Progress

Happy Monday! 
I’m doing a little progress update for today’s blog - I’m away at the moment and have very little internet access - so apologies if you have sent me anything and haven’t yet received a reply. I am working through things when I can. I’ve also become aware that some people are having trouble sending submissions to my ilovepattern@yahoo.co.uk address. If you are having problems, please try my alternative address: frankielovespatterb@gmail.com

Last week was quite a short week - I packed and started my journey on Wednesday and then once I’d arrived on Thursday have had lots of lovely things to do so have not done too much work since then. The week started off really well though, I had been shortlisted for the Tigerprint February competition - I had two designs in the top 68 and whilst I didn’t win or make the runners up, I have been invited to submit work for their Designer’s Spotlight on the Tigerprint blog which I am really happy about. I’m aiming to take part in every Tigerprint competition this year as I’ve mentioned before because as a new designer I think it’s a fantastic way to broaden my portfolio and hone my skills. So, this weekend I’ve been having a look at which designs I might choose for the blog feature.

On Tuesday evening I was browsing the Skillshare website (I really like their courses) and I came across a course by Jenna Frye called Intro to Surface Pattern Design: Creating and Mixing Patterns. I’m just mentioning the course briefly here but will do a proper review of it soon. I was so taken with the course that I watched every lesson back to back! There’s some fantastic tips for using colour which I can’t wait to try out. I really do recommend it if you want a bit more theory under your belt - I’ve been stuck with a couple of collections and I think I’ve found out why now, thanks to this course. I’m also very much looking forward to revamping my blog with the help of Jo Klima’s blog design course The Darling Tree and will post a review of this course too.

My latest project is a collaboration with Postcards for Peace. I’ve already produced one postcard for the organisation and am really looking forward to doing more work with Martin Rowsell, the founder. I’ll be telling more about this soon. I’ve also started thinking about my next collection and have posted a Pinterest board for March. And, of course, I will be working on my designs for the Tigerprint ‘Black and White’ competition which is currently open for submissions. 

Good luck to everyone who has submitted to the ABSPD testimonial competition - I believe the winner will be announced today. The winners of the Print & Pattern scholarship were announced last week and the standard was phenomenal. There are so many wonderfully artistic and skilled designers out there - it’s just so inspiring to see such diverse and exciting work.

Have a lovely day,

Frankie x