Floral Inspiration from Berlin (part 2)

If last Monday's post wasn't enough to add a spring in your step here is a further selection of uplifting floral images to put a smile on your face.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned for lots more inspiration from Berlin

Interiors Roundup: Spring theme

I am so excited to be sharing gorgeous interiors with you. As Rachael Taylor’s new Interiors roundup editor, I will be posting every Thursday afternoon with my weekly update of all things Interiors. This week, our theme is Spring! How exciting!

The clocks have gone forward and we all grumbled about that hour less of sleep but that aside, there is so much to look forward to! With extra hours of light, our attention turns to Spring cleaning and freshening up our houses with that much needed lick of paint after the long winter, so here’s a little colour inspiration for you all! I hope you enjoy, I will be back next week with more inspirational interiors for you. Happy Spring to you all! Emily x

Design Seeds

Nina Cambell

Clarke & Clarke

Clarke & Clarke

Plumsiena.com

Annsleyinteriors.com

Thecolorfulbee.com

Thecolorfulbee.com

Beauty Breakdown: Loto delicatessen para el cuerpo

Good morning creative people!

Welcome to a Beauty morning with me, MaJo :) Every Thursday I'll delight you with gorgeously packed beauty products (and every now and then, I'll even throw you a beauty secret).

This week I want to show you some beautiful packaging design made in my home country. Loto (delicatessen for the body) is a Colombian cosmetic brand based in Bogotá. Their products are made with the best natural ingredients and exclusive fragrances for the wellbeing of people. Their product lines include soaps, creams, oils, bath and shower gels, and incenses among others. Their packaging and brand design was created by the design studio p576. The packaging concept is meant to honor the past, reinterpreting classic motifs with expressive images that reflect the brand's identity. Most of the beauty products' packaging illustrate the ingredients used in their preparation while the soaps' packaging illustrate wishes, and the home and massage lines display historic content to reveal the products' benefits.  

image courtesy of foroalfa

image courtesy of foroalfa

papers  and fabric to wrap vegetable soap bars:

 image courtesy of foroalfa

image courtesy of foroalfa

image courtesy of p576

image courtesy of p576

fortune box for vegetable soaps:

image courtesy of p576

Designs created in collaboration with one of Colombia's greatest graphic designers, Lucho Correa:

image courtesy of p576

image courtesy of foroalfa

For the massage oil line design, typography hierarchy plays an essential role; not only to fit all the information required on the label, but also to help the user read it. 

image courtesy of p576

Ending with these massage oils made me think about how nice it is to be able to de-stress after a busy day. Pamper yourselves with a relaxing bath before going to bed: just add 4 drops of chamomille and 2 of lavender oils to it and unwind to their soothing perfumes. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. See you next week with more inspiring designs. Have a great day, MaJo. 

Beauty Breakdown: Philosophy

Good morning creative people!

Welcome to a Beauty morning with me, MaJo :) Every Thursday I'll delight you with gorgeously packed beauty products (and every now and then, I'll even throw you a beauty secret).

So I thought Spring was finally going to arrive, but it's still freezing in Milan. I'm in desperate need of blooming flowers and sunny days, and I find myself constantly staring at floral fresh patterns. Last week I found one of Philosophy's new fragrances and was enchanted by its simple but still striking packaging. I dug deeper and discovered a whole beautiful packed line called Field of Flowers. The line includes: fragrances, shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath gels, and body lotions. They are all based on different flowers (orange, violet, water lily, wild blackberry, magnolia blossom, wildflower, and peony) that act also as the sole motifs of the packaging design. Enjoy!

All images courtesy of Philoshopy

And since this post was all about scented products, I thought I'd give you a few little secrets for you to make your favourite perfume last longer. It's always better to use the complete line of the perfume you adore (shower gel > body lotion > perfume). Prefer perfumes instead of eau de parfums because the latter have less fragrance concentration. Finally, my Grandma's favourite secret: spray a cotton ball with your favourite perfume and put it between your skin and your bra bridge… this will allow the scent to remain longer throughout the day (never spray it directly on your clothes or it might stain them). 

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. See you next week with more inspiring designs. Have a great day, MaJo. 

Magazine features

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend!

Today I wanted to share with you a selection of snapshots showcasing some of the magazine features that I was lucky enough to receive.

Four festive patterns & four floral based patterns were shown in both the Nov (2012) & Jan (2013) issues. A huge thank you goes to 'Cardmaking & Papercraft' magazine for the generous feature.

Beauty Breakdown: It feels like Spring

Good morning creative people!

Welcome to a Beauty morning with me, MaJo :) Every Thursday I'll delight you with gorgeously packed beauty products (and every now and then, I'll even throw you a beauty secret).

A couple of weeks ago I was round-n-about Milan doing a street style trend report when I stumble upon 3 cosmetic brands that immediately caught my attention for their vernal, crisp packaging design. It was one of those gray rainy days where all I could think was: 'I can't wait for Spring to arrive', and looking at these refreshing brands made me think they were the best way to welcome my series on Rachael Taylor's blog... just a drop of sunshine and dreamy images of a soon to arrive Spring!

I quickly snapped a couple of pics with my iPhone to remember the brands, and then researched them back home. Curiously, I had chosen 3 brands that share similar Asian inspiration and styles: erborian (Korean medicinal science meets French luxury), herborist (Chinese tradicional medicine and herbal science made contemporary), and bi mât cây (traditional beauty Vietnamese recipes shared with the western world).

All three labels use floral motifs on their packaging design, but each of them shows a distinct brand identity. Erborian's packaging (designed by French agency L'oeil avisé) exhibits simple silhouettes of tall grass and slim flowers that exude a modern and urban feel thanks to the use of bold and contrasting color combos. 

image courtesy of agence L'oeil avisé

image courtesy of agence L'oeil avisé

image courtesy of agence L'oeil avisé

Herborist outlined florals remind me of traditional Chinese motifs while the pastel color palette really gives me the sense of delicacy and sophistication. This exquisite design was created by the French Delo for the design agency Centdegres.

image courtesy of Delo

image courtesy of Delo

image courtesy of Delo

Finally we have bi mât cây... a series of lip balms packed in cute little jars bundled up with the traditional colors of Vietnam and Indochina, and exotic flowers that definitely take us to a mind trip to the far Far East. Once again, gorgeous design created by another great French agency: Halley des fontaines. 

image courtesy of Halley des fontaines

image courtesy of Halley des fontaines

image courtesy of Halley des fontaines

Before I say good bye I would like to give you a simple beauty secret for you to welcome Spring with gorgeous skin: softly rub your body with some sugar and body lotion (or almond/orange oil) before showering, and rinse with lukewarm water. Do this once a week to get your skin ready for sunnier days. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. See you next week with more inspiring designs. Have a great day, MaJo.