Tag Archives: surface design

Textile Collection Flora Folk

We had so much fun creating our last collection we thought we’d release another range of beautiful fabric prints dedicated to florals. This time round we completely changed our creative process to deliver fabric prints that felt entirely different to the soft, inky designs of the Palamporia Collection. Introducing our new Folk Flora range, which is available now in our Fabric Shop.

To make sure we were creating floral motifs that felt new we put the watercolours away! This time we wanted to focus on the textures and line work that could be achieved by working digitally only. This does unfortunately mean that we don’t have any gorgeous process illustrations to share, however we think the end results are stunning enough!

We began by collecting images of flowers to draw from, as well as endless scans and photographs we’d gathered of interesting textures. We drew our floral motifs digitally, giving them crisp sharp lines and overtly simplified shapes reminiscent of retro floral forms.

We then began to play with our gallery of photographs and scans. These images were manipulated, distorted and layered to come up with interesting designs to use to fill our floral motifs. Some designs, such as ‘Kaleidoscope Garden’, layer several of these digital textures to create a really rich patchwork, whilst others like ‘Stormy Blossom’ choose to showcase just one gorgeous texture. The strictly digital process of drawing, cutting and collaging resulted in designs that had a vintage flair, so accordingly we chose a warm colour palette that reflected this outcome.

With so many of our prints starting with hand-drawn elements it was refreshing to try a whole new process with a different set of restrictions and possibilities. The Folk Flora Collection creates retro feeling designs for the digital age, and can work for both fashion and interiors applications.

We’d love to know what sort of project you think this range would be perfect for – so get in touch! Designs are available in our Fabric Shop now.

Snippets: Chats With Creatives, Textile Designer Beck Ng – Series 3, Snippet 1

Snippets. Chats with Creatives.

Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes print designers tick.

This series we are focusing on textile designers as our creatives to get into the nitty gritty of the thing we love the most, textiles and surface design! We have asked a different set of questions relative to this and as always we hope to inspire others by sharing snippets of these creative stories.

Today we are chatting to Beck Ng from Fabric Drawer, a Melbourne based surface designer and maker who has a passion for pattern! She creates prints often inspired by nature and the things she has seen and done throughout her life, these are available for license or purchase. She also makes things from her printed fabrics and sells them at markets and online here

We love her style, whimsical and folk like florals that look great on our favourite thing, fabric! Her work has been featured in lots of awesome places including the Print and Pattern website, the latest Flow Calendar and she is currently a finalist in the Frankie Good Stuff Awards so you can vote for her here!

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

I’m a designer, maker, mum and pattern lover from Melbourne. My creative journey started in graphic design, but took a side step into patterns when I started a textiles course. I created the label Fabric Drawer (in 2012) to showcase my love of patterns, for licensing and also for use on my own range of products. I started out designing patterns and didn’t begin making my own products until a few years later.

Having my own business allows me to create my own style of work and turn it into a product that people can purchase and take home (or gift!). So far, I make each and every product myself and have been committed to sourcing materials locally where possible. I also enjoy the process of licensing my work, which means I work with clients to have my designs on their products. I really enjoy being involved in all facets off my creative business; it’s a never ending learning process!

Where do you call home and what is your favourite thing about where you live?

I live in Melbourne, close to the city and I enjoy the convenience of being able to walk, bike or tram to most places.

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Inspired by nature

Tell us a bit about what kind of studio, space or practice you run? Do you sell online or license your prints, do you do commissions or lots of freelance and what do you like doing the most?

My creative business does a little bit of everything. I license my designs, make products from my work and sell at markets around Melbourne.

I started out in art licensing through an art agent in America. They represented me for almost 3 years and I was fortunate to have my work sold/licensed on products such as greeting cards, party ware, gift bags and wall art. I have learned a lot about the art licensing industry and am finding it an area I’d like to get more and more into. It’s still a big learning curve for me and it’s certainly challenging finding my own licensing opportunities without an agent.

Outside of the licensing, I have made my own collection of products from my patterns. I’ve been doing this for about three years now, starting out very small by sewing a few products and selling them at markets. Initially I didn’t sell very much, but as I kept going, I started to sell a bit more at each market and have now been able to be part of some of the larger design markets in Melbourne. I sew everything myself, which is a very time consuming process, but has been the best way to make small quantities and keep things local for now.

