February Review

I always mean to write a monthly review but for one reason or another I never get round to it - however February was a great month creatively so I’m excited to share some thoughts around what I achieved (as well as looking ahead to announcements for March).

Although I failed to complete Melanie’s Johnsson’s Pattern Challenge, I always love dipping in and out of it and produced some of my favourite patterns ever (for the few prompts I did!). I love discovering new surface pattern designers through this challenge and seeing some amazing designs. I’ve also had some success licensing patterns I’ve shared in Melanie’s previous challenges so that’s also another good reason to take part!

I decided not to follow a specific colour palette for this one (to be honest I rarely stick to colour palettes in my work - my choices always tend to be more random) but I did try to keep a dreamy and ethereal feel to all the patterns, using texture and some fine details. My favourite pattern from the challenge has to be TAROT (pictured above) - it’s the longest time I’ve ever spent on a pattern and I drew lots of motifs I’ve never attempted before too.

Continuing on the theme of pattern design, I also licensed some patterns for an Apple Arcade game! This is definitely a new end-product for my designs and something I would never have considered a typical destination for surface design. I am forever in awe of the countless surfaces and products that illustration can end up on - the possibilities really are endless :)

Another collaboration also launched in February which was a recycled shopping bag with the amazing Loqi. I had so much fun designing this! I love that I chose a dark background too - not something I usually go for but I think it really makes the colours on the illustration pop even more. What’s additionally so exciting about this collaboration is the bag is available to purchase from my store!

A platform I threw myself into in February was Patterned.com - a surface pattern design site where you can build a portfolio of pattern designs and full collections. It’s a great way to connect with other designers but also an aesthetically pleasing space to showcase your work (you can add all your personal links to your page so viewers can find your work elsewhere as well). So far I’m really loving it, plus it has many exciting new features coming soon.

One feature is the ability to add secondary images to your patterns - such as mockups and illustrations. So the image below is a collection I put together within the collections tab, and the images can be moved around to create something like this - or however you want it to look.

So that’s it for my February review - I will be back shortly to share the launch of two exciting collaborations and I can’t wait to tell you all about them! So be on the lookout for news dropping soon :)