It's 2021! And it's time to give you my overview of the 2021 Colors of the Year as chosen by various decor and paint companies, most notably Pantone. Whether or not you follow trends, I thought it would be fun (and maybe useful?) for you to see some of these all here in one place, with samples of how I've used them in my own pattern designs. Not surprisingly, most colours were chosen for their uplifting, comforting, calming, soothing, harmonious, optimistic and hopeful properties. If you're a designer looking for ideas and trends, or just someone wanting a 2021 re-fresh (don't we all?), see below. And scroll down to see summaries of how each company describes their 2021 color picks!

PANTONE: They say "Illuminating" ("warming and optimistic") and "Ultimate Gray" ("practical and rock solid") are "A marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting".

GLIDDEN PAINTS: They chose not a Color of the Year, but an ACCENT Color of the Year, "Aqua Fiesta", which they describe as: "Happy and muted, this beautiful color makes a sweet space that is not overly vibrant".

BENJAMIN MOORE: They say, "Take a moment to reflect and reset. Intriguing, balanced and deeply soothing...Aegean Teal creates natural harmony".

GRAHAM & BROWNE: This is how G&B describes "Epoch": "This rich, deep amethyst" is "associated with royalty as the cost of pigments were so expensive--the color has a calming effect on both the mind and nerves, and it can be uplifting and trigger creativity".

HGTV by SHERWIN-WILLIAMS: They say, "Rich and empowering, Passionate is a bold red, that's steeped in history, merging modern design with traditional charm".

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS: They say, "Tap into nature with a hue whose warmth and comfort breathe down-to-earth tranquility". 

And there you have it! If you have a favourite (or not?!), leave a comment here and let me know!

...And now for something completely different...The idea for this week’s Spoonflower “Pine and Mint Throw Pillows” Design Challenge is to use just the two colours of Pine and Mint (plus black and white) to create a design suitable for throw pillows! Here is my entry called “Sweet Pea”! I originally designed this pattern design in other colours but thought pine and mint would work really well! If you would like to see all the entries, follow this Link to the Voting Page!
ADDENDUM! This design won 66th out of 858 entries and as a result, it is immediately available for sale in my Spoonflower Shop on fabric, home decor, wallpaper and more!

I couldn't resist! As you may have noticed, I can't get enough of the 2020 Pantone Color of the Year "Classic Blue"! I was also inspired by this week's Spoonflower "Classic Blue Limited Colour Palette" Design Challenge (see previous Blog post!), so I decided to re-colour (and revise) my "Palace Walls" Collection. Wondering what you think of Classic Blue? Have you been inspired to use it in your designs?! Or maybe you don't really like it...? All designs here are available to license!

I love the limited colour palette design challenges put on by Spoonflower! This week’s “Classic Blue Limited Color Palette” Design Challenge includes the 2020 Pantone Color of the Year "Classic Blue" (which I really, really like!) and 3 other blue shades. I re-coloured my “Mahal” pattern design which was inspired by my travels in India using only the 4 gorgeous shades of blue, and may inspire me to re-colour more of the designs in my "Palace Walls" pattern collection! If you would like to see this week’s entries, be sure to check out the Voting Page!

Pantone is not the only one to announce a Color of the Year (their "Classic Blue" is getting a lot of buzz though!) Many paint and wallpaper companies also make their trend predictions. I researched a bunch of them and it looks like blue, blush and green are the colours to watch in 2020. Then I couldn't resist raiding my pattern design archive to find matching designs for each colour! Enjoy! Do you have a favourite??!

Pantone just announced its choice for Pantone Color of the Year 2020: CLASSIC BLUE! Here is how they describe it: "Instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era". I must admit a soft spot for blue and have designed many all-blue patterns and illustrations over the years. So I couldn't resist, I had to dig into my pattern archive and see what I could find! While I don't always get the choices for Color of the Year, this one I do like! I have many, many ideas now...stay tuned!

I just started a brand new pattern design course from Victoria Johnson Create Explore called "Create Collections" and have been developing colour palettes and drawing new motifs (butterflies, moths and florals so far!) and thinking about how different types of patterns co-ordinate to make a larger pattern collection. Sometimes it really helps to have someone guide you through their process which really makes you think more deeply about your own design process. So, I started with these two placement prints. I might adjust the colours a bit as I get more into the collection, so stay tuned for more to come! Repeats!

Big THANK YOU to everyone who voted in last week's Spoonflower "Australian Flora" Design Challenge! The RESULTS are just in and my "Eucalyptus" pattern design in this Orange colour palette (check out my Portfolio-Flora page to see two other palettes) squeaked into the Top Ten (I'm listed at #11, but thankfully there was a tie for #9) out of 602 eligible entries! So this design is now available for purchase at Spoonflower on many different fabrics, wallpaper and giftwrap. And see below...you can now buy it on wonderful home decor products at Roostery as well! Again, thank you for your votes! On to the next Design Challenge...

One of the things we talk alot about in The Colour Gang is, obviously, COLOUR: where and how to get inspiration for colour palettes, what colours are on-trend (or will be) and why, what colour palettes do we like to work with and are characteristic of our unique styles, and how different colour palettes can change the look of a design completely. So one of the things we love to do is try our pattern designs with different colours, for example (which do you like best?!)...

OH and I thought you might like to see some of the photos of flowers from my garden that inspired this collection!

The last few weeks in The Colour Gang, a members-only online community, has been all about trends and colour! It has been great reading all the trend reports generously provided to Colour Gang members by WGSN and designing to them. Here is a sneak peek of a brand new pattern collection (just the beginnings!), which I designed with one of the trends in mind. Unfortunately, I can't share the reports, but be assured they are soooo inspiring! Which do you prefer: Yellow/Green or Pink/Blue??!

This months creative challenge in The Colour Gang is "Indigo"! So I couldn’t resist re-colouring my “Handprints” Collection in various shades of blue! Check out how different it looks in both the original colours (on the right, below) and in beautiful blue (on the left). I think blue is my fave, which do you prefer?

Hello! I just submitted this super colourful pattern design which I call "Summer of Love" (stay tuned for more in this collection!) to this week's Spoonflower "Maximalist" Design Challenge! No one was really sure what "maximalist" really meant, but this is my interpretation: lots and lots of crazy-bright coloured florals! If you have a minute, I would love your vote (and again, thanks to all of you who have voted for my designs in the past). Click here to link directly to the voting page!

One thing that is great being a member of The Colour Gang is it makes you think about colour palettes and how re-colouring existing motifs can really revise an older pattern design into something fun and new! As an example, I recoloured my "Coastal Critters" motifs (originally designed as placement prints for round plates!) and used them to make some eye-catching, sea-themed repeat patterns. I did try to put all 3 creatures into a single design, but that just didn't work. I also tried using differently coloured creatures in a single design (I tried so many combos) but that didn't sit well either. Sometimes simpler is better. So I finally realized that making 3 separate designs, each with its own creature and monochromatic colour scheme (based on my Japan-inspired "Neon Nights" colour palette from a few posts ago), somehow worked the best, in my opinion! Now I love these! So here they are..."Blue Jellyfish", "Pink Squid" and "Green Octopus"! I hope they make you smile!