Design Process

What Is Your Design Process?

When I start a new design collection it is usually from being inspired by photos I have taken of flowers. Once I have chosen a few images I then set up a private board on Pinterest and I pin these images plus additional photos to reference colours, textures, current trends and anything else that can be used for inspiration.  I then start by drawing some rough sketches on paper to capture the look and feel for the design and motifs.

When I have enough, I usually draw way more than I use, I scan the drawings and I start to digitize them in either Adobe Illustrator or on my IPad Pro depending on the look I want for the collection. Then it is time to add colour because I usually work entirely in black and white  until I have completed all the motifs and icons I think I will need for the collection. After I am happy with the colours it is time do to the layout and build the repeat pattern. If it is vector art I will use Adobe Illustrator for this and Photoshop for any painted  work.
 

The main hero pattern will shape the look and feel of the collection and it will dictate what other coordinating designs are needed to round out the collection. Sometimes I will design a placement illustration first and then work on repeat patterns. If I am designing for a particular product or market area I will keep in mind the scale, size, complexity and density of the repeat as well as the type of the repeat that would be appropriate.  

I also like to mix up my process, mediums and tools, so I will switch between drawing, working digitally and painting.  Taking breaks from being behind the computer and working more traditionally is not only good to give my eyes a break from the screen but is also very freeing and it allows me to experiment and just  to create without any set plan. This is when I make those happy mistakes and have those ah ha moments!

A love a good sketchbook with smooth pages, markers and pens in various sizes, gouache paints, Posca paint pens, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Draw, Photoshop and now my iPad Pro.  It literally took me half a year to get used to drawing on it and at the beginning I felt like I was skating on ice!

How Did You Start?

I have always had a love for fabrics, fashion and textiles since my early childhood and when I was growing up I wanted to be either a ballerina or fashion designer! 

I was always artistic and enjoyed making things and I had to fit this in between my hectic schedule of learning ballet 6 days a week before and after school. I really enjoyed pottery, sculpture, drawing, painting, copper art and even macramé and string art! I learned how to sew, knit, crotchet, do tapestry and embroidery from my mother and grandmother when I was young and I remember designing and sewing my first outfit when I was 9 years old. 

Since the mid 80’s I have been designing jewellery for our business and managing the admin, accounts and website and once my children were older I began to look for other things to do as an interest outside of running our business. My daughter, who had finished school, was now studying fashion design and she told me about a course I might like to study - Textile Design and Fabric Printing.  I had to produce a portfolio with drawings, painted artwork and designs for the application and I was really scared because this was something I had never done before! I waited anxiously for 8 weeks to see if I would be accepted into the course and had almost given up hope but then the letter came to say that I was accepted into the course 😃 

During this full time year of study I learned about Surface Pattern Design and I decided that this was what I wanted to do. Six years later and after taking numerous other courses I have worked to create an extensive portfolio of designs and illustration art which I will be exhibiting in New York at Blueprint, an independent Illustration and Print Show this May 20th - 22nd.