Kate and Andy Spade may have quietly exited their roles as creative director and CEO of the company that they (and then majority owner Neiman Marcus) sold to Liz Claiborne for $124 million in 2006, but their distinctive sense of whimsy and fondness for punchy brights lives on. We recently spotted this bold, spring-y display in the windows of the Kate Spade store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with a backdrop of giant paint chips that feature hues with names like "blueberry pie," "pink champagne," and "emerald city."

On display are the label's "coal bags," printed with a degraded color version of the "Noel" mark, which was developed in 1999 as a companion to the original "Kate Spade New York" logo. According to the company, designer Michael Ian Kaye created the Noel mark in the spirit of a monogram or Japanese hanko (signature seal). It was inspired by the work of Paul Rand and such symbols as the Kodak "K," the Dixie Cup flower, and Chanel's double C's. Look closely and you'll see how the shapes define the negative space of the letters "K" and "S," but from a distance, it reads like an Alexander Girard fabric. Why the moniker "Noel"? It's Kate Spade's middle name.