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Contact me: Kirsty@mayannella.com
Scotland | UK
Colour is everything and always has been…
From crayons to colour palettes!
I am obsessed with colour and I always have been, if you look, colour is absolutely everywhere and nature usually has the best colour palettes of all. Have you ever noticed how colours in nature always seem to complement each other? One of life’s great mysteries but it’s consistently there. I take a lot of photos when I’m out and about for reference and my phone is packed with random things, colour combinations that caught my eye, a sky at a particular moment, newly formed rainbows, trees in the bark formation. Also if you look at colours closely enough you start to see other colours within them. I don’t know if it comes easily to everyone but colour is something I have always had strong instincts around. I can place colours together and know instantly whether they compliment each other or not.
Where it started
Calm colours, this is exactly the feeling I try to bring to everything I design!
My relationship with colour goes back to that wicker basket of crayons I wrote about in my about me post. I was always the kid who mixed colours together to find new combinations and I could carry colours in my head and matched them from memory. When I went on to study fashion design and later wigs, hair and makeup I learned the theory behind what I had always done instinctively. Colour wheels, neutralising, complementary tones, how artificial lighting changes everything. It gave a framework to something I already felt.
Colour as the thread through everything
Every single thing I make starts with colour. My limited edition art prints are built around palette decisions made long before a line is drawn. My open edition digital sets work with coordinating different colour palettes together to compliment each other. Even my digital Affinity colour palettes, which I sell on my website and Creative Market, are pulled from real photos and real observations rather than trend forecasts. I can pull colour out of my head and make colour palettes, that is something that has always been in me. They’re designed to feel complementary and calm because that’s how I enjoy colour and how I feel it should be brought into your home.
Colour in the home
I think a lot of people underestimate what colour actually does to a space and how it makes you feel. The colours you live with affect your mood, your energy and how much you want to be in a room. That’s not design theory, it’s just true.
What I love about art prints,patterns and texture in the home is that they give you a way to bring colour in that feels intentional rather than overwhelming. A single well chosen print pulls a whole room together. A set of coordinating patterns across cushions or curtains or a lampshade creates a sense of home and personality without needing a full redesign.
That’s what I’m always thinking about when I’m creating. Not just whether something is beautiful on its own but whether it will feel right on a wall or a shelf in someone’s actual home.
Come and have a look
If you love colour as much as I do you might want to explore my colour palettes on my website or over on Creative Market. Everything is made with the same attention to how colour feels and not just how it looks.
