Alabasta design on Instagram

Now there is another place to see my inspiration, surroundings and Alabasta products in situ and that's my Instagram page. It's a visual diary of snapshots taken when I'm at home and out and about of things that make me tick as a designer. Mixed in with that will be Alabasta products seen in shop displays and in use every day in my home, showing how they can brighten up the dullest environment. When I've been doing this for a while you will see some consistency in the subjects I photograph - I am especially interested in linear pattern and interesting colour combinations, and I do love a fancy font. Everything around can inspire and trigger off ideas - it's never healthy to work in an insular bubble!

Alabasta on Instagram

 Feel free to follow me on Instagram to see the images as they are uploaded - my user name is @alabasta_design

Inspiration: Cuba

I've just spent the last two weeks in Cuba and the island is jam packed full of visual inspiration. Havana is a striking city in all its faded glory - intricate ironwork, crumbling walls and repainted ancient American cars from the 1950s are everywhere. We took the local bus down to Trinidad, the UNESCO World Heritage town on Cuba's south coast and that's also very photogenic whichever way you turn - colourful houses on cobbled streets and a slower pace of life:

vintage match boxes in a Havana street market

Old Havana

Poinsettia tree. Much better than in a sad old pot at Christmas

All photos by Asta Barrington

I do like these confidently coloured houses - Burano in the Venetian lagoon and Oaxaca in Mexico are two other kaleidoscopic examples of this that I just love.

It's a bit of a shock to be back in cold grey England.