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Turquoise, the 2010 Color of the Year, is PANTONE 104-2-3 C in Goe and PANTONE 3258 C in PMS.

“Turquoise inspires thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while restoring our sense of welllbeing.” (via Pantone.com)

I’m loving it, it’s probably one of my most favourite colours, especially for home decor.

They’re here! The official team outfits for Canada’s 2010 Winter Olympics team were revealed, Thursday morning by the Hudson’s Bay Company, the official supplier for the team. They sure are classically Canadian, what are your thoughts on them? It scares me that they’ve already been called “Hoser Chic” but, they’re definitely much better than Beijing, right?

Vancouver 2010

Beijing

Pantone® released it’s Spring 2010 Fashion Colour Report the other week, just thought i’d share a review of all the hottest colours.

Designers bring splashes of sunshine to the runway for spring 2010. Vibrant brights add a sense of excitement to the color palette, while practical neutrals provide a safety net for cautious consumers.

“Now more than ever, women are vigilant when it comes to spending,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Instead of reinventing their wardrobe at the start of each season, consumers want pieces to complement what they already own. Pairing a bold color with a basic piece or freshening up their look with bright accents addresses the need for practicality, as well as fun.”

Spring and summer naturally evoke feelings of calm ocean waters and tranquil beach vacations in cool, vibrant, tropical Turquoise. This soothing hue from the blue-green family conjures feelings of escape, especially when paired with Amparo Blue. With more warmth than the typical spring navy, this particular shade of blue is extremely appealing because of its brighter, more energetic attitude. Like the scent of a blossoming flower, Violet lends a romantic air to the warm-weather palette. This intriguing purplish hue is a distinctive addition to any wardrobe.

Yellow has made its mark on fashion and spring will further this trend with gleaming Aurora. Reminiscent of the first glimpse of yellow as the sun begins to rise over the horizon, this shimmering, slightly greenish yellow adds a bold infusion. Energy continues to surge throughout the warmer hues of spring, leading to provocative Fusion Coral. This inviting orange connects directly to tangy Tomato Purée, this season’s classic red. Pair it with Turquoise for a retro look.

Thoughtful, cautious neutrals provide a dependable backbone to the brights of spring. Kick back and enjoy the bubbly luxury of Pink Champagne. This delicate, wispy tint is the season’s newest neutral. The melding of Pink Champagne, Tomato Purée and Amparo Blue is a refreshing take on the classic springtime combination of red, white and blue.Three additional neutrals round out the palette. Tuscany, a warm beige hue, provides the perfect backdrop and works well as a solid base color with dynamic accents like Fusion Coral or Violet.

Dried Herb is the ultimate green neutral, pairing well with all other colors. Ideal for bigger ticket items, cool Eucalyptus is the eternal, practical gray. Choose this nuanced neutral and add brightly colored exclamation points in shoes, jewelry and handbags.

(Taken from Pantone’s forecast)

Ikea has just released it’s 2010 catalog and in honour of this joyous occasion I thought it would be great to share the few photos of a catalog from 1965 that I recently came across while browsing the online world. It’s funny, the layout and fonts still manage to give off that “Ikea” feeling.

I think the images really speak for themselves and honestly I wish they still made some of the pieces that are shown in these pages.

Last week I went to a designer colour premiere show. They discussed trends for 2010.

They went through everything from, interior design to fashion to cars and more, but to be honest it wasn’t that impressive, and to me colour
forecasting is different everywhere so don’t take this like it’s written in stone of course!!

Here’s some rough notes from the show:

Crafty/Organic:

• Handmade
• hand works
• hand knitted

Luxury is key:

• GOLD GOLD GOLD (probably due to the recession, bling is now going to be in, to prove that you’d still got “it” ? who knows)
• liquid metallics, high gloss materials
• http://www.boardbar.de shows custom flight bars for your customized jet.
• silk embroidery
• http://www.luxuryecostampofapproval.com
• The use of bold colours in alternative combinations. Colours you wouldn’t think go together are now paired.
• Grey and muted tones off set with bright bold colours ex: bright pink with a silver metallic grey
• airbrushed shading (sort of looked like gradients of monochrome colour)
• Optical black and white patterns

Eco Chic is very in still:

• naturals, BEIGE!!
• cardboard, felt, plywood, raw materials etc…
• think of your natural earth surroundings and translate that into design
• Handmade from recycled/found objects
• monochrome colour schemes
• bronze, gold, yellow
• citron, orange, copper, pumpkin
• plum, purple, grape combine with greys, mauves

True greens:

• citrus
• grass
• acidic
• menthol
• lime green mixed with avocado green

Not related to what we do really, but they showed that the modern kitchen will look like something from the 70s…frilly curtains, old style cabinets, avocado green…it was so horrible people were walking out of the presentation. I don’t believe that trend will last very long…I understand that retro is cool and all, but that’s just wrong.

That’s about all i grabbed from them. I think our generation is more up to date with what’s going on, but it’s all really trivial in the end.