I find licensing and making products both a rewarding process and I think that having my own range of products has helped the licensing side of the business.

Tell us about your creative space, what are your tips for keeping a creative studio space organised? What would your dream space look like?

To be honest I don’t have much of a creative space. I have seen pictures of other creative studios, and I love the idea of a light filled space, with your computer on bare desk and pieces of your work and work that inspires you decorated around the wall and studio. In reality, I work in my bedroom, lounge room, dining room (I have a laptop) and small nook in a room (for sewing). It’s not very glamorous, but I guess I wanted to share that so people realise you don’t need the perfect set-up to get started and be creative. Sometimes constraints are needed so you can focus on creating. That said, I wouldn’t mind the type of studio space I described above!

When designing a new surface design collection or set of work what is your process and how long might you spend on this?

I keep it pretty simple and start out my patterns by drawing on regular plain white paper with a pen or pencil. It’s good to have a bit of a story or theme in mind, but I don’t always start that way. When I feel like I have sketched up enough motifs, I photograph them and bring them into my computer to start tracing them in Illustrator. I love using Illustrator because of the flexibility it allows to scale and change colours. From there I start working on the hero print, then build out the secondary and simple coordinates. I try to have a minimum of 5 patterns per collection. I have been known to put together a collection within a couple of weeks when I’m under a bit of a deadline, but it could take a month or months if I take my time.

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

I really enjoy the process of piecing a surface pattern together. It’s feels a bit like a jigsaw puzzle; fitting each motif into the right space and then working on the right colour palette.

What would you say is the biggest challenge when running your own creative business, what is your favourite and least favourite part?

Time! There is never enough time. I don’t work on my business full-time and never have. I have a part-time job as a graphic designer, sometimes I freelance too and have two young girls to look after. Usually I would have to work on my creative stuff when the kids are in bed, or if I have any small snippets of time throughout the day. I would love to focus on my creative business more, but the reality is I still need some bread and butter income.

My favourite thing about having my own business is that I can create whatever I like. As a graphic designer, you’re bound by what the client wants, so having my own work gives me the freedom to express myself creatively.

My least favourite part is social media. I feel like it’s a bit of a time suck, and am spending more time on it then I’d like. I do try to post regularly to share my work (because opportunities can come out of social media) and build my brand, but I kinda wish I didn’t have to.

What advice would you give an aspiring textile designer in today’s challenging and competitive environment? Are there any resources you would recommend or websites that you couldn’t live without?

I feel like being a creative is a bit of a labour of love, so you need to be passionate about what you do, because it’s not a huge money maker for most. Persistence and consistency is important. Keep creating consistently and by the end of the year you’ll have a good body of work. With licensing and collaborations, it can be a disheartening process, because it’s not that easy to sell or license your work, especially when you are starting out. Often you’ll contact companies and they don’t even respond! But keep persisting and asking around, while continuing to build up a stronger folio of work and through this hard work, things can start to happen.

Facebook groups can be immensely helpful connecting with other surface designers. I’m in a few surface pattern / licensing groups and it’s great way to get some advice. I’m part of a meet-up group of other designers who are specifically interested in licensing their art. Skillshare is a great resource for doing some short courses at a reasonable price. I did the Make It In Design Module 3 course, and I felt that was helpful to get me started. There are quite a few online courses, but they can be costly. I’d probably recommend starting with free or low cost options first and see where that takes you, before investing in an expensive course.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up over this year that you would like to plug!

I loved being involved in some of the bigger design markets, such as Markit, Finders Keepers and Makers and Shakers market last year. It’s great to be amongst other creatives and interact with customers directly, even though I’m quite an introverted person. It’s a lot of work though, preparing for markets when you make everything yourself, so I haven’t planned any markets for this year so far.

I also really enjoyed working with Apiary Made on their range of beeswax wrap designs. It’s been great to work with a local business whose values sustainability and ethically made products. I have collaborated with another couple of brands, but I will share the details when the product comes out as I’m not sure when this will be happening. Licensing can be a bit of a tough road, but I’m hoping I get to work with more clients in the future.

Where would you like to see your work featured?

I would love to have my own range of fabric one day. I love the idea of seeing what people would make with my own fabric.

