Tigerprint

Caroline Pratt

© Caroline Pratt

© Caroline Pratt

© Caroline Pratt

Caroline Pratt is a printmaker and surface pattern designer based in lovely Leeds. Caroline describes the inspiration behind her work as 'inspired by everything from English eccentricities to 1950’s textiles and contemporary illustration'.

Caroline's extensive experience of print mediums alongside collage, drawing and digital manipulation makes for a very versatile portfolio of work. Above are just a few examples of my faves but do check out Caroline's website and blog for more beautiful prints and patterns.

Caroline was very kind to tell us a little more about her work.

What three to five words would you use to describe your work?
Clean and unfussy with fun colours and cute illustrations (ok, so a few more than 5!)

What inspires you?
I take constant inspiration from everywhere; I collect books, magazine cuttings and packaging that inspire me, be it styles or colour palettes so I have lots of boxes and bookshelves full of beautiful images if I'm every experiencing a creative drought! Nature has always been a strong point of reference in my work, especially wildlife as I’m a complete animal lover so trips to the great outdoors always gets my brain in a bit of a spin. Friends, music and my love of junk shop rummaging always provide a good idea or two as well.

When/how did you know you wanted a career in art?
I have always had a passion for all sorts of beautifully printed and designed images from ceramics, to gift wrap, to illustrations and so by the time I graduated from University I was hooked on producing my own printed goods, the more processes I learnt the more I loved it and I knew from then that if I could make money from it too I’d be a very happy girl!

Design books/blogs you can’t live without
Gosh, there are so many; my bookshelf heaves, at the minute I keep flicking through Mike Perry’s Books ‘Over & Over’ and ‘Hand Job’, both of them are simply lovely.
I have lots of daily blog reads; Julia Pott and Amy Blackwell are two of my favourite illustrators so I like to keep up to date with what they’re up to. Print & Pattern  and Design Sponge are great for a general overview on what’s going on in the world and keep me up to date with trends and the like.  

What’s next?
Keep refining my style, producing loads of new work and getting it ‘out there’. I’ve got a few exhibitions in the pipeline and, with a bit of luck, am hoping to do some more freelance projects this year too.

What mediums do you work with?

Printmaking is my first love, screen print or lino mainly, I can get rather giddy over a pile of nice paper and some pots of ink. A very close second, and usually the starting point for my prints, is the humble fine liner and a sketchbook, I can keep myself amused for hours!  

P.S check out Caroline's shop on Etsy

The Indigo Bunting

© Erin Jang

© Erin Jang

Erin Jang is the author behind The IndigoBunting a graphic designer and illustrator based in New York.

As well as designing for Esquire magazine, Erin creates wonderful invitations (as shown above) posters and many other forms of design work you may require.

Make sure you check out Erin's blog and flickr.

Chantal Renn - Illustrator

© Chantal Renn

© Chantal Renn

© Chantal Renn 

Chantal was a runner up in the recent Spring Floral Illustration Competition and is a freelance illustrator based in London. Above are just a few of my favourites picked from Chantal's portfolio, i really love the colours which compliment the style really well.

Here is a little run down about Chantal and her design work.

How would you describe your work?

I would describe my work as fun, considered, colourful and a little quirky!

What inspires you?

So many things inspire me, from 1950's animation to antique furniture to my love of baking!

How did you get into a career in design?

I did work experience with an illustrator when I was at school and this was the first time I began to really see illustration as a career I could aim for which I would be passionate about.

Design books/blogs you can’t live without.

Some illustration and design books I absolutely love are 'Play Pen: New Children's Book Illustration', 'All Wrapped Up: Groovy Gift Wrap of the 1960's and 'Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation'.

What’s next?

I'm currently illustrating a children's book, which will be published in the coming months and after that hopefully more illustration!

What mediums do you work with?

My children's book work is mainly hand-painted using gouache or acrylics and sometimes manipulated on the computer, and my design work usually consists of hand-drawn or painted elements worked up in photoshop.

For me, For you

© For me, For you

For me, For you is a blog choc full of 'inspiration, coveting, loving, dreaming, and rambling' carefully cultivated by Kate Miss. The story behind the blog is particularly sweet as it was set up as a place for friends living a distance away from each other to share inspiring finds etc and grew from there.

As well as the blog Kate has a shop where you can purchase her jewelry and prints here.

Enjoy!

Rebecca Ward

© Rebecca Ward

© Rebecca Ward

© Rebecca Ward

Recently i happened upon the work of Rebecca Ward which i find fascinating to look at. The lines and colours have so much rythym it would be great to visit one of the installations in person.

Rebecca says of her work:

"My installations are site-specific works dependent upon the space they occupy. Utilizing existing lines, beams, and angles, each piece I create is informed by the individual site and its unique linear movement. Thus, my installations are inherently architectural. I choose patterns and shapes according to detailed measurements of the installation site. Ideally these patterns are numerically symmetrical or somehow numerically balanced, producing a dialogue between line and space. I initially began working with tape because of the broad range of colors in which it is available... This creates an illusionary space, a perceptual play of pattern, color, light, and texture that is realized by the viewer’s experience of, and interaction with the work".

Spring Surface Pattern - Winner Announced

By Silke

This was such a lovely competition and we are guessing you guys enjoyed it just as much from the staggering amount of entries we had.

The judging is now over, although it was a long and hard task it was a real pleasure looking at everyones entries. It is really evident how many of you answered the brief  and submitted designs with very sophisticated colour palettes and placement of florals and geo-metrics etc. A huge amount of the entries were commercially viable so we will keep a hold of your contact details for any potential designs we may wish to purchase in the future.

