Friday 30 January 2015

Spotlight: Rachael Taylor

Hello,
Winding up this week's focus on layered prints and patterns I thought I would look at Rachael Taylor's wonderful work which features lots of layering of motifs and texture. You can purchase items featuring Rachael's designs from Deny or via her online shop. I LOVE these trays!

Wheel of Wonder available at DENY
Rachael Taylor is a designer well known for her quirky hand drawn style. Her motifs are playfully doodled and her patterns are bursting with colour. Layering seems to feature more and more in her recent work...

Motifs made up of lines (as opposed to the solid shapes I featured last week) work well when stacked up on top of each other for obvious reasons: they create interesting textures, nice areas of negative space and give a pattern a feeling of depth. The pattern above is made up of only one motif but it's a really nicely designed motif. It's delicate, irregular and interesting to look at - it is indeed a 'wheel of wonder'. So despite there only being one motif in the pattern, the considered way it has been handled means it doesn't look repetitive - there's rhythm without monotony. Rachael has recoloured, inverted, rotated, resized and then placed the motif in an interesting and exciting arrangement.

Festive Party tray available from DENY
Here's an example of Rachael layering simple coloured shapes under motifs to break up a solid background. Some of the line drawn motifs slightly overlap but for the most part they are just arranged on one layer with a little space between them. I imagine that layering such pretty and interesting motifs on top of each other would not allow them to shine individually. They're filled with pretty patterns and demand individual attention. Often with such motifs a designer might be inclined to arrange the motifs in a grid repeat or interlocking arrangement with equal space around each one. Instead Rachael has used circles and simple squiggles in different sizes and different shades of purple to add interest to a plain background and this also allows for the motifs to be placed in an informal and fun way. Using these simple flat shapes in the background gives a sense of depth and layering without it getting too busy. It's like they provide a little bit of rest for the eye without just leaving a gaping hole in the pattern, if you see what I mean.  It's also very lovely how these shapes show through the transparent motifs and soften the contrast between the very dark background and the very light coloured line work. I think this pattern shows off Rachael's understanding and experience of how to work with colour particularly well - it just seems such a clever thing to bridge the contrast gap.

Electric Stems tray available from DENY
Finally, here is an example of the two techniques combined to create a pretty placement print. Simple, solid shapes break up the background and there are some lovely doodled textures varying in colour and scale. The floral motif is repeated several times but treated differently each time so it doesn't look repetitive. Instead, the repetition of it makes for a cohesive design. Varying line weight and scale is a great way to use the same textures more than once in the same piece too and they serve to break up the solid pops of colour so that they don't overpower the piece.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at Rachael's work - I certainly have, there's so much to learn from looking at her work. You can find out more about Rachael at her website and as you will already know if your mad about pattern she runs the excellent Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course too. If you haven't taken the course, I thoroughly recommend it!

Thanks for reading!
Love
Frankie x


Wednesday 28 January 2015

Try It: Layered Pattern in Illustrator

The layered look is pretty simple to achieve in Photoshop, simply by drawing onto different layers or by scanning traditional work in and assigning it to different layers, playing with opacity and layer order. For me creating this kind of work feels much more intuitive in Photoshop than it does in Illustrator but my preference generally is to work in Illustrator. I just find it easier to move things around, recolour and stay organised. I end up with so many layers in Ps that I feel overwhelmed and I often end up abandoning work only to start again in Illustrator.

I have a few simple things I like to do when working in Illustrator to give my work more depth - I'm sure there are others and I'd love to hear from you if you wish to share yours!

I use opacity levels when placing shapes on top of each other. You can get some really pretty and subtle palettes working with opacity.




I use line work on top of blocks of colour - varying the weight of lines gives a sense of depth.


I love to use texture - created in Ai or scan in found/painted textures. I like to paint textures with black ink or paint and then live trace them and recolour.



Sometimes I feel my stubborn loyalty to Illustrator is a bit like cutting my nose of to spite my face. A lot of the qualities I strive to retain when taking work from traditional to digital are lost in Illustrator. I use Photoshop when it's absolutely necessary but I just seem to love the challenge of making things happen in Illustrator. I spent many years afraid of it and not understanding it (mostly a fear of the pen tool!) but now it's like a puzzle that I can't stop playing with!

Hope I've inspired you!