You can find out what Beck from Fabric Drawer is upto: Website, Facebook, Instagram

Textile Collection Palamporia

Hello 2019 – we hope everyone is feeling refreshed after the break! We know it can be hard staying motivated after taking some much needed time off, so to help keep everyone on track with making 2019 a year full of creativity we’ve launched a brand new range of textile designs that feel summery, fresh and timeless. Introducing our Palamporia Collection.

When embarking on designing a new range we found ourselves being drawn to the intricately detailed and beautiful tradition of Palampore textiles. These textiles were common across India during the 18^th century and often featured hand-painted and hand-dyed designs depicting botanic motifs.

The creative process began by collecting gorgeous reference imagery and local flowers to draw from, and then illustrating the motifs in pencil. A warm colour palette was then selected inspired by colours commonly found in natural and vegetable dyes, such as indigo and turmeric. The painting of delicate floral motifs using water colours then became a worthwhile labour of love.

When putting the textile designs together it was important to mimic the undulating nature of the inky textures with interesting use of negative space and organic placement of elements. In some of the designs that have a more formal layout, the curved lines and water colour medium helps to give them a free-flowing feel.

The Palamporia Collection puts a contemporary spin on the tradition of Palampore textiles, providing a pared-back style with a limited colour palette. The play between lovingly painted details and crisp negative space shows its versatility. We can see these prints working well for both fashion and interiors applications. Gorgeous summer dresses and linen pants, and fresh feeling bedding and cushion covers spring to mind. We’d love to know what sort of projects you think these designs would be perfect for so please get in touch! Designs are available in our Fabric Shop now.

Textile Collection Native Whimsy

The end of year break is almost upon us! It’s a time that feels undeniably Australian for many of us, with road trips to the beach, seafood on Christmas Day and the annoying song of a mosquito to keep you up at night. We let this drive our creativity for our latest textile range, and have produced a range of prints inspired by the uniqueness of Australian flora and fauna. We’re excited to introduce our last range of prints for 2018, our Native Whimsy Collection.

Sprinkled Gumnut

We feel like the magic of Christmas invited our inner child to take control of our approach to this range as were drawn to naïve, rounded forms, reminiscent of the images found in children’s books. This sweet illustrative style gave a soft finish to typically jagged plants and bushy animals.

Digital Fabrics_custom fabric printing_native whimsy_rustled feathers_3

Ruffled Feathers

Digital Fabrics_custom fabric printing_native whimsy_rustled feathers_4

Ruffled Feathers

The elements which feature in the Native Whimsy Designs were first drawn with pencil before being brought to life with watercolour paints. The inky textures of watercolours suited the sweet drawing style we has embraced. The hand-painted nature of the designs provides textural balance for otherwise simple motifs.

Sprinkled Gumnut

Native Whimsy pairs big bold colours, such as hot pink and emerald green with plenty of white negative space and earthy neutrals. The result is a set of prints which makes wearing colour, or introducing statement hues into the home, a breeze.

Eucalyptus

The Native Whimsy Collection is a celebration of the wildlife that doesn’t make the regular ‘animal print’ or ‘floral print’ cut. We’d love to know what you think of these designs and how you think they would best be used so get in touch! Prints are available in our Fabric Shop now.

Snippets: Chats With Creatives, You Are Brave – Series 2, Snippet 7

Snippets’. Chats with Creatives. We are back with series two! Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes designers tick. This second series is all about asking some fun and different questions and learning about the inspirations and ideas behind the artist and their work. We hope to inspire others by sharing snippets of these creative stories. We gave the artists and designers featured a varied and different set from series one list of questions to choose from so we will learn something new from everyone involved, should be fun!

Today we are chatting to Michelle from You are Brave, a textile brand that creates hand printed apparel, tableware and interior decor pieces inspired by nature in all it’s glorious forms. Her work has earthy tones and emulates a relaxed Australian vibe. She worked as a commercial textile graphic designer for years before stepping out on her own, inspired by the words of her Aunt Mabel ”You are Brave” her products are hand printed and made locally, an important part of the brands ethos.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

YOU ARE BRAVE textiles is known for it’s hand screen printed fabrics (although I’ve also produced digital prints in the past). I think my style of print design is simple, relaxed + has a coastal and tropical Australian feel.

