It all began with a bus.
Not just any bus, though. I was casually scrolling through Google Images one evening, searching for photos of the old West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) buses – those beautiful, noisy vehicles many Brummies of a certain age will remember. It was a trip down memory lane. I started by looking for inspiration for a sketch for my Draw My City artworks (see below). But I just ended up indulging in a quiet moment of nostalgia.
Then I saw it. That rich navy blue and cream livery. It was nothing flashy but it stopped me in my tracks. The colours triggered something – a warm, familiar feeling. I remembered standing at the bus stop as a kid, clutching my travelcard and school bag.
I remembered trips into town, peeking out from behind the top deck window. That bus wasn’t just a bus. It was a part of my story and those colours, now so vivid again, were woven into it.
And then it hit me: every city, every town, every person, really, has colours that mean something to them. Colours that evoke memory and emotion, like the number 11 bus, or a trip to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, the Bull Ring or Rackham’s (had to be a special occasion for a visit to Rackham’s!)
Why shouldn’t those colours be celebrated?
That single thought became the seed of The Colour Palette Company.
It began during lockdown, when life felt frozen and eerily quiet. We were all confined to our homes, and suddenly, the things we usually overlooked became intensely vivid in our memories. I realised that we don’t just miss people during times like that, we miss places, routines, and details we didn’t even know mattered.
At first, it was a social media post. I started collecting colour ideas based on things I’d grown up with or remembered fondly. Places, events, smells and sights. I’d mix them digitally and label them not with standard colour codes, but with the names of those moments: “Mr Egg Yellow,” “Jewellery Quarter Gold” and “Sabbath Black.”
Suddenly, colour became more than design, it became story.
I made the first few palettes for Birmingham. The city has such a distinct visual and emotional identity. And I noticed that when people saw the palettes, they didn’t just say “that’s nice.” They told stories. These weren’t just colours, they were emotional triggers.
From there, things grew faster than I ever imagined.
What began as a small side project turned into a growing company with a loyal following. With a bit of help from friends who know the areas well, I started building colour palettes for other cities across the country: Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Sheffield and more.
There’s something powerful about collective memory, and colour captures it beautifully. We live in a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming, fast, and disconnected. What I think people love about The Colour Palette Company is that it gives them permission to pause and reflect and to look at something as simple as a swatch of colour and be transported instantly to a moment that made them who they are.
The beauty of it is in the simplicity. These palettes aren’t complicated designs or high-concept art. They’re celebrations of the everyday.
Looking back, it’s funny to think it all started with a Google search and a bus. But that’s the thing with memory, it catches you off guard. One moment you’re looking at an old photo, and the next, you’re dreaming up an entire creative venture.
The WMPTE bus still appears in our Birmingham collection, of course. “Old Bus Cream” now sits proudly alongside dozens of other Brummie-inspired colours. But to me, those two will always mean something more.
The beginning of a palette that’s now painted across the country.