Color + Design Blog by COLOURlovers

Beertone: A Beer Color Reference Guide

2013-01-03T06:37:16Z

What happens when a love of beer and a love of color come together in one awesome project? The answer is Beertone.

Created by a two man team in Switzerland, Beertone wants to combine beautiful design and beer into a fun and useful resource for anyone that loves either. Right now you can pre-order their beer color chart in one of three different packages, two of which include sweet Beertone branded mugs.

Each stylish card in the color chart features a detailed description of the beer and its color, which of course includes plenty of important acronyms like ABV, CMYK, and RGB. Being the good designers that they are, the Beertone guys have provided a handy graphic of what you can expect.

While the first Beertone is already underway, there are many beers of many varieties of colors in the world, which means there's even more color charts to come. Next up they have German Beers and Brazilian Beers, and you can also suggest beers for future editions. I know I personally would love to see a Colorado-specific edition, so they might be getting one or two (or ten) suggestions from me in the near future. :)

This is a unique and creative project and it's fun to see it being executed in such a clever and well-designed way. If you're interested in helping support Beertone, you can pre-order directly on their website or contact them at cheers@beertone.ch.

Cheers and may you enjoy the color of your beer.

GelaSkins HardCase Design Contest Winners!

2012-12-10T12:05:48Z

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and boy has this latest GelaSkins contest been really good. Huge thanks to everyone that contributed and voted in this contest, and an especially big thank you to the folks at GelaSkins that made this whole thing possible.

The GelaSkins brand was born from a passion for great design. That's why they work with the world's most creative minds, bringing stunning artwork to any device. The GelaSkins library is rounded out with thousands of works by established and up-and-coming independent artists, classics by the Masters, and patterns by renowned designers. Notable partnerships include National Geographic, Tim Burton and Norman Rockwell. Expressing individual style is easy with thousands of designs to choose from and simple tools to help create a unique look for any device. Personalize phones, tablets, laptops, e-readers and more!

By now you've hopefully had a chance to check out their latest HardCase product line. The HardCase by GelaSkins for iPhone 5 is a tough, polycarbonate, snap-on case. It's available in a wide array of great designs by artists from around the world. You can even be the artist and design your own – import family photos, company logos, or patterns you've created at COLOURlovers.com.

For this contest, you COLOURlovers were tasked with creating a design for GelaSkins new HardCase. There were a ton of amazing designs entered, and it was tough, but the GelaSkins staff was able to narrow down the entries and select a winner. Without further adieu, the next GelaSkins artist is...

First Place

"Sur La Table" by Dazzlement

Dazzlement will become the next GelaSkins artist and earn royalties on the sale of her designs. Congratulations!

The four runners up were selected based on number of loves from the COLOURlovers community. You guys loved the following designs the most:

Second - Fifth Place Runners Up

"Peace & Love" by o2bqueen

"Vintage Floral" by sherrydee846

"Spirit of the Season" by AvidArtist

"PETALS" by singingfish

Each runner up will receive a $100 gift card towards a custom GelaSkins product featuring their design.

Thanks for another great contest folks! From the COLOURlovers team, we wish you a very happy holiday season. Cheers!

Vote for Your Favorite HardCase Designs!

2012-12-03T18:08:44Z

Boy, you all have really been bringing your a-game for this latest design contest! For two weeks we've watched the amazing HardCase designs roll in and now it's time to switch gears into the voting part of the contest. But before we do that, let's take a moment to thank the awesome folks over at GelaSkins that have made this whole thing possible.

There have been over 4,500 entries in this contest and they need your votes! Now is the time to browse through and show some love for your favorite HardCase designs and your fellow COLOURlovers. The voting period ends Thursday night, December 6th, at 10pm Pacific.

What do your votes mean for the winning designs? Funny you should ask! Second through Fifth Place runners up for this contest are determined based on loves from the community. First Place will be selected by the GelaSkins team. Winners will be announced on ~~Friday, December 7th~~ Monday, December 10th, and prizes include:

First Place: winner will be chosen as the next GelaSkins artist and receive royalties on the sale of their design!

2nd - 5th Place: winners will receive a $100 gift card towards a custom GelaSkins product featuring their designs.

**All designs entered stay under the ownership of the creators. The grand prize winner agrees to share their design rights with Geleskins, and participate as one of their designers. They will earn royalties on all sales of their design.**

To see what's going on with the last COLOURlover that became a GelaSkins artist, check out our Interview with Sylvie Demers. Cheers and happy voting!

Interview with GelaSkins Artist Sylvie Demers

2012-11-26T11:48:53Z

We're currently running a contest with the awesome folks at GelaSkins to see who will join them as their next artist. Earlier this year, we ran a similar contest and the talented COLOURlover that won was Sylvie Demers. Since her winning design was selected, Sylvie has become an artist with GelaSkins, and you can now buy her designs on their website.

She was kind enough to answer a few questions for us and we're excited to share our conversation with you guys. Thanks Sylvie!