My prints tend to focus on single aspects of natural forms. I’m trying to isolate “the one thing” or essence of natural things that can seem complex + mind blowing at the outset. This is how I gather my inspiration + it becomes like a meditation for me.

Uplifting everyday practicalities is also central to the ethos at YOU ARE BRAVE as are the benefits of natural + sustainable fibres … the offering is of printed meterage, hand made interior décor and most recently, women’s apparel which is all locally produced.

My leap of faith into YOU ARE BRAVE textiles came in 2014 when I left a long career in commercial textile design. It was a brave move at the time. But I knew I had to do something more meaningful with my creative energy + my time on earth.

Where do you call home?

Sydney’s Inner West is now firmly my home although I grew up in & still have close family ties in Cape Town, South Africa.

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Relaxed. Natural. Australian

What would your dream creative project look like? Who or what is your dream project, client or job? Tell us about why you would love to collaborate with them and what you find inspiring about their work.
I love travelling. And there’s something about the tropics that not only appeals to me but more than that, tropical places make me feel alive. So I would love to work with a boutique resort on updating or designing their textile furnishings.

What would you say is the biggest challenge when working for yourself ?

As a person with many ideas + interests, I would say staying focused + motivated has been my biggest challenge. I think being creatively self employed requires not only a commitment to yourself but a large amount of self belief. These are things that constantly ebb + flow for me so it’s something I’m always working on.

What/who inspired you to take the leap in to your creative venture, how did you get started?

My Great Aunt Mabel has always been inspirational to me but as most people who ask about the origin of my label’s name know, she was also the reason why YOU ARE BRAVE has it’s name. The story behind it is posted on my website but in a nutshell, my Aunty Mabel believed in me when I didn’t, she showed me that with a little self confidence, I could do anything.

Tell us about how you get your creative juices flowing, what is your process?

Two things here … I respond to being immersed in nature. Line, colour, pattern, shapes + smells in nature are powerful stimuli both visually + spiritually.

But I’ve recently learned that I respond creatively when I take on a big challenge, see it through + do a good job of it. It energises me + it seems to provide more motivation to explore future endeavours.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up this year that you would like to plug!

I worked in fashion for a long time but after 14 years in the industry, I felt I needed to work with my hands again + produce things that were meaningful as well as beautiful, so I returned to my roots in interior decor when I started YOU ARE BRAVE in 2014. Recently I’ve produced some prints that were just calling out to be made into apparel, so I guess I’ve come full circle. I now offer printed meterage for all those talented makers out there as well as decor + a small range of apparel.

You can follow what Michelle from You are Brave is upto Website, Instagram, Facebook.

Textile Collection Tutti Fruity

It feels as though we’ve been hit with a heatwave! & what better way to celebrate things heating up than with a fun new range of textile prints that simply scream Summer. For these designs we’ve been inspired by the beautiful simplicity of summer fruits. We are very excited to introduce our new Tutti Fruity Collection.

Creative inspo came straight from our green grocer, and we were really excited to create a range of playful designs that celebrated simple motifs familiar to everyone. The range includes a quirky minimal print, a tangerine dream and a seriously sweet statement print.

A mixture of acrylic paints and watercolours were used to create the artwork for this range, resulting in a range of interesting and juicy textures. The hand-painted nature of the designs gives the range a lazily elegant feel.

It wouldn’t be a summer fruits inspired range without plenty of colour, and our design team did not hold back. The collection features plenty of bold colours and primary brights in perfect contrast to ensure balance within the prints.

The Tutti Fruity collection has been designed as a celebration of enjoying the little things, and we must admit we are definitely enjoying the change of season. We love to know what you think these designs would be perfect for so get in touch. Prints are available in our Fabric Shop now.

Snippets: Chats With Creatives, Carmen Hui Illustration – Series 2, Snippet 6

Today on snippets we are talking to Carmen Hui from Carmen Hui Illustrations, her drawings are detailed with a playful and fun Australiana theme and often feature botanicals and animals. Each drawing is a labour of love using layers of coloured pencil strokes and her style is unique and very distinguishable. Her designs can be seen across a variety of mediums including paper, jewellery, textiles and ceramics to name just a few and she also teaches workshops so she has lots of advice and knowledge to share with us!

