Bringing Nature Into the Design Process

I’ve always been a color photographer.

I’m drawn to light shining through trees, the way sparkles bounce off moving water, the bright confidence of flowers in bloom, and the deep, layered colors that show up in fall. Even greens aren’t just green to me—there are so many variations, especially when a new fern leaf starts to unfurl and fill out.

For me, it’s always been about texture and color. That’s why I love the macro world so much. When you get close, you start to see things that disappear at a distance—the quiet shifts, the subtle contrasts, the details that make a place feel alive.

At some point, I started wondering how I could bring that part of nature—the part I love photographing—into my design process in a more intentional way.

That question is what led me to Sarah Renee Clark and her color cubes. (If you haven't seen her color cubes, you owe it to yourself to check them out). I was drawn to the idea of using color as a tangible reference point, something physical that helps you stay connected to what you’re seeing and feeling instead of just picking colors on a screen.

After working with those, I realized what I really wanted was something rooted in my own experience. I wanted to capture not just color combinations, but the place—where I was standing, what the light looked like, what caught my eye in that moment.

So I began creating my own palette cards using my photography.

These weren’t meant to be products. They weren’t created to sell or distribute. They were simply a way for me to document what I saw and felt in a specific location and bring that awareness into my design work. Each palette is tied to a moment—a stretch of trail, a riverbank, a quiet stand of trees—and reflects the colors that showed up naturally there.

This became part of my process: photographing first, observing closely, and then translating that experience into color before moving into design. It helps me stay grounded in the source instead of drifting away from it.

For me, color isn’t separate from place. It’s memory, light, texture, and timing—all working together. These palette studies are just one way I keep that connection alive as I move from photography into pattern and design.