How has the experience been as an artist for GelaSkins?

Exciting for sure! I was so surprised to win this contest. I didn't know what to expect. I can say, couple of months later, that working with Gelaskins is smooth and easy. Every one of the team has been so nice and helpful. They took me by the hand and took care of every detail. The only thing I had to do was to propose some patterns, let them choose what they thought was more likely to sell and wait for the royalties!

Where do you go to find inspiration?

First, within! I meditate every day to let the creativity flow, and then, seeing beauty around you comes easily... Books, magazines, and Pinterest are part of my daily routine for inspiration. Travels also help. I was in Nevada two months ago and the colors and textures of the desert are still in my mind.

What are the apps and/or tools you can't live without?

I'm in love with my new Bamboo tablet from Wacom. I use it with Inkscape (a free program that allows you to draw directly in .svg) or Corel draw. The Seamless Studio is so convenient, too, for creating patterns... inexpensive and user-friendly!

How has the COLOURlovers community helped you as a designer?

It keeps me going! The instant feedback that is given when I put a new template online is priceless. People are so generous. Comments, "likes" or "faves" give me the pulse about my creations. I'm sure that I'm not the only one having experienced the addictive nature of COLOURlovers! I crave for people's reactions... I like to make the other COLOURlovers enthusiastic when they play with my templates. Thanks to everyone who makes this community so vibrant.

What most excites you about what you're working on right now?

I've always being attracted to colors and forms... I've experimented with acrylic painting since summer and I'm having so much fun! After working with watercolor for a long time, I found a new way to express my love of colours! When I sell a painting and see happiness in the buyer's eye, it fulfills me completely.

Creating new patterns for Gelaskins after Christmas will be a lot of fun too.

Check out the rest of Sylvie's work available on GelaSkins.

Want a shot at becoming the next GelaSkins artist? Enter your designs here until Monday, 12/3.

Design Contest - Be the Next GelaSkins Artist!

2012-11-19T11:45:32Z

We had so much fun with our GelaSkins contest earlier this year, we're excited to say we've cooked up another awesome one for you guys. This time you get to create a design for their new iPhone 5 HardCase for a shot at becoming the next GelaSkins artist!

The GelaSkins brand was born from a passion for great design. That's why they work with the world's most creative minds, bringing stunning artwork to any device. The GelaSkins library is rounded out with thousands of works by established and up-and-coming independent artists, classics by the Masters, and patterns by renowned designers. Notable partnerships include National Geographic, Tim Burton and Norman Rockwell. Expressing individual style is easy with thousands of designs to choose from and simple tools to help create a unique look for any device. Personalize phones, tablets, laptops, e-readers and more!

The HardCase by GelaSkins for iPhone 5 is a tough, polycarbonate, snap-on case. It's available in a wide array of great designs by artists from around the world. You can even be the artist and design your own – import family photos, company logos, or patterns you've created at COLOURlovers.com.

Here are all of the important details about the contest:

How to Enter

COLOURlovers can enter this contest by creating and coloring a pattern for the iPhone 5 HardCase template that GelaSkins has provided. To submit your designs, just visit the contest page and create your entry, easy peasy!

Contest Dates

Entries for this contest will run from Monday, November 19th, through Monday, December 3rd. The voting period will last until Thursday, December 6th and winners will be announced on Friday, December 7th.

Voting Process

The GelaSkins team will select the First Place winner who will become the next GelaSkins artist. Second through Fifth Place runners up will be selected based on loves from the COLOURlovers community.

Prizes

The First Place winner will become the next GelaSkins artist and collect royalties on the sales of their design!

2nd - 5th runners up will receive a $100 gift card towards a custom GelaSkins product featuring your design.

That's it! Best of luck to all of you talented designers, can't wait to see what you come up with.

+++++++

See the entries in the GelaSkins Design Contest.

The Colorful World of Colorado Beer

2012-08-27T15:36:24Z

It’s easy to become entrapped in images of picturesque, snow-capped mountains; sparkling, blue and white rapids; and gold-dusted plains when you think of Colorful Colorado, but what you don’t think about are the many shades of beer this vibrant state has to offer. With 140+ breweries statewide, Colorado serves up various hues of porters, ales, stouts, sours, and more from the freshest barleys and hops west of the Mississippi.