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

Hello, my name is Carmen and I am an illustrator focusing on animal and botanical pencil drawings. I started Carmen Hui Art & Illustration about 4 years ago after wanting a sea change from my job as a designer. I didn’t have a set plan when I started my business, I just participated in a few group art shows, a couple of local markets and then opened an online Etsy shop. It was a slow process but each little step gave me the confidence to keep going. Nowadays, my days are split between running my online shop, doing commissioned works, teaching drawing classes and attending design markets.

Where do you call home?

I live in sunny Marrickville with my partner Mat and my cat Miso.

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Delicate, emotive and Australiana

What does a typical creative day look like for you? How do you stay on plan and organised?

Everyday is different and consists of juggling many hats. I start the week by prioritising what’s important and allocating time in the week to complete each task. I usually start the day by doing the less fun stuff such as admin, accounts and packaging orders. Then I will do more involved work such as planning and commissioned work.

I am in love with surface design at the moment and would love to see my designs on clothing and accessories. This is something that I have started dabbling in, but would love to collaborate with an experienced clothing brand and adapt my drawings into a small range of clothing.

What would you say is the biggest challenge when working for yourself ?

Being kind to oneself. Being your own boss can have many advantages and disadvantages. You are constantly thinking about your business and what more you could be doing, It is important to give yourself a break every once in a while and be happy with what you’ve achieved. I burnt out really quickly after the first couple of years working for myself, so this year I’m trying to slow down a little. It’s not easy, but I think I’m getting there.

What’s the best thing about being in the creative industry in Australia today? And on the other hand, what do you find most frustrating?

I think right now is the best time to be in the creative industry in Australia. People have a deeper appreciation of craft and great designs and are very supportive in helping small businesses to grow and develop. The growth of social media is also extremely helpful as it helps us reach people far and wide, something that is near impossible in the past unless you have a large marketing budget.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up this year that you would like to plug!

The project I’m most proud of this year is my Everyday Bag designs. This was a passion project of mine and am so happy that it came to fruition. I’m hoping to slowly build on this and release more designs in the new year. In terms of collaborations, I have an illustrated plant pot design with Plernters, a range of Christmas cards and accessories that are about to be launched with La La Land, as well as some soon to be available wallpaper designs with Milton & King which I’m super excited about.

You can follow what Carmen is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook.

New Chevy Fabric

We have another very exciting addition to our fabric range which we are dying to introduce. Please meet our newest polyester fabric, the Chevy! We think this will be a particularly exciting launch for those with budding summer fashion projects!

Chevy is a polyester / spandex blend (92% polyester / 8% spandex) which provides the fabric with a little stretch. The small amount of stretch provides the fabric with some give, making it a really comfortable fabric to wear.

The fabric has an off-white base, with a chevron weave and a matte finish. The fabric’s composition and finish, results in strong colour reproduction when printed, making it an excellent choice for projects with bright and deep colours.

Chevy is a mid-weight 170 GSM fabric that is both durable and smooth to touch. Chevy is ideal for fashion garments designed to have structure to their form, whilst still being super comfortable to wear. We think the Chevy will be perfect for light suit jackets and blazers, bomber jackets, pants, culottes, shorts, skirts and dresses.

Tata Naka

Vogue Spain

Markus Lupfer

Whilst we think this fabric is most suitable for fashion applications, it’s durability, printed colour results and resistance to creasing would also make it a great choice for some interiors and events projects, such as tablecloths and banners.

Sample swatches of Chevy are available now through our Sample Pack Order Form. Get in touch with any projects you think our Chevy would be great for!

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 2, Snippet 3

Today on Snippets we are talking to Stephanie and Amy, Sydney based couple behind Outer Island. A design label that prides themselves on creating products inspired by nature such as ornaments and textiles, all made from natural or recyclable materials in Australia with a colourful and fun vibe as well as being educational and respectful to the environment.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

Outer Island is the collaboration of Sydney based couple Stephanie Chambers (artist) and Amy Ranck (graphic designer). We love traveling, collecting and being in nature. I’m from New York and Amy is from Australia so we joke that we’re both from islands, which is where the name Outer Island comes from, but really what connects us is our love for collecting and making things. Two years ago we moved to Sydney from Brooklyn and had our first Aussie Christmas together. Inspired by our endless birding and bushwalking, we wanted to bring the magic of Australian nature to our own Christmas tree. We moved here with our beloved ornament collection, but found it hard to find unique, colourful, well designed Aussie ornaments, so we started there. After making ornaments we expanded to fabric items. Everything produced by Outer Island is made in Australia using only natural or recyclable materials. Sustainability is a big part of our mission statement and we work with ethically minded vendors and manufacturers. We work out of our sunny studio in Darlinghurst and our business is a year and a half old.

