Archive for the 'Inspiration' Category

Valentine’s Day Inspiration Board

Published on February 14, 2011 in Inspiration and Uncategorized. Closed

Happy Valentines Day! May this day be filled with hearts, red lipstick, sweet cupcakes and LOVE!

Valentine’s Day inspiration board from Sugar Monarchy Blog – they have some beautiful inspiration boards!

Woman with red hearts, Love and Lavender.  Heart lights, Flickr.  Heart Glasses,Classic Bride.  Hair band Ban.do.  Staircase with love messages, Cherry Blossom Girl.  Illustration, Ffffound.  Cupcake, sugar monarchy. Heart cookies Inch Mark

Fashion Color Report for Spring 2011

Published on September 16, 2010 in Inspiration. Closed

Citing exotic destinations like Africa, India, Peru and Turkey as inspiration for spring 2011, designers continue to satisfy consumers’ need to escape everyday challenges with intriguing color combinations that transport them to foreign lands. 

“The colors designers have chosen for the spring season present an interesting marriage of unexpected warm and cool tones,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “By cleverly combining complementary colors, those that are opposites on the color wheel, they have created a striking intensity to the palette. These unique color combinations make it possible for consumers to pair existing pieces in colors traditionally associated with fall, with new favorites to punch up springtime wardrobes.”
Flirtatious Honeysuckle is a feel-good hue that brings a festive sense of playfulness to this season’s palette. This vibrant pinkish-red for both apparel and cosmetics makes consumers feel alive, and is a perfect post-winter pick-me-up.
Spicy, gregarious and persuasive describe Coral Rose, a sophisticated orange that, much like Beeswax, a warm, honeyed yellow, conjures up feelings of faraway lands and locales. Pair either of these piquant hues with a cool, refreshing color-wheel opposite like Regatta for a vibrant color combination that will add zest to any wardrobe. Romantic, fanciful Lavender implies sensuality with its subtle hint of red undertone. Combine it with Beeswax or Coral Rose for a unique counterpoint.
Alluring Blue Curacao evokes thoughts of tropical destinations and pays homage to the 2010 Color of the Year, Turquoise. Practical consumers can continue to incorporate enticing Caribbean blues into spring by pairing Blue Curacao with warm, complementary colors like Honeysuckle or Coral Rose. Peapod, a fresh yellow-green, brings an organic element to the palette and is reminiscent of the green shoots that signify change and new beginnings traditionally found in spring.
Trans-seasonal neutrals ground this season’s palette and provide a stable backdrop for all the other colors. The so-called “nude hues” are represented in the range of ethereal Silver Peony to dramatically deep Russet. Another dependable background color, Silver Cloud, is the quintessential neutral that consumers can rely on to coordinate with everything in their closet.
For 17 years, Pantone, the global authority on color, has surveyed the designers of New York Fashion Week and beyond to bring you the season’s most important color trends. This report previews the most prominent hues for spring 2011.
Extract from Pantone color report. Visit Pantone for more color inspiration & information.

Friday Fun

Published on August 14, 2010 in Inspiration. Closed

Taking a break last weekend with good friends was much needed and has contributed to the Friday Fun post this week. (a bit late I must admit … due to another internet melt-down).

I very rarely comment on label designs … due to the fact that they are more than often just functional and not extremely creative. BUT then I stumbled (I did not have one sip of wine … yet) onto the Fairview La Capra Shiraz! You can just imagine my friends confused looks when I begged to take this empty (sad to say I found it empty!) bottle home.

So many times designers are afraid to play with different typfaces… and yet this design boasts more than four! A beautiful mixture of modern yet vintage with a festival kind of feel.The front label has a ‘tower’ of what looks like pen illustrations of a goat, wine barrels, world map, guitar or violin, a man, a fork, cheese and a band. It is the minimal use of colour and effective spot varnish that appeals to me, apart from the jacket (man in the tower) and a strip at the bottom all other elements are black.

Excited to learn more about this design & product I did some investigation and to my delight found the La Capra Website! On the site each item in the ‘tower’ has a story to tell. Not only great design… but content too! ‘Deep,scarlet tones speak of excitement and mischief. While the rich aromas of clove and spices lead the palate to bold bramble fruit flavours’

So I’ll be off to the shops this weekend on a quest to find my own (full) bottle of La Capra… a wine that will ‘transport you to a magical place where the wine flows freely, laughter fills the air and you dance until the sunrise.’

Have a lovely weekend.