Wallpaper Project

After many hours of drawing and frustration with my lack of intuitive knowledge of Photoshop I've finally completed the project!
My initial intention was to challenge myself and design a children's wallpaper collection using strong colour rather than my preference for monotone. I think this was quite successful although some people questioned the collection in that it contained four very different designs that initially seemed quite disparate. I think my final designs were quite cohesive with theme - rock-pools/sea life providing the thread linking strongly with my original drawings. Below are images of my final presentation - room was limited and not the most inspiring of settings but I managed to give a flavour of the designs and further development ideas.

As this was a live brief and competition I had to give a presentation to Kate Usher who was to be the final judge.

Much to my surprise I was chosen as winner and was given a cash prize (the first money earned from a design) and more importantly a chance to work alongside Kate as she develops more of her designs - should be a great opportunity to learn lots!

Late Show - Northern Print

The Late Shows is a free cultural event based around Newcastle and Gateshead with many popular venues normally closed in the evenings opening their doors after hours on a Friday and Saturday night. It's a really popular event with free busses taking people between venues.

I volunteered at Northern Print where the theme was based on the Olympic Flame and visitors were encouraged to participate in a Flaming Print event and be part of a round the world printing challenge involving eight international print workshops. You can find a link to a video here

The studio was in full swing with printmakers demonstrating all the different print presses

happy friday - design randomness

here is an interesting insight into printed fabric production from one of my favourite companies Marimekko from Finland.  I like their simple dramatic designs and use of colour.

It's some time since I visited the Nora Fok exhibition at the Shipley Museum but her work is so beautiful that I've found this short clip where she talks about her inspiration. Good to revisit, especially when inspiration is lacking...
I really like the fact that while her work is important it is not complete without the wearer, something to bear in mind for the future.

creating a wallpaper for children has made me think about all things child related, here are some fantastic wooden toys - makes you wonder if they really are for children or whether adults are really the target as their design is so sophisticated!

happy friday - randomness

New goal - to try and post more regularly and perhaps try a weekly happy friday post of randomness 

Today I have found three short videos that just inspired me.

beautiful images of some highly skilled craftsmen

Huguette Caland is a Lebanese artist whose work is a fantastic combination of line and colour which is very suggestive of textile decoration. She has a great outlook on life and this this video is about how she sees enjoying life as an important part of her daily routine and how she approaches her work.

Olafur Arnalds Ljosio - lovely music with an interesting way to look at colour