When it comes down to it, make up is just pot and tube colour swatches. Perhaps that is the main reason that the displays, design and styling of cosmetics is always inspiring to me. I just love the whimsy and handmade-feeling design of Topshop’s make up line created by designer Sarah Thorne. Their main line is a chic mix of matte greys, uncoated paper, black patterns and hand drawn illustrations. In addition, each fashion season sees the launch of trend led make up range with inspirations such as ‘sand storm’, ‘festival’, ‘heavy duty’ and ‘smoke and mirrors’. I love how detailed and just plain artistic the packaging is. How stunning is the sandstorm mountain range packaging with dashes of colour and pencil lines of gold? The illustrations look like there were drawn with make up and the pieces feel like art. From metallic foils to scalloped box edges to the hand drawn type that unites all the products in every range, Topshop makeup are worth buying simply as examples of beautifully crafted design.

(images via sarah thorne, unity and form and the dieline)

Minimega is a design studio and online shop that creates fabulously patterned and colourful stationery, paper products, gift wrap, cards and more. Their dots, triangle or nautical pattern gift wrap would make even the strangest present look fantastic. I wouldn’t mind framing a sheet or two. On top of great products, Minimega is focused on the environment with 100% recycled paper, vegetable-based inks and no unnecessary chemicals. I really love Minimega’s product photography and styling. Full of colourful details, the shots are just plain inspiring. I’m fairly certain any design studio would benefit from an frilled ice cream paper decoration… (Oh and Minimega even has an awesome blog bursting with hue!)

It always amazes me what a little spray paint can do. I saw the above storage jars on House to Home this morning and was instantly smitten. Glue a small animal or figurine to an old jar top, spray paint the whole piece and ta da! You have a chic, colourful and unique storage container. Don’t they look like they would be crazy expensive? Fantastic for kids but I think the idea could be used in any studio and space needing unique storage. Sugar, pasta, flour, nuts – just think of what could be done with this idea and kitchen storage containers.

1,000 white envelopes containing poems were strung throughout a garden in Madrid, Spain in a recent installation by Luzinterruptus called ’1,000 Poems by Mail’. Created as part of poetry festival Poetas Por Km2, each envelope contained a poem written by one of the 17 poets participating. The envelopes were softly illuminated as a centrepiece for the three day festival and on the last night, were offered to the public as a memento or easy-to-address note to a loved one. I just love this type of street art…

(spotted on the artist and his model)

I love these Action Pencils by We Are What We Do, a non-profit organization that gives all profits from their stationery line directly to schools and community projects. Even the most snooze-inducing tasks can be brightened up with some colourful, positive and community improving desk supplies. These pencils bear just six of the 131 small and simple actions that We Are What We Do list as ways to make someone’s day, make your home a big greener and overall, do a little chunk of good. I really hope the organization comes out with a giant box of 131 Action Pencils. Each day, you could grab a pencil and complete the action. A vibrantly colourful desk and a happier life would be the end result I think…

(spotted on our workshop; read more about the fantastic mission of we are what we do line here)

It’s hard to beat a box of Crayola crayons but the Abex Neon Crayon Set from MoMa takes the cake in the “most handsome crayons ever” department. Vibrant neon in sticks of black wood all housed in a tin with wise typography – if Kanye West had a child, I imagine this would be the only set allowed in the house.

I’ve seen this set of 100 Pantone Postcards online but somehow resisted buying them. Most of the images shown in online stores were surprisingly dull. Well, now that I have seen these fantastic photographs by big bang studio, I am in love! Mailing colour swatch postcards around the world sounds like a perfect new hobby don’t you think? It sure would brighten up a stack of mail. Keeping a box of these giant colour swatches on your desk to make random palettes out of sounds quite perfect too. Come to think of it, maybe I “need” two boxes…

(you can buy a set here or here)

Who decided that sewing boxes and baskets required embroidered flowers or frolicking kittens? If you prefer something a bit more modern, consider an On the Button Sewing Box. The streamlined, handsomely designed piece may become the chicest box in your home. I would love to fill it with intensely colourful thread and make it a coffee table conversation piece. I guess that would require a frolicking kitten basket to remain as my real sewing centre?

