Palette Inspiration

For the past few days I have been madly trying to find tangible images to match to a color palette in my head. I go through this a lot because I will see things in passing and not remember them till it is too late - they were ads or commercials or content on a website I didn't bookmark. My biggest "in passing" moment that I regret is not tape recording the old Splenda commercials on TV. Does anyone else remember them? They were amazing! The commercials I'm talking about aired in the late 1990's and/or early 2000's. It was a long campaign; the look of the ads lasted for well over a year or two. I'm pretty sure they were still around during the time Amelie was released {which was 2001} because they always reminded me of the movie when I saw them. I am famous for having a bad long-term memory.

The Splenda commercials were whimsical, charming and just plain lovely to look at. There were little girls having tea parties and people making sugar cookies and cakes and the commericals were stunning in not only their originality but their great art direction. They had the most beautiful color palette that I haven't seen replicated in film since. And this is where I come up with problems...trying to find words to describe the look. The colors were soft sea-greens, pinks, yellows, and white. The look was very pastel, like cotton candy or gauzey looking, a tad blurry and very ethereal and dreamy. I always think of the word "frothy" too. Who knows why! Anyway, I tried in vain to find copies of these TV ads, especially when I started Layer Cake, because I wanted to look at the colors and the dreaminess and try to use the same concepts for my company.

I've been designing some things for Layer Cake this last week and once again I was drawn back to the memory of those commercials. It has consumed me the last few days! I found some images that kind of reflect the same palette and feel as those commercials. They're not exact but they are the closest I can come to it. I thought I'd share them:

The stunning photography of Irene Suchocki. Her work is amazing.

The art of Jean-Honore Fragonard. Top picture: The Swing {1767}
Bottom picture: The Progress of Love: The Pursuit {1773}


Image from a 1950's era Betty Crocker cookbook


The beautiful work of photographer Alicia Bock.
All her images are so ethereal. They're all so lovely.


These beautiful drinks! The color of these are sooooo delicious! I know this picture is from
a wedding. A friend e-mailed me the image so I do not know who to credit! If anyone
knows who the photographer is please let me know so I can give their name.


The exquisite color and look of Laduree. Food that looks like art...delicious!

One of my most favorite artists, Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun. Though the color of this
portrait in particular doesn't look much like the palette I'm searching for, the gauzey
dreaminess of it is spot on. All Vigee-LeBrun's work is beyond words to me. Perfection.

Though I was not a huge fan of the movie Marie Antoinette {nor anything with
the name Dunst in it...ugh!} it most definitely has some of the most inspiring costumes,
art direction, set decoration, and cinematography for me. Most of the films color
palette is what I am searching for!