and positive. I love how designers have mixed the colour with neutrals, neons, and bold dashes of jewel tones. I also love the Tangerine Tango seems to have a pink element undertone to it. It can easily be softened into a sherbet colour or kept bold and neon-like. You may have preconceived notions about orange but maybe give it a try in 2012. Perhaps we won’t all be rocking a Tangerine Tango dress or lipstick shade but you could try a bag, shirt with an orange collar, throw cushion, jar of flowers or maybe just a random desk accessory. It’s a happy-inducing and creative colour and that’s pretty good goal for the year ahead.

Oh, I also love Pantone’s description of their Colour of the Year: “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it. Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

(photographs from top left: Derek Lam Spring/Summer 2012, Matthew Williamson Spring/Summer 2012, Nanette Lepore Spring/Summer 2012, Elie Tahari Spring/Summer 2012 and Matthew Williamson Spring/Summer 2012 all via style.com; all quotes via Pantone)

That fireplace. Good Lord. A large expanse of fuchsia that will be in my dreams indefinitely and is only one colourful detail at newly opened The Saguaro Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. The space was “inspired by the contemporary architecture of Mexico and the Arizona desert… designed around the color and light of the surrounding landscape.” Doesn’t it feel like you are in the middle of a desert sunset? A really inspiring palette including tangerine, fuchsia, grape, coral, saffron and a host of other warm hues. I love those bold pops of colour mixed with varying shades of natural wood. The bedrooms feel airy, vibrant and modern yet still calm. If I am missing in Scottsdale, you can definitely find me sitting by that beautiful fireplace…

(photographs via saguaro & knstrct)

I am completely and utterly smitten by the packaging for these Holiday Barrettes by Kate Spade. The vibrant orange card, the mix of typography, the integration of the barrettes into the whimsical sentence – I love it all. Simple and pitch perfect design. I’m pretty sure every holiday outfit would be enhanced by a hairdo featuring words like “pop fizz clink”!

(images via kate spade where the barrettes can be purchased)

Given my now full-fledged obsession with modern embroidery and typography, I pretty much yelped when I saw these gorgeous embroidered business cards by designer Nina Gregier. She decided to create the textured cards in reference to her latest project – fuchsia embroidered type. One glance at that project and I fell in love with Nina’s woven letters. They are so full of imagination, geometry and bold colour. Wow. The colours look amazing next to the black paper. Don’t you wish more business cards were tactile and hand detailed? Even the back of the threads on the flipside of the card is beautiful. I will visit Nina’s website regularly to see what handmade brilliance she dreams up next!

(cards spotted on lovely stationery)

Love this amazing weave typography made by French graphic design studio Zim and Zou. It took six hours to create each letter of Weave Type 2 and 500 metres of thread to build the entire alphabet. Such beautiful geometry, contrasting colours and handcrafted detail.

Another incredible find from The Big Picture. These images of Nyiragongo Crater, in the heart of the Great Lakes region of Africa, are absolutely stunning. Photographer Olivier Grunewald and his team took a very dangerous trip to within one metre of the Crater’s rim to capture the biggest lava lake in the world (it holds 282 million cubic feet of lava.) Although many products and emergency signs in our world are painting vibrant orange, no man-made hue every seems to capture the brilliant and breathtaking orange of fire, lava and heat. To me, there is something impossible to replicate about true orange in nature. I am kind of glad as it allows some hues to remain special. I especially love the gorgeous gradient of orange to purple as the flame meets the unique volcano gases and disappears into the night air. Amazing. Please visit the rest of the incredible images here.

I love this Discovery album cover. It is no easy feat to seamlessly transition from orange to blue but this gradient does it flawlessly. I love the pixelated plaid-like effect created. I have no idea what this album is about but from the fusion of warm and cool colours, I imagine it has songs that transition from sad/depressed to happy/optimistic. Or a mix of slow and fast songs? In any case, it is a fantastic, colourful album cover!

(image via discovery)

How incredible is this photo by Rodney Smith? The scale and composition of a model wearing a billowing dress atop a plane wing are amazing by themselves but the colour scheme is just breathtaking. Soft shades of aqua water, a periwinkle sky, clean white lines of a plane and a vivid coral-orange dress billowing in the air. What can I say? This colour scheme and photograph overall is absolutely stunning.

(image via rangoli)

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)