Wednesday 27 April 2011

Speaking from Experience: Surface Pattern Design.


Research application of design onto textiles, fabrics and all other arrays of surfaces. Particularly looking at repeating pattern, a particular interest of mine, and to see how my illustrative or vector-based designs could be applied to other materials than paper stock, or being web-based...

Cath Kidston- perhaps one of the most famous surface pattern designers of modern day, her floral, decorative and romantic kitsch prints have great mainstream appeal, having a classic, elegant, farm-house charm whilst being affordable and accesible.

Kidston's work shows great versatility on a variety of different surfaces and fabrics- from dressing gowns to teacups, her designs translate well in many different forms.
The patterns I like the most from her collections are the ones for children- often the most playful and charismatic- filled with characters and dreamy images- aeroplanes, cowboys and indians- the sort of design that I want to create, with a particular interest in design for the young.

If I decided to follow this route of surface pattern design for a final piece, I would definately observe her work more and see the styles she uses for repition, image, colour scheme, etc.


Paperchase is one of my favourite stationers- producing a variety of beautifully and creatively designed stationary, cards, gift wrap and home items- often with running patterns throughout a select range.
Paperchase show great versatility in their designs- bringing in various designers to produce a range of styles that would suit, or please a very wide variety of people. 
What I like most about the designs for Paperchase is that the shape and form always seems quite "random" with the illustrations- it would be really good to practice this spontenuity in my design and to let myself go and stop worrying about griding all the time.
More examples of design work from one of my favourite illustrators, Berlin-based Gemma Correll. With a great array of work available online, I always find it difficult to choose a favourite style- but I really love her pattern work- a cluttered, repeated styly which is jam-packed with detail to maintain interest and find something new in the image everytime you look.
I think this style would work really well from one of my concepts, printing tips for how to cope with a lack of sleep onto a bedsheet or duvet cover set- plus, it would give me the oppurtunity to expand and practice more techniques and methods of delivery by either screenprinting or digital textiles printing.

 Irish-born, London-based surface pattern designer, Orla Kiely has been a favourite designer of mine for around five or six years now- since I first discovered her in a copy of Elle magazine in a featured article.
Mainly working with textiles, Kiely was awarded a masters degree from the Royal College of Art, whereupon she became hugely successful after Harrods purchased a selection of her hats from her final exhibition. 

I really love Kiely's distinctive pear and stem styles (for which she is most famous) and the 1960's influence within her range and portfolio...again, like Cath Kidston, her work being so desirable because of it's retro/vintage influence at a reasonably affordable price, and with easy accesibility. 

I really love her repeat grid-pattern design, but would perhaps want a little more variation in my designs- making my images more spontaneous and different, but still maintaining a restricted amount of colours used- for affordability and aesthetic purposes.

I found this duvet design a little while ago on the website www.notonthehighstreet.com 

a really fun, playful design which allows you to doodle on your duvet with fabric pens which fades out when put in the washing machine.
A great interactive design which could appeal to both children and adults with a childlike dooling tendancy!
This could quite easily be re-created, though I think for my designs I would like to make something a little more permanent- perhaps a permananent design with wash-out additions to be made.

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