Paper sampler books are always full of lovely swatches of colour but rarely gorgeous items of design themselves. I love this GF Smith’s sample book created by MadeThought to showcase the brand’s “iconic range of premium coloured papers and boards”. The tab cutting style reveals all 50 colours along the book’s edge and highlights the endless hue combinations possible. Oh and don’t even get me started on that sublime binding with multicolour stitches…

(photographs via september industry)

I really do love every colour (except maybe beige) but I have always avoided traditional, yellow-toned pastels. But, the new love affair with sorbet hues has turned pastels in a more clear, modern direction. Sorbet hues are bright pastels and I just love the whole colour family (see my gushing article about them here). I also love these beautiful images by stylist Charlotte Lovey and photographer Jonathan Gooch as they showcase the brightness of sorbets and the way they work beautifully with dashes of white, neon and wood…

(photographs via charlotte lovey)

I love the mid-century colour palette featured in this photograph of vintage zippers by Suzanna Scott. Tiffany blue, tomato red and avocado look lovely together…

(photograph via suzanna scott)

I love photographs of workspaces particularly when they are covered in piles of creativity and yes, colour swatches. This behind-the-scenes shot of the Old Navy offices showcases the creative process of colour selection and forms a fun, punchy palette of Pantone chips…

(photograph via old navy behind-the-scenes pinterest board)

So technically, this is last week’s ‘palette of the week’. Whoops. Expect two featured colour combinations this week! I love the way brands and identities can be transformed to fit vastly different applications. This photograph by Heather David captures the bold pattern and colour of a Disneyland shopping bag from the 1960′s. How great is the abstract use of Mickey Mouse ears? Proof that great branding doesn’t need to shout to be wildly effective…

(photograph by heather david, spotted on present & correct’s pinterest)

Square Colour Chip Boxes from Leif combine hue swatch with trinket holder. Crafted in Copenhagen out of coloured plexiglass and Danish wood, I like the sliding mechanism with a bar of wood remaining on the glass. Love the neon translucent glass and oak combinations most of all. Colour chip holder perhaps?

During her 60 year reign, Queen Elizabeth II’s wardrobe has never lost its youthful and vibrant focus on colour. PANTONE and Leo Burnett London created this limited edition colour guide of the Queen’s ensembles in honour of her Diamond Jubilee. The guide features some of the Queen’s most notable colour choices including Primrose Yellow (the colour of her dress for William and Kate’s wedding last year) or Crystal Blue (her most frequently worn colour group). Pantone noted that perhaps the Queen dresses monochromatically to add a more stately height to her 5’4″ frame. With this book and Vogue magazine’s feature, the Queen has cemented her role as a true colour tastemaker… (I haven’t quite figured out if this book is for sale yet? I would love to see it in person. I am hoping it features both the pastel shades and stronger, more jewel tone colours that anchor The Queen’s wardrobe)

(photographs via pantone & leo burnett london via yatzer)

Chalk pastels are one of my favourite art supplies. Sure, they’re messy but that’s the beauty of them! The different layers of colourful dust mixing across a box layered with vibrant sticks and shards of hue… There is a new palette each time you pull them out of your drawer. This shot by Elsie Larson highlights some mingling chalk pastel colours and brings a big dash of bright to a rather grey day.

(photograph by elsie larson)

One of my favourite things about colour is that stunning combinations often appear in the strangest places and an inspiring palette can truly be found anywhere. I recently came across this chart for washi tape and decided it made a perfect tropical colour palette with pastels, mid-tones and neons working seamlessly together in saturated summer brilliance…

(photograph via organdie)

The first time I watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I was blown away by how beautiful, vibrant and timeless the colour palette was. Actually, the entire design of the film, from the half bathtub couch to every impeccable stitch of costume, is fantastic. I love so many of the sets, especially Holly Golighty’s apartment which is kept very neutral so costumes and objects pop to life with colour. Audrey Hepburn is often in black and white or warm hues like hot pink or orange. The other woman, Patricia Neal, is always in green and blue hues (perhaps to denote her icy, cold personality). From the putty shades of apartment interiors to the gritty browns of New York streets, the pops of jewel tones and bright colours make one dazzling palette. I think the big party scene is my favourite part as bold shades and details dance with the neutral setting. After screen-capping like a mad-woman, I can confirm there is no shortage of inspiration in the Breakfast at Tiffany’s colour palette…

(screencaps by plenty of colour)

Cutting up an old fabric Pantone guide for a project the other day, I realized that my palette of the week feature has been, um, rather slow to get started. No more! Each week, I plan to feature a different number of colours (perhaps a hue duo or a group of twelve) and keep the subject loose and always changing (found objects, a discovered photo or a street capture). Where there is an inspiring palette to be found, I hope to feature it here. This week is a foursome I started to love when chopping up my Pantone guide. Teal, turquoise, coral & chartreuse – all fresh Caribbean hues that make me dream of tropical travel…

(photograph by chloé douglas / plenty of colour)

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)

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)

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)

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?

It may be for children but I would love a copy of The Color-Play Coloring Book created for MOMA by Pascale Estellon. The oversized book is full of colour-focused activities that allow kids (and awesome adults) to play with colour mixing, light and dark shades, warm and cool hues and so much more. I can’t wait to see more spreads of this handsome book of colour learning. Many look frame-worthy!