Artist spreads splash of colour across Britain

"It’s such a really simple piece of design."

That design has enabled Birmingham artist Stacey Barnfield to spread his love of colour and typography across the country and beyond.

The Colour Palette Company began in the city a few years ago in lockdown, with the idea that a panel of colours could be designed to represent the area.

Three years later, and more than 50 have been created as pieces of wall art, mugs, bags - and even large-format installations.

Stacey Barnfield's Birmingham colour palette is at Grand Central, above Birmingham New Street Station. The Colour Palette Company was created after a tweet went viral in January 2021 during lockdown

The idea for connecting nostalgic colours to towns and cities came to the artist when he was looking online at old Birmingham buses, and their familiar cream and blue livery

"It was very much intended to match those paint swatches you get from a DIY store," said Mr Barnfield.

"It’s intended to match that, but with a difference where each of the colours has a local reference on there."

After his Birmingham colour palette won much online love, he was inundated with requests from people wanting something similar where they lived.

"What I’ve always tried to do and encourage is to have local references that are lesser known, that aren’t the obvious touristy-type landmarks.

"So for example on the Birmingham one, it’s got Mr Egg yellow. And I think you’ve got to be a certain age to get that... it’s a late-night café that people staggered into after the clubs."

The National Museums Liverpool colour palette mug was specially commissioned to stock in the city’s museums

The Suffolk Colour Palette is on show at The Hold in Ipswich, the home of Suffolk Archives

One of the artist's favourite palettes is Northumberland. "This lovely gradient of greens and earthy colours that reflects the area very much. A rugged landscape feel to it"

New colour palettes are often created in partnership with local people.

"How it’s evolved is, if I’m working with a local council, we ask the people from the area what they think should go on there," said Mr Barnfield.

"And I love that, for me that’s the best part of how this has progressed is to absolutely get the buy-in of the community with their ideas.

"I am blown away, genuinely, especially when I see one of the colour palettes made for large format at a railway station or shopping centre.

"I love seeing people stopping, taking a look and learning a bit more about an area."

The colour palettes are not confined to the UK, as the artist is a big fan of Italy

A slice of the Big Apple was created with a New York colour palette

The success of The Colour Palette Company has taken its creator by surprise.

"Never in a million years did I think it was going to become what it has," he said.

"And I think that’s been quite nice in many ways because I didn’t have a commercial plan for this.

"There was no strategy for this – it was just me playing around with things on my laptop at home."

Bristol's association with a legend of British aviation history, and Clifton suspension bridge builder Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is reflected in the city's colour palette

The home of Robin Hood has a starring role on Nottingham's colour palette

The Sheffield colour palette points towards snooker at the Crucible Theatre and rock band Arctic Monkeys

London's colour palette features the city's world-famous buses and taxis

Below London's streets, some colour coding was already in existence thanks to the London Underground tube map

Earlier in April, a colour palette was unveiled at Rugby Railway Station in Warwickshire

A similar colour palette installation exists at Leamington Spa Railway Station