Having decided to update the base here in the Albert Dock we’ve been trawling the interior shops of the North West for inspiration. It’s early days yet but judging from what’s already in the stores I think the big colours for 2008 are going to be the usual greys and blacks but complimented by lime greens, yellows and a few eighties fluorescents. They started to appear a couple of year ago but with anything a bit daring it takes us a while to come round. My tip for colours in the home are the wonderful muted grey paints from Farrow and Ball. I’d like to have the guts to paint a room with the sultry ‘Downpipe’ but we have opted for the more easy to live with but no less striking ‘Pigeon’. Now we need a bright lime rug or a couple of yellow accessories. It will be interesting to see if any of these colours have made it to tableware collections at the Frankfurt show; they certainly make several appearances in our portfolio. My eyes will be peeled.

Welcome to the blog at juliepopledesigns.com. This is the place where we talk about trends and ideas in surface pattern design. It is also a forum to discuss what’s going on in the tableware industry and at the tradeshows. The first big event for us in 2008 is the Frankfurt Ambiente show:

http://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/de/home.html

We will be reporting on what’s hot and what’s not from the fair. We’re giving the January Maison et Objet a miss this year but would love to hear about it from any of you attending. As we’re based in Liverpool (European Capital of Culture 2008 in case you hadn’t heard!), we’re expecting to be wowed by the Klimt exhibition at the Tate in May; and the newly restored and extended Bluecoat Craft Centre is sure to be a source of inspiration:

http://www.bluecoatdisplaycentre.com/

That’s it for our first post of the year!