Where do you call home?

Sydney, NSW

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Magical, Colourful, Purposeful

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

The beginning is always the most fun. When we’re working on a new design, we work together to decide what we want it to look like, then I do the drafting and Amy does the art directing. Running a business, we try to divide and conquer to make the best use of our time, so this beginning part is always the most fun because we get to work together.

What does a typical creative day look like for you? How do you stay on plan and organised?

Each day varies, but after about 10 months in business, we sat down to create a schedule that we felt would keep our business on track. We scheduled weekly meetings and also started calling Mondays ‘Marketing Mondays’ to force us to step away from painting and designing and to focus on getting our product out into the world. We use google drive to organise our documents and really started treating our business like a business around 10 months as well. Think: BINDERS. We also use spreadsheets to track our productivity and a free online project management tool called Kanban-chi. I use an old school paper and pen planner to stay on track and each month we have different larger projects that we try to get done so we can make sure to stay out of the weeds. I love to paint and Amy loves to design so it’s important for us to have easy tools and systems to work with to keep our productivity on track and to also move the vision for Outer Island forward. We try to think ahead and put systems in place now that will make it easier for us to scale.

If you could spend a day in another artist’s studio shoes who would that artist be?

[Stephanie] I’d actually love to see how it worked in large workshops during the 1600’s in Northern Europe. I’m obsessed with Dutch still life paintings and would very much like to be a fly on the wall to understand how it all came together. I’m a big Northern Renaissance nerd. I love how their paintings represented nature better than nature could have through their compositions and richness which then really emphasised for the viewer how beautiful nature truly was.

Tell us about your creative space, what are your tips for keeping a creative studio space organised?

Buy a label maker! Every now and again we have a big strategy meeting and in our last one we realised our studio was a mess. So we went out and got proper storage things and a label-maker and went to town. It’s been so much easier for us to work efficiently since we did that. We also regularly clean the studio because it makes us feel crazy if it’s a mess, especially if it’s during a busy time.

If you could go back and tell yourself one hot tip or piece of advice when you started out what would it be?

Don’t rush.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up this year that you would like to plug!

We’re expanding our line of ornaments with lots of new ones and will also be expanding our Christmas crackers this year. We really want to be able to give people items to enjoy that will bring the magic of Australian nature into their homes and create special memories. Nature needs all the help it can get and we believe if people have reminders in their homes then they’ll feel more connected to nature and if they feel more connected to it then they can begin to protect it.

You can follow what Outer Island are upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook.

Snippets series 2 – Snippet 5 Kalaii Creations.

Today on snippets we are talking to Stacey from Kalaii Creations who is an artist and designer who loves working with watercolour, creating textile art, and helping creative brands with their surface pattern and design needs as well as teaching workshops! She has a flair for colour and a style that is elegant, playful and enchanting.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

My name is Stacey and I established Kalaii Creations in 2016 when I was on maternity leave with my second baby. I needed a little bit of me time, and participated in a creative workshop and from there I was hooked! My creative streak was reignited. I was always very interested in drawing in my school years, and did art through high school, but lost track of it all during my later years. I am so glad to have found it again! I started by making an Instagram page, and sharing some of my artwork, and soon had orders coming in for custom pieces and I just decided to explore it all, and it has opened up a lot of doors for me. Now I host creative workshops with Workshop Brisbane, The Craft Parlour on the Gold Coast, in shopping centres, and I am soon to help teach a textile design workshop, with you here at Digital Fabrics which I am very excited about! Currently I focus on watercolour art, graphic design, textile design and creative workshops ranging from knitting, watercolour art and textiles. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.

Where do you call home?

I have been based in South Brisbane, Queensland, for most of my life (I moved from NSW when I was just a baby).

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Feminine, Boho inspired, Vibrant

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

