Love is most often associated with the color red. Be that by conditioning of incessant advertising or that we are drawn to it by nature. Secondary to red is of course pink, in almost any level of saturation.

Red is one of those colors that possesses the strongest Ying and Yang of its theoretical definitions. Between love and hate, rebirth and death, the human relationship in any combination, could literally be summed up in the meaning of the color Red. Pink has what I would describe as a temperamental scale, more based on softness versus loudness than the extreme left or right end of the spectrum.

"Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love." - paper-leaf.com // COLOR THEORY poster freebie

As we know, colors can generate a wide variety of emotions. Red might be the most diverse and along with pink, a tag-along little sister, many other colors in tow can lend a visual message of love a great big pop!

Falling in Love by Etsy artist,  DJEMBE & CANVAS

"Cranes represent longevity and grace. The flocks ascend our champagne symphony, where love is blessed upon those who simply believe." - posted by artist at the listing

The artist gave us a wonderfully light feeling with this palette and the birds adding further motion. I also like how the painting balances the realities of "love" with a little bit of darkness in the bottom right corner. What do you think of this palette and representation of falling in love?

With the launch of our design content marketplace, CreativeMarket.com coming soon we thought it would be fun to take a look at the most popular design elements in movie posters from 2011. After all, it's the carefully & creatively designed marketing materials for the movies are what get us to the theater.
(honestly, the best selling designs at the movie theater these days are the concessions stands... $6 for a bottle of water?!) The designers capture our attention, but the real success of a blockbuster movie will be determined by the quality of the film itself (not including #4 on the list below)... Let's take a look.

What Will 2012 Bring?

What movie are you most excited about for 2012? What design elements do you think will dominate this year?

Stenciled walls are becoming quite the trend right now. And for good reason, it adds an awesome pop to the  room.  I have been dying to stencil a wall for a while now, the problem is, the process looks very daunting and frankly, a little tedious. Finally, I decided to go for it and stencil the main wall in my living room to give the rather drab room, a big pop.

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

After looking through tons of color palettes and patterns, I set out to find the perfect gray and decided on a Moroccan pattern similar to the bedroom below. I bought the "Wall Stencil Marrakech Trellis" from CuttingEdgeStencils for about $50.

Poster design is a really fun, inexpensive and unique way to explore your creative side. From the 1,000's of fonts, variety of poster sizes, and layouts, sometimes, it's difficult to know where to start!

Once you master your design techniques visit Next Day Flyers for fast poster printing at great prices.

Today we are interviewing Jessica Sprague, design guru and owner of JessicaSprague.com. In February, Jessica is heading off a four week Poster Design course. She is also giving away not one, but TWO seats to this really awesome class! I couldn't be more excited about the class after taking Jessica's Subway Art class. I'm a busy mom, so I don't have a whole lot of time to join in a live class, which is why I love Jessica's classes- they are self-paced and available forever!

Follow Jessica: Twitter & Facebook

Can you tell us about yourself, how long have you been designing? Teaching? Do you have a job outside of JS.com?

In my former life I was a web & user interface designer for a software company, so I've been designing in some form or another for about 14 years. I started teaching digital scrapbooking, Photoshop, and graphic design in 2007 when I opened  JessicaSprague.com. Since then it is my full-time job, and I love it!

What three (or less) singular colors do you most identify with, why?

My favorite color is green - I love it in almost all of its shades from lime to olive. It's the color of growth and regeneration, of calm energy, of prosperity, learning, balance, and harmony.

If you had to describe yourself [currently] as a five color palette, what colors would they be? Could you provide me with HEX codes so I can create a JS palette for you? :)

I feel like I am a blue, two greens, and a red, coupled with a dark grey. Hex: aed835, d9ea65, 81c9c0, a90c19, a90c19

The greens I've already described. The blue is an ocean representing responsibility, stability, trustworthiness. The red represents fire and emotion, and the dark grey brings some gravity, but also represents the dark that balances the lighter, fresher colors.

If you could be a shape, what shape would you be? (i.e. a polygon = triangle, hexagon etc...)

I would be a 5-pointed star. :)

For those of you following Leatrice Eisemen's training schedule, her 4-Day Color Training Program is off to a start this very morning in Burbank, CA. LindaHolt and ModernMuse (aka Michelle Stroescu), the two COLOURlovers who won full and half scholarship for the class back in November are excitedly enjoying their first day of learning and meeting Leatrice.

To tide you all over until we get to do a followup with both Linda and Michelle about the class experience, Leatrice kindly took the time to answer the intriguing questions each winner had asked at the time of receiving the announcement that they had won.

Q & A From LindaHolt

Linda: I would love to know what the process is and what goes into choosing the Color of The Year? 