(photographs via modcloth)

UNA is the official wine of the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Combining 20 wines from native grapes, UNA highlights the rich history of Italian wine as well as expressing “the true spirit of Italy, the love for their land, the expertise, art and industriousness of its people”. Italian studio Cibic Workshop designed this packaging that begins with a gorgeous locking box made from ash wood, a popular tree throughout Italy. The bottle shapes are meant to reflect a man and woman with the masculine red merging a classic Italian flask with an iconic Bordeaux bottle and the feminine white showcasing a redesign of classic clear Italian wine bottles. A handsome and luxurious package design that puts a modern spin on Italian history. One of my favourite details? How the key ribbons match the pops of colour on the bottles!

(read more about the UNA Wine and project here)
(via lovely package)

Collecting trash from Australian beaches, artist Liz Jones arranges objects into colourful collections and photographs them for her series titled “Rubbish Rainbows”. It’s amazing how bits of garbage, battered by the ocean waves, can create such intriguing images simply through use of colour. Liz is cleaning up her native beaches, provoking thought about littering and the human obsession with plastic all while creating brilliant photographs. Talk about a fascinating triple-threat project that requires amazing dedication and colour sense!

(via quipsologies)

Kraft paper, bold typography and colour coding? This wonderful package design for Reishunger, a small rice brand in Germany, has several of my most favourite design elements. I absolutely love the colourful labels at the top of the packages which allow for quick rice variety recognition at the market and feature some whimsical rice grain illustrations. One of the best packaging designs I’ve seen in a while.

(photographs via the dieline)

Few companies have one signature brand colour and almost none have that colour for over a century and a half. Just say Tiffany & Co. to someone and they instantly conjure up that aqua blue hue the jewellery meca is so famous for. I spotted this original Tiffany Shipping Barrel from the 1920′s on Pinterest and became instantly obsessed. Used to ship silver and china, the barrel is handsomely weathered but has retained the instantly recognizable and gorgeous Tiffany blue. The New York address, 1920′s typography and one-of-a-kind details don’t hurt either. How amazing would this look as a side table? It appears I was to late to for this beautiful piece of iconic branding and colour but maybe someone has a similar barrel hiding in their attic? I’ll be watching this auction house just in case…

(photographs via lauren stanley silver)

Okay, this is a pretty genius idea. Londji created a chess set made of recycled cardboard that can be laid completely flat when not in use. Requiring only a couple minutes to set up, this game version is ridiculously useful for travel and handsome to boot!

Anagrama is a design studio in Mexico that I am constantly in awe of and is definitely among my favourites anywhere in the world. It really feels like they have pattern, colour, branding and interior design super powers! I love this identity system created for Micheline, a stationery boutique in Mexico. Keeping in mind the company’s catalogues were brightly coloured and their work is often similarly hued, Anagrama created a brand focused on striking black and white pattern and texture. A perfect mix of creating a unique voice for Micheline yet still allowing their work and colourful creations for clients to take centre stage. And how gorgeous is their workspace? What an amazing mix of black, white, colour, pattern and texture.

I recently came across these brilliant ads for FedEx. Love how the natural texture of a building becomes a world map and the clever window parcel passing! The earthy colour palette is also a smart way to insure the vibrant purple and orange of the FedEx logo shows up as the white package remains the focal point. Such a marvelously effective advertisement.

(via the inspiration room)

The more photos I see of Cielito Querido Café, the more I fall in love with it. Drawing from Mexican and Latin-American design heritage from the late 19th century to early 20th century, the space is just so full of life and details. With vintage Latin-American signs and product labels of old grocery stores in mind, Mexican studio Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena created the vibrant branding and café design. In a world of coffee spots that are far too beige, Cielito Querido is café overflowing with bold colour, dramatic typography and wild patterns. It is a modern and playful place that retains a truly Mexican flavour. Even the take-away coffee cups are beautiful! Fingers crossed Cielito Querido Café expands in Canada soon. If that happens and you need to get in touch with me, I’ll be the one in the pink chair…

(via we heart & the dieline)