Wednesday 11 December 2013

Friday 6 December 2013

Essential Surface Pattern Design Resources #1 ABSPD

This is the first in a series of posts regarding what I consider to be essential resources if you are starting out in surface pattern design. I'd like to share some of the things that I've found helpful. If you'd like to suggest any other resources, please leave me a comment, I'd love to hear what has helped you!

1. The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design - Online Course 


I have taken modules 1-3 of this course and can confidently say: it has changed my life. I've always loved pattern but I followed the Fine Art route when I went to university and always regretted it a little bit as I loved design - I didn't pick textiles though because I couldn't sew and didn't have a massive interest in fashion, not realising that these things were only aspects of studying textiles - it's about so much more. After doing a couple of bits of freelance graphic design work I decided that I would look for an online course and that's how I stumbled upon ABPSD and immediately realised it was the course for me. I took module 2 first because I couldn't wait to start and then took all 3 modules in succession when the course started again. It was a fantastic journey, both fun and challenging and it gave me the skills and confidence to believe that I really could have a go at doing something I love.


The course starts with basic motif design. Rachael really emphasises the importance of developing your own style and gave clear direction on how to work towards this. This is so important not just for the sake of integrity but also for personal satisfaction. There are some lovely drawing exercises to support this - I particularly liked the doodle wall - I obsessed over mine and it ended up being a great source of inspiration. 





The tutorials for Illustrator and Photoshop are easy to follow and I've used pretty much everything I learned in my personal work since. 


Business was covered with live briefs and essential business stationery design, technical information regarding print and production, live briefs and interviews with working surface pattern designers.


The course is fast paced but not overwhelming and the use of Flickr for sharing work provides a virtual common room where students can offer support to each other.


One piece of advice I would give is to try to commit to completing the course on time. Although access to the classroom remains open for months after, it's much more rewarding to complete with assignments alongside the other students - it can be quite lonely and difficult if you end up playing catch up. This happened to me in the middle of module 3 when I went on a family visit abroad. I was so distracted by wanting to know what the assignments were and wanting to work! 


At the end of the course the only things determining whether you are ready to embark on licensing and selling your patterns will be the quality and quantity of what you have in your portfolio. The course gives you all the necessary tools and advice but you will still need to put in the time to develop your portfolio to a professional standard,which might be particularly challenging if you have no previous experience of design before the course. I'm pleased to see the addition of module 4 which goes a long way towards tackling this issue. Upon completion of the course I knew I wasn't ready to publicly launch myself and needed time to develop my style and grow my portfolio. I was already in the groove of working every day on designs after the course so the transition to working independently was easy. Some people seemed to pick up work immediately after the course and had fab portfolios and lovely websites. Don't be put off if this happens, students are from a variety of backgrounds and some may have worked in the field already or be used to working freelance. I found this range of ability and experience inspiring rather than disheartening. The course gave me all the skills and knowledge I needed, I just needed to then go away and put in the time building my portfolio and developing my style which I've been doing since and feel I've really grown as a designer. 





ABSPD was a wonderful start to a marvellous journey of learning that continues to bring pleasure to my life. It's empowering and inspiring and delivers everything it promises and more!


You can find out more here


Thanks for reading,

Frankie x

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Monday 2 December 2013

Well hello there!


Well hello there! I've finally got myself a blog. I hope that (eventually) somebody somewhere will read it and find it interesting and maybe even inspiring... In the meantime, here's a bit about me...


I'm Frankie and I'm a designer with a desire to make you smile. A colour and pattern obsessive, you might say...

In a nutshell…
I love:
pattern
colour
great design
spreading happiness
beautiful, useful, quality products...

I also love:
cooking - I'm currently writing a recipe book!
eating - see above
music - I play the guitar sometimes
border collies - slightly obsessed with these lovely, clever creatures
socialising - I like REAL ale and proper pubs.
the pomodoro technique - GEEK!!! but yes, it works... I'm doing it right now
mindfulness - see above

Some of my business/design heroes....
Derek Sivers - a clever, generous and positive soul - founder of cdbaby amongst other things.
Jessica Swift - gorgeous patterns and paintings and a real inspiration
Bowie Style - Marie's Print and Pattern is my favourite blog. A wonderful, reliable resource - never fails to inspire.

More about me...
Many moons ago I got myself a degree in art that I didn't do very much with afterwards. I've always had a sneaking suspicion that I should have been doing surface pattern design or illustration all along but hey ho - it's been an interesting journey! I finally took the plunge and enrolled on THIS course which turned out to be a really good idea. If you're a fine arts graduate toying with the idea of doing an MA in surface pattern, The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design is a much better, value for money alternative that will actually teach you the business side of things instead of just how to swan around a studio space looking thoughtful. 

One of my reasons for starting this blog is to chart my progress as I set up my surface pattern business. I hope that through documenting my experiences I can help others who are on the same journey, perhaps interact with some other designers and maybe even make some new friends. It's a lonely lot, sitting in a studio all day!   

So that's me in a nutshell! I do hope somebody reads this one day! 
Bye for now,
Frankie x