Leatrice: I literally travel the world looking for clues.  If I see a color that I think is ascending in importance, I make special note of it and then look for evidence in it gaining momentum.  Fashion is always a good indicator, but it is not the only design area that must be examined.  There are so much creative design areas that must be considered including graphics, the world of art, product design, home furnishings and so on .  Another very important part of the choice is tapping into the “zeitgeist ‘ of the world around us and the emotional message that the color imparts.  For example, with the that big gray elephant  (the economy) still looming large and the concern that is being felt internationally, we would not want to choose a color that could be a “downer’.  Instead we listen to people’s aspirations and try to give them a color that, at least symbolically, satisfies and encourages their needs and hopes.

Winter weddings are fabulous in their own right, and seeing as we are now in the thick of these winter months, you brides are some of the luckiest there are. Sure you don't get sunshine and hot days, but you get the chance of snow and creating a darn right cozy spot.

Sparkles, snow, candles and blankets adorn these weddings to create a romantic space during these cold months. Oh and the color palettes, I can't get enough of these color palettes.

Source: Bridge, Pears

For ceremony spaces, a cozy fireplace is the perfect backdrop to tie the knot. Details such as cotton and candles are perfect details to add to this space. Sparkly accessories are a fun way to add a little festive decor to any spot. And you can't go wrong with a little bit of sparkle every now and again.

Source: Ceremony Spot, Cotton

Erin Loechner is a writer, stylist and designer. She is a quirky girl with lots of style and a great swagger about her. Everything she publishes on her site, Design For Mankind, pushes the envelope just enough to keep you interested and excited about trends and styles. She has graced the pages of many magazines all the while keeping up with trends and colors on her HGTV.com segment.

First up, why don't you tell the community a bit about who you are, what you do, how long you have been doing it, and your background. 

I'm Erin Loechner, a 28-year-old freelance design writer and blogger (DesignForMankind.com). I dabble into styling, consulting and rearranging the furniture of any willing party! I'm also an online personality for HGTV.com.

Recently, we spent some time reflecting over some beautiful home decor images in order to curate these ten beautiful palettes from the Martha Stewart paint line in a collaborative project titled, "Paint Palettes We Love."

Peruse these lovely combinations and fancy what your space might become, reinvented with fantastically bold or mellow combinations that might pull your imagination strings. One thing I adore about Martha's paint line is that her and Kevin Sharkey dig in to their memories and whims when building a collection of color around them. You can literally see these things in the names of the paints themselves.

Inspiration: A Sunny & Sweet Flower Arrangement

source

This sunny flower arrangement was procured from the sweet tooth of Kevin Sharkey. A few of his favorite sweets happen to be lemon drops and raspberry rock candy.

"Consider things that never fail to make you happy -- a box of pastel crayons, macaroons from Paris, a beloved artist's paintings -- and make note of their colors. Then bring the palette to life by plucking it from nature: Arrange flowers, leaves, branches, fruits, or vegetables in the shades of your passions." - how kevin creates

We took this arrangement and furthered its use by adding a wonderful palette drawing from the strongest points, which could be a great base for an entire room.

Lighting a space can make a significant impact on the emotional palette. From the design of a lighting fixture to how it radiates in a space can make or break the entire theme.

This article is presented by LBC Lighting offering you the easiest and most convenient way to purchase contemporary lighting including Juno Lighting for your home or business.

There are a myriad concepts being done with lighting, from astonishing buys and extraordinary DIYs, everyone’s got a bug to be the most unique.

Beaded Chandeliers

Beaded chandeliers are becoming quite a popular trend. This style can encompass beads or discs made from many different types of materials such as glass, shell or metal and of course plastic or ceramic.

turquoise beaded | black metal discs | bone-colored beaded |  green DIY beaded

It seems that while manufacturers came out with these gorgeous pieces more prominently in early 2011, the DIY crowd is just starting to pick up on producing them in a variety of fashion. If you'll notice, the bottom row in the image above are similar lighting fixtures. On the left is the Malibu Chandelier by manufacturer Serena & Lily while on the right, the DIY blog, SimplySalvage.com decided to make their own version of it. I think they pulled it off pretty well.

At the beginning of every year I often wonder that the next big things are going to be in the wedding industry. It always excites me what crafty people can put together and bring to life. And every year I am more and more excited with where trends have taken us and where we are now.

I wanted to share a look back at some of the biggest trends of 2011 as well as some of the up-and-comers for 2012.

2011: Ombre

Source: Cake, Dress, Flowers, Napkin, Escort Card

Ombre hit big in 2011! It seemed like all of the sudden these monochromatic details were just the thing needed to create a romantic and elegant look. Of course, this trend will continue to hit weddings for years to come, but the gorgeousness that is ombre will definitely be remembered as the up-and-comer detail to have of 2011.

2012: Color Blocking

Source: Dress, Invite, Table, Wedding Shot

Color blocking became popular right before the close of 2011. Every designer, especially Kate Spade, was embracing pairing one bold color to another until you created a well-executed look that made you pop. This trend is something that hasn't hit the wedding industry too hard just yet, but come 2012, we will see it in both subtle and obvious ways.