Frankie x

Monday 26 January 2015

Be Inspired: Deconstructed/Multi pattern/Multi Layer

This week, I'm looking at a style that I adore and am constantly striving to achieve in my own work.
Liberty
This 'deconstructed' look is made up a mishmash of patterns and motifs from a variety of styles, layered and blended to create an eclectic, relaxed feel. It reminds me of my art school days spent taking photographs of urban decay and layering canvases with collage and acrylic paint except it's more decorative. Here are some examples of this future and current trend. The example above is from Liberty's new fabric line inspired by Alice in Wonderland and is made up of check fabrics from their archives.

White Stuff

White Stuff are particularly good at this look, combining patterns of different styles and scales to create a unique design. Here's one of their gorgeous Christmas jumpers...
White Stuff

Here's another example from Peter Pilotto...

Peter Pilotto
Many gorgeous examples of this style can be found at Carpet Vista - I find these rugs so inspiring and  would love to own one!

Carpet Vista

Carpet Vista 
Carpet Vista

More about this style on Wednesday!
Love
Frankie x

Friday 23 January 2015

Spotlight: Jessica Nielsen

To round up this week's posts featuring graphic floral art, I thought I would focus on the work of Jessica Nielsen a surface pattern designed based in Rotterdam. Jessica's designs are bold and bright and inspired 'by subject and shapes from nature'.

This shell pattern looks like it was so much to fun to create...
I also like her limited use of colour. It helps to create a really striking design, allowing the shapes to take centre stage... Notice how although the motifs are very simple in their shapes and construction, there is still variety - it's not just a case of copy and pasting the same motif over and over again. The same idea has been executed several times and this gives a better sense of rhythm to the pattern. 


This quirky floral was commissioned by the Dutch store HEMA. Again notice that the motifs are the same yet different. Considered, well executed design. 
You can see even more of Jessica's work on Pinterest and on her website or why not visit her Etsy shop here where you can purchase stationery items featuring her designs. 

I hope this week's features on bold graphic styles has inspired you to make your own designs in this style and please join me on Monday for more pattern inspiration!
Love
Frankie x

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Try it: Cut Out Florals


Following on from my post on Monday about Matisse inspired cut out style, I thought I might show a little bit of work in progress this week and share a few ideas.


I'm working on a floral pattern using this cut out technique. I made my motifs using scissors and origami paper. You could paint your own paper or use material or textured papers particularly if you work traditionally. As I am working digitally I didn't worry too much about the colour of the paper as I just want the shapes.



Unlike the current papercut trend for fine and intricate details, I'm going for simpler shapes with a playful feel. I tried using a scalpel but found that made me want to get too fiddly.  So working with scissors and large pieces of paper made the process more fun and expressive.

I then assembled flowers in a sketchbook. For more variety you could just scan all the elements in separately and then assemble a variety of flowers in Photoshop or Illustrator.



I scanned the flowers in and used the pen tool to trace them but there are lots of other ways to make them digital. For example you could trace the motifs using Live Trace or retain a more handmade feel by creating the repeat in Photoshop.

So I'm currently playing with palettes and layouts...




I really like this drawing technique. It's a fun and easy process and great for if you are not very confident in your drawing skills or are just looking to loosen up and be more creative in your approach to drawing. I also think it really lends itself well to vector art with its simple lines so works a treat in Illustrator.


I hope you've found this post useful/inspiring! On Friday I will be featuring the work of Jessica Nielsen whose bold graphic style caught my eye whilst researching this week's posts.

Love
Frankie x
 

Monday 19 January 2015

Be Inspired: Bold Cut Out Style...

Guy Bell/Rex
Morning!
Summer seems soooo far away at the moment, so I thought I would brighten up this week by taking a look at some really bold and colourful designs...

The Tate

Matisse's cut out art seems to be influencing both current work and future trends. This bold and colourful style would look great particularly on homewares and swimwear and is a really fun technique to experiment with.

The Tate

Bold colour palettes and simplified and stylised motifs on a plain background make for a crisp and clean look as can be seen in these classic Marimekko prints...

Print and Pattern

Print and Pattern

You can see more examples of Marimekko prints in this great Print and Pattern post here.

It would be impossible not to mention Marimekko's Unniko print at this point which turned 50 last year and there's a whole site devoted to it here. This iconic print still looks as fresh today.

Marimekko


Here are a couple more examples of this style from Kate Clarke and Aimee Wilder.


 Kate Clarke 
 Kate Clarke

Aimee Wilder
Aimee Wilder

Hope this burst of colour has brightened up your Monday morning!
Love,
Frankie x