I LOVE PATTERN: Studio Tuesday #3 Tinker and Faff

Happy Studio Tuesday!

Today we are joined by the lovely Nik from Tinker & Faff - quite possibly one of my favourite names for a studio ever! Nik, was a runner up in the Ideal Home Wallpaper competition a couple of years ago, is a trained Graphic Designer and yet another proud graduate of the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design which really is helping great surface pattern designers bloom. Just as a side note, there's only tomorrow left to get your entries in for the ABSPD testimonial competition. The prize is your choice of one module on the course! Get designing!

A Sense of Seaside print

Nik's work has a really fresh, organic feel to it and I can see why Cornwall might be a dream design destination for her, there's definitely a coastal feel to things. Her work is also very playful too - 'The Book of Plans for World Domination' notebook really made me smile. I'd also like to thank Nik for reminding me of the iFontmaker app that you can buy for iPad - I've started using it again since we last spoke and I'm having fun with it.

So read on to find out more about Tinker and Faff and don't forget to email me at ilovepattern@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to be featured on the blog.

Fabric Buckets

Name/Company or Studio name:

Tinker & Faff (because that's exactly what I do – tinker with printing methods and faff about with what to print on to!!)

Location: Cheshire

Where and how did you start your surface pattern design journey?

I only started getting into surface pattern design in the last 2-3 years, just as the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course started on Do What You Love (perfectly timed!!) and it's grown from there really. I then tried a screen printing course and just fell in love with it, the mess, the trial and error and the eventual production of a piece of work you love.

Notebooks

How do you approach a project/piece of work or collection?

For ABSPD we had to put a lot of collections together – something that was VERY new to me, but then when I started thinking about it as a "brand" rather than a collection, I got it. I'm a graphic designer by trade, so tackle designing collections in rather the same way I'd tackle a brand design – getting into the nitty gritty of the collection – what it's about, what it's for and where it's going to be situated.

Favourite pencil/pen?

I don't have favourites – there's too many to choose from. It just depends what mood I'm in I guess somedays I like a bic biro, other days it's a Rotring 0.5 :)

Cornflowers Fabric Bucket

Sketchbook or loose leaf?

Oh loose leaf definitely – you never know where it'll lead to, although I do keep the loose leaf sheets in some sort of order.

How do you keep yourself on track/organised when working on a project?

At the moment I'm only working on self generated projects for the Tinker & Faff shop, so I set myself deadline dates and put them on the calendar – then once they're up on the calendar I HAVE to stick to the schedule – I'm a bit of a sucker for deadlines and to-do lists!!

What are your creature comforts in your studio/workspace?

My teapot for 1 and Minion Phil!!

Minion Phil!

Music, radio, stories or silence?

Again, it depends on my mood – it's usually the radio, but can be anything from Kerrang FM, Classic FM or Radio 5 Live!!

Night owl or early bird?

Hmmmmmm, I like being up and doing stuff first thing in the morning but it's usually a jog around the block or baking something, so work wise I'd say I'm better at night time! It would be good if we didn't have to sleep coz there's loads to do – but I do like my warm bed :)

Illustrator or Photoshop?

Illustrator every time, although the red-eye reduction tool on Photoshop is a saviour!!

What size art board do you design repeats on?

I do my repeats in a square, but no particular size. When I came runner up in the Ideal Home Wallpaper competition a couple of years ago they wanted repeats that were the width of a roll of wallpaper – then it was 50cm, so I just did the repeat 50 x 50.