Sean Buchan is a Colorado-based photographer specializing in beer photography, or “beertography” as he likes to call it. His photographs expose the myriad of colors found in Colorado beers, as well as give you a glimpse into the vivid backdrop in which Colorado beers are produced.

source: Sean Buchan

Many of Colorado’s best brew flavors start with hops. These hops are from Voss Farms in Arvada, Colorado, where Cascade, Centennial, Willamette, and Chinook hops are grown. The popping greens scream summer and life.

source: Sean Buchan

CooperSmith's is a staple of the Northern Colorado brewing community. They've been around since 1989 as one of the first brew pubs in Colorado. Horsetooth Stout is a prime example of the great beer they churn out year-after-year.

source: Sean Buchan

When it comes to thoughts of winter, I think it’s safe to say that Aspen sums it up. And to keep true to the Aspen culture of playing in the snow, Aspen Brewing Company uses mini skis for their sampler trays.

source: Sean Buchan

“Taken at Avery Brewing Company's 4th Annual SourFest, this is a bottle of Odell Brewing Company's Shenanigans Oak Aged Crimson Ale. Cork and cage bottles have always peaked my interest. Whether it's the timeless look, the fact that they're generally used on higher-end products, or the satisfying 'pop' of carbonation when you successfully remove the cork, I'm not sure. But what I do know is that I like drinking beer from them.” -Sean Buchan

source: Sean Buchan

The New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, CO, recently built a brand new brewhouse dubbed Brewhouse 2, and to give their mash tun that extra umph, an intricate tile mosaic was added.

source: Sean Buchan

Prost Brewing Company is a new brewery in Denver, CO, that focuses entirely on German style beers. Head Brewer Bill Eye has to combat possible boil-overs with cold water at times.

source: Sean Buchan

The cool hues of greys on this fermenting tank speak to the refreshing calm often found when indulging in Colorado beers.

source: Sean Buchan

What better way to sum up the Colorado outdoor lifestyle and its culture of beer? When in Colorado, do as the natives do.

If you’d like to see more of Sean Buchan’s photography and explore the color options Colorado’s beers have to offer for inspiration, visit his website or like him on Facebook.

Ubooly Coloring Contest

2012-07-17T20:18:27Z

If you were a kid in the '80s, chances are you remember Teddy Ruxpin. In the '90s? One word: Furby. Well in 2012, a new fledgling company is looking to revolutionize toys for the iGeneration.

Ubooly is a Boulder-based startup that successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign back in April. Just three months later, they are gearing up to start shipping units to excited kids and grownups everywhere.

What exactly is an Ubooly you ask? It's a smart toy powered by your smart phone to help teach your smart kids through meaningful interactions. Recommended for ages 4-9, Ubooly uses voice recognition and ongoing updates to make sure it's the smartest toy. Pretty smart, wouldn't you say?

Before they launch, Ubooly wants you to unleash your inner child with a fun contest that just happens to be right up our COLOURlovin' alley. Oh yeah, I'm talking about a coloring contest!

Ending on July 25 @ 8:00 PM (MDT), the Ubooly Coloring Contest is simple to enter. Just check out their Facebook page, print out and then upload one of their adorable coloring pages, infused with your personal style. You can submit either scans or photos of your colorings and you can submit an entry each day to increase your chances of winning.

The two winners will get their very own Ubooly and the first place winner also gets a brand new iPod touch -- a sweet deal for an activity you probably did a million times as a kid.

Cheers and happy coloring!

Say Hello to New GelaSkins Artist Sylvie Demers

2012-07-15T14:13:38Z

A couple months ago we ran a design contest to see who would become the next GelaSkins artist. We received so many great designs from the community, but ultimately only one COLOURlover could walk away victorious -- that COLOURlover was Sylvie Demers (aka jjolimie).

Well, things are officially official and Sylvie's designs are now available on their website!

Based in Montreal, she spends her spare time designing pictorial pattern templates that have luscious colors and beautiful details. Designs that are sure to brighten up any tech device. So, if you've been meaning to spice up your phone/tablet/laptop, now's your chance to do so and help support a fellow COLOURlover.

There's even a special coupon code, just for you guys. Enter the code COLOURLOVERS10 when you check out between now and August 9th for 10% off your GelaSkins order!

Ampersands, A Creative Collection

2012-07-09T08:00:26Z

Who doesn't love the ampersand? It is one of those symbols that is used in a lot of designs and something that will class up any logo. Here is a collection of ampersands that people have created for various uses. How fun are these?

Source

This artistic Ampersand is the branding behind makeup company MAC teaming up with social community Milk for a campaign.

Source

Which ones are you favorite? Do you use an ampersand in your design work?

Gelaskins Design Contest :: Winners Announced

2012-06-05T11:20:30Z

Gelaskins is filled with some amazing designs, and the option to make your own. Is really doesn't get better than that, does it? Thanks so much to Gelaskins for allowing one awesome COLOURlover to be the next Gelaskins artist!

We hope you have had time to poke around their site, especially to check out their newest product, the Hardcase.

You guys really killed it with the designs this time around. There were so many awesome ones, it is hard to choose a favorite.

The Winners:

1st place prize:
Winner will become the next GelaSkins artist, and will collect royalties on the sale of their design to our customers. Chosen by Gelaskins.

close to you by jjolimie

Runners Up:
The 2nd-5th runners up will receive $100 gift card towards custom GelaSkins featuring your pattern. Selected by most votes on COLOURlovers.

❤Plasmic by praxicalidocious

Wilderness Glory by o2bqueen

Tweet iPhone's Tone by Any Palacios

C a n d y * by hana*

Congrats to all the winners! And thanks to everyone for voting.