Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Color Caffeine - Tangerine Dream

We're bursting at the seams with great color to share with you now that we've wrapped up our crazy busy month of full of tradeshows...  Our first hue shows you just how energetic and enthusiastic we really are!  Tangerine Dream is a juicy citrus color - vibrant and full of life, a perfect bridge between the yellow and red families.  


Stay tuned for more Color Caffeine palettes inspired by shows like Heimtex, CES, Auto Show, Maison & Objet and more in the coming weeks.  As always, for custom color work, contact our creative design team to learn about our services.



Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Christmasworld 2012 - Trend Hall Inspiration!


It's never too early to start thinking about Holiday trends!  As always, the trend halls at Christmasworld are a great place to start...  Here is a quick summary of the creative halls and are a few of our favorite shots that inspired us!!

Cool Vibrancy
Modern, clear brights mixed with white and man made materials




Fancy Folk
A colorful country story with a touch of raw nature




Late Night Glam
Deep, dark luxury mixed with glamour





Soft Cloud
A light and fresh approach with soothing neutrals and a hint of color




Monday, January 30, 2012

Paperworld - Fruit Friends

On our first day of Paperworld we met some of our neighbors from the North at the Canadian company Botanical Paperworks.  This design savvy team create unique paper goods with embeded seeds so they can have a new life after they've been enjoyed as greeting cards.

One of their newest products is a line of Valentines for kids to hand out at school called "Fruit Friends" embedded with floral seeds.  The company actually approached local schools in their area to rescue used paper that was being discarded.  They divert this paper from the waste stream, recycle it and use it as the base for their Valentines which then go back into the kid's hands to spread the love in school! Talk about full circle! As a bonus they are super cute - It's good on so many levels.



Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Auto Show 2012 - A Real Crossover!


We are always looking around for inspiration and it’s continually inspiring to see the crossover of design among different mediums.  This micro studded detail shown by Chrysler at the latest Auto Show reminded us of something but we couldn't quite put our finger on it…all it took was little scouring through our many pictures files and there it was! 

We had seen the same type of detail in September at the Maison et Objet home design show in Paris on a Kelly Hoppen cabinet.  And, even in our fashion finds... check out those tiny studs on the shoes by Madly Juicy.  It is continually inspiring to see how these unique details manifest themselves in new places.




Other similarities from the two shows:

Maybach car color from the Auto Show and KitchenAid’s new appliance color from Maison et Objet



MINI Union Jack at the Auto Show and the same type of grayed down Union Jack at Kelly Hoppen/Maison



And, a fun similarity from CES and the Golden Globes?  Who knew that Audi and Angelina had the same stylist??




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Color Caffeine - Petal Red

We're in the thick of all of our early 2012 tradeshow coverage and one color is a stand-out at each and every show.  True red hues, in clean bright and unabashedly bold applications have been seen at everything from the Auto Show to Heimtextil to Maison et Objet and even the Consumer Electronics Show.  Here's a peek at a palette of reds we love!


Thursday, January 19, 2012

iQ University - The Personal Business

It's time for iQ University!  This week's feature is all about the growing small business sector and what it means for product and home design.  To stay current on all the posts in this educational series, click here.  To learn more about our custom Consumer & Design Trend Forecasts, contact us today.