#surface pattern

How are Innovative ideas born?

If I were to say to you, go ahead mix up red and blue, florals and geometrics, retro and vintage and it will all come together, would you relish the challenge?

Whilst designing this Red Teasel collection ( which also has hints of cool blue hues to offset to rich warm tones) I wanted to break away from an obvious genre and create something completely unique.

Retro, vintage, contemporary, edgy, classic, I love them all, and selecting one kind would be like taking a sibling away from its family. I found the solution is to try mixing up patterns in a way that would be harmonious and make a room feel complete. The pictures below show a use of delicate branch patterns put together with bold abstract teasels arranged in a retro style geometric pattern. The contemporary vivid colour palette punctuated with pops of neutral browns and whites is the thread that  holds the collection together.

My message is to be positive about mixing things styles and genres and see what happens.

Innovative ideas are born when we persistently question what if?

 

 

Surface Pattern Inspiration: Urban Photography in NYC

Urban pattern inspiration from a trip to NYC last spring. 

 Juxtaposed shapes to play with.

Tonal greys highlighted with with a shot of bright yellow.

 Repeating patterns with subtle changes in scale and form.

Free flowing branches soften bold hard edges.

Perspective guided by thick and fine lines.

 Glass reflecting light and shadow highlighting contrasts.

 

 

Is Drawing a design detective?

Inspiration can be hard to find when you actively set out to go and find it. Have you ever experienced seeing an everyday object in a completely new way? Well that happened to me this morning and instead of thinking “well that’s nice” I picked up a pen and sketchbook and began to draw…

As I started to wash up in the kitchen this morning, the stopper on the soap bottle caught my eye.  I noticed a beautiful textural pattern. I began to draw the linear texture. The drawing process unveiled  why it caught my eye. Whilst drawing I noticed how the texture was sometimes linear, sometimes pointed at the end or curved. The lines varied in thickness and length, the rhythms were craftily interrupted by delicate shafts of light. This stopper holds a wealth of inspiration for a whole series of new geometric patterns. My designs are created using photography, but aided by drawing. Drawing unveils the inspiration on how to create exciting patterns.

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Edge of the Meadow & Contrado

 

 Customers asked to see our designs on a variety of products, so we are really proud to announce the launch of our new online store with Contrado  

London based Contrado, are a company that custom print and make high quality products on demand. Recently they came up with a fantastic idea, to create a platform for hand picked artists and designers to print their work onto a huge range of beautiful hand made products. Artists can focus on creating designs and artwork, whilst Contrado take care of production and distribution. Surely this is teamwork at it’s most efficient and a pragmatic approach to design and retail.

All products are made in the UK and most are ready in 1-2 days

Browse through our new collection here!

Surface Pattern Inspiration

 

Neutral tones, rich texture and organic shapes.

I almost set off without a camera in the pouring rain but look at what a wet woodland walk can offer by way of inspiration for designers, artists and photographers!

Wet-Woodland-Walk-Blog-

 

 

 

Northern Seaside Inspiration

A selection of pics from my summer holiday in Northumberland.

I love….

The randomness of spacing in little barnacles,

Springy matt clusters of moss on slippery rock surfaces,

Barnacle-moss Barnacles-2015

Bright fishing gear against the dark North Sea,

Lobster-pots pink-Buoys

Enticing rock pools in clear crisp light,

Rock-pools

Seals whiskers at the Farne Islands!

Seals-2015

The strength of a silhouette against  a raging sky,

Sunset-

 Elements making their mark on rock surfaces.

Wave Rocks

Art Deco Patterns

Art Deco Pattern Inspiration from The Imperial Hotel Prague.

Art Deco Style

Art Deco Style

Criss crossing lines and clean colourful geometric shapes make striking patterns in both colour and shades of grey ( see Prague trams below )When it comes to creating new colourways, the golds, deep teals and neutrals in this nostalgic colour palette may sit well next to Pantone’s  colour of the year Marsala. I would be tempted to add some bright accents in there too!

Art Deco Rako Floor Tiles

Art Deco  Floor Tiles at the Imperial Hotel Prague

Prague-Board-pattern

Clean elegant lines and shapes on the floor tiles and windows from almost 100 years ago!

Prague Trams

Prague Trams