The winning entry, shown above is by Silke and was selected as the judges loved the use of texture within the design. In addition the placement was great and the colour palette was fresh and appealing. Overall the design is very commercial with a quirky twist. Really nice mix of graphic and linear work, congratulations Silke!

Below are the runners up:

By Hilbooboo

A beautiful spring palette which also reminded the judges of a vintage textile piece that you may be lucky enough to stumble across. A really lovely design which could be applied across a variety of products. Well done!

By Caro

A very commercial design with a fresh and fun colour palette which would suit a number of products. Well done Caro.

By Chantal

Chantal, this is a lovely twist on the spring colour palette and injects lots of fun into the design. Great use of placement and scale which makes the design very commercial. Great work!

By Hilbooboo

The judges never see the entrants details when judging so well done Hilbooboo as they selected another of your designs as a runner up.

This is a stunning illustrative style and brings florals bang up to date with the use of a very sophisticated colour palette. Like all our runners up this design is very commercial and could be applied to cards and wrap etc. Lovely work!

Congratulations to our winner and runner up and a huge thank you to everyone for submitting your work we do hope you enjoyed it.

The next competition has already launched, Love Typography so after sunday you should all be full of inspiration and i expect you are all busy working away.

New Competition Launched!

New competition launched - Love Typography!

Check it out now and don't forget to check out what we have been designing over at M&S Personalised Cards.

Spring Surface Pattern - Last day for entries

Today is the last day for entering the Spring Surface Pattern Competition. Many thanks to everyone who has entered so far and good luck!

Two Brunettes

© Two Brunettes

© Two Brunettes

© Two Brunettes

Two Brunettes is a wonderful shop full of goodies and a great design blog featuring lots of fab and inspiring finds. Even more wonderful is that you can buy these goodies from the Two Brunettes shop, check it out and spoil yourself rotten!

Gemma Luker Illustration

© Gemma Luker

© Gemma Luker

Gemma was a recent runner up in our Beautiful Traditional Card Competition and she has a wonderful portfolio of work which you can check out here as well as her blog.

Gemma very kindly agreed for her work to be shown and also answered a few questions about her work. 

What three to five words would you use to describe your work?
Traditionally modern with a quirky edge!

What inspires you?
Sounds cliché but anything and everything. I take note of everything around me, and it is often the most random of things that I will remember and put to good use for an idea at a later date. I find other people inspire me greatly as well, from other artists, illustrators and musicians (who I watch and learn from in order to better my work) to the people I love, my friends and family often helping me with their wittiness when I'm in need of inspiration!

What was your first job?
Not so much job as experience of a live brief, working with a client and being paid for the end result, my ‘first’ job was while I was studying for my A level in art. Before unleashing my love of collage I was primarily an oil painter, and myself and several other students where approached by the Dulwich Picture Gallery to do a show based on the gallery itself. We spent time in the gallery, sketching, making images and meeting with the many people involved in such a historic place. It accumulated in an exhibition of our work after a month working with them, which was so successful that despite its initial proposed run of 2 weeks, was extended for a further month. Although we were not paid for this collaboration (as we also used the work towards our A Level), the work was highly rated, with many of us receiving offers from people to buy the work, as well as Dulwich purchasing some themselves. Not bad for a months work!


When/how did you know you wanted a career in art?
I think the turning point came with that exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Seeing such a positive response to my work made me realise that doing something I loved, and having others love the work too, made me realise that it was possible to have the best of both worlds. Being paid to do something you love is what anyone truly wants!

Design books/blogs you can’t live without
Before leaving university, I found reading ‘How to be an Illustrator’ by Darrel Rees an invaluable help for the business side of becoming an illustrator, which is often missed out or covered briefly during studying. It gives great advice for how to get yourself noticed once you have left the comfort of your uni studio, how to deal with clients and the horror stories to avoid. A bible for any illustrator!

Since leaving university I've become a big fan of blogging, finding many new artists everyday to add to my blogger list! There's so many I couldn’t name them all! I find keeping up to date with other artists work processes, successes and thoughts a great source of inspiration. Its also a great way for keeping up to date with news in the creative world, for example job offers, submissions, new publications and such.
However if I have to name a few, then I’m a big fan of Jayme McGowan’s blog, her work is amazing! She makes 3D images as well, and documents her work process on her blog.
I’m also a fan of Lynne Chapman’s blog. She is a children’s book illustrator, who also gives talks and workshops, but her blog is invaluable for information about the working world, as she talks about dealing with book publishers and clients.

What mediums do you work with?
Paper mostly! I have an unhealthy (according to my mum!) obsession with the stuff, be it patterned, textured or coloured, or even ‘used’ paper such as receipts or newspaper, I find a use for almost anything! I also use photography in my work, as well as ‘real’ objects sometimes, such as the odd button or a piece of string, whatever my image may require at the time, to add the depth and atmosphere I am becoming known for when I'm 3D layering certain images.
I also use paint when I'm in the stencil mood, though I often incorporate paper into the image somehow!

What’s next?
Hard work! I'm enjoying being able to work on various projects of my choosing and enjoying the direction my work is taking, so expanding my portfolio is a continuous must. I am also currently working on pieces for an exhibition that I am planning as part of a collective, which we aim to put on in the next few months, as part of the ‘Pop-Up Gallery’ Initiative. Entitled ‘Homage’, each of us (8 in total) is paying tribute to a handpicked topic, mine being ‘Childhood’.
I’m also hoping to take on an Internship, to experience the workings of a busy, creative environment, as well as taking on any freelance work available!