The Award-Winning Tote Bags Are Now Available Online
Posted by Cass Art on 3rd Jun 2018
If you've ever seen a wonderfully bright tote bag in a London crowd, in a sea of viewers at an exhibition or crossing a busy UK high street, chances are it's one of our beloved Cass Art tote bags.
Branded with colour names and artworks that use that colour, the Cass Art tote bags have been around for seven years now, and we release new colours every year. But the big news is that our tote bags are now available online - for the first time ever!
SHARE YOUR LOVE OF COLOUR
We want to see your pictures of your Cass Art Tote Bags in action! Whether you're carrying your art supplies, flashing your favourite colour on holiday or doing something creative with your tote collection, share them with us on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #CassColour.
THE STORY
We've had Scarlet Lake, Permanent Mauve, Quinacridone Magenta and Payne's Grey; Ultramarine Blue and Orange Lake Deep; Olive Green, Linden Green and so many others. But it all began with the original 'Art in a Bag' tote, which launched in store in 2008, when Mark Cass, CEO and Founder of Cass Art, and Pentagram Designer Angus Hyland, got together to give customers a sustainable way of carrying their art supplies home.
"The original 'Art in a Bag' is what the Cass Art tote bag is all about!" says Mark. "The idea was that once you've bought the tools you're already carrying the art home, ready to create it."
"We're in the colour business"
Over the years Cass Art has released 14 different coloured tote bags, and an additional black 'Art in a Bag' tote for our 30th Anniversary. Emblazoned with the colour names, the back of the bags then refer to the names of paintings that use that colour - for example, Ultra Marine blue was used in Kenneth Noland's Beyond.
This was to reinforce a palette that great artists have used throughout history - to remind us of our love of original paint colours.
"This is Cass Art's own frame of reference and we wanted to highlight the colours that Picasso and Lichtenstein had used," says Mark. "We're not just in the world of graphics, but fashion - and we wanted to remind customers that at the heart of everything we're in the colour business."
Mark and Angus had originally considered having just the artist's name on the bag, "but we wanted to flip it on its head and highlight the names of the pictures", says Mark. "Artists often obsess about the name as part of the creative process - and championing the art itself acknowledges this as part of the process alongside the use of the colour."
The Cass Art tote bags were awarded the 'Wood Pencil' award in 2010 by D&AD, the equivalent of a Bronze award and celebrating the finest creative work in the world.
Feeling inspired?
See all of Pentagram's design work for Cass Art on their website.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and tag us @CassArt when you upload your Cass Art bag photographs. Remember to use the hashtag #CassColour.
