Tangerine Tango: 2012 color of the year!

One of our favorite colors has just been announced as Pantone's 2012 color of the year! Tangerine Tango is energizing, yet sophisticated... the perfect marriage of orange and red.

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. Pantone is the world-renowned authority on color and color standards, from fashion and home to print and web. To see Pantone's official announcement, click here.

If you're looking for color pairings for Tangerine Tango, we love a pale blue-green (as shown below).

Above photo from Lonnymag.

Cream is also a great neutral to pair with it:

Above photo montage by the Washingtonian.


Enjoy your tangerine!

happy 2012!

Wishing you the best of years ahead! Happy 2012.

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!
Luke 2:10-11

joy to the world (2011 christmas cards)

Can you hear that? It's yours truly heaving a big old sigh of relief.

The gifts have been bought, our six night stretch of social events is behind us, we've finally made peace with the fact that amidst our kitchen reno there will be no Christmas tree (but there IS a nativity set, which is way more important), and most importantly the cards have gone out.

Ah yes, the Christmas cards. All 125 cards for my design business clients and vendors, 75 photo cards for family and close friends, and of course the inevitable 100 cards that my in-laws ask me to do for them. And then there's the batch that were not yet addressed which my husband thoughtfully mailed for me. The first day that they started coming back to me, my little heart skipped a beat when I thought that someone else also thought to send out teal envelopes at Christmas. Not so. And so began another afternoon of card assembling.

Last year's cards were all about rich materials and metallics. This year, I wanted to make them a little more fun and light-hearted. Attached to the cards are some gift tags which you can slip over the neck of a bottle (or hang on a gift). But the real gift is a donation I make on my clients' behalf to a worthy cause. Because seriously who needs another canister of mixed nuts?
 

I look forward to designing these cards all year. In fact, I just may have plans for next year's cards already. And secret decoder glasses *may* be part of the package. But truth be told, I want my dining room table back. It's been covered with paper goods, cutting tools, envelopes, ball-chains, and drywall dust (thanks to a well-timed kitchen reno) for the past month.

So in celebration of having the cards in the mail (and hopefully in many of your mailboxes by now), I write this post.

What about you? If you could have a hanging wine card say anything you wanted, what would it say? Come on... dish! The top submissions will be created and sent to those who submitted them in a care package by yours truly. Once I've recovered from Christmas, that is.

Cheers!

Dust

I'm excited to share my submission for the "Say Something Poster Project" benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of America; a poster design competition and gallery show created to give designers the opportunity to use poster design to say something that will inspire, motivate and educate teenaged kids.

You can place your vote (it takes just a few seconds) and see the other submissions here: http://www.saysomethingposters.com/2011/11/29/dust/

And for an inside look at the creation of this chalk illustration, check out this 2-minute time lapse movie (my first try at iMovie!) http://vimeo.com/user9454289

 

So what's the story behind this? I believe that out of even the most hopeless circumstances, beauty and hope and restoration can be found. I've experienced it in my own life, and I have witnessed it in the lives of others. There are many layers of meaning to the phrase in my poster. To some, it may bring to mind an image of God breathing life into man and forming his finest masterpiece from dust. To others, it may evoke images of dust-covered bikes lining the streets of New York ... and firefighters rushing in to sacrifice their lives for another. To others, it may just remind you that it's been forever since you dusted your mantle (wink). Because chalk is essentially dust, I thought that it was an appropriate medium to use for this message.

Whatever it means to you, I hope that this image sends a message of hope and optimism. :)

P.S. Did you vote yet? If not, take a moment and vote here!

let it snow

With the weather turning cooler, I thought I'd share a favorite piece of type with you. I absolutely love this gorgeous hand-cut type by Danielle Kroll (done for Anthropologie's 2009 Christmas Website; art direction by David Chanpong and Laura Twilley). Isn't it delicious?

Enjoy your first flakes of snow!

a Pantone thanksgiving

I have a confession. I've discovered another love. It's called Pinterest. And all the time that I could have spent writing posts on this blog, I have instead been ogling over awesome DIY ideas, gorgeous design inspiration, and pinning all kinds of great things on my boards. If you haven't heard of Pinterest, it's a virtual pinboard and community where you can find all sorts of great ideas and inspiration. And if you HAVE heard of it, what are you doing here, silly?

Kidding. But thanks for stopping in nevertheless. Peruse the archives, check out my Pinterest page, and do visit back. I'll try not to wait another three months to post. Gulp.

And in anticipation of Thanksgiving, I want to share these fabulous Pantone-inspired placecards by Annemarie Buckley of the blog Frolic! Click here for the how-to on these awesome little paper goodies. I love the rusty fall colors and watercolor variations. Most of my family would probably look a them and remark on what nice, plain cards they are. So you may only go to the effort if you are inviting a slew of designers over to eat.

And if you're a Pantone fan, check out these great DIY Pantone magnets or Pantone cookies.

Have a colorful fall, and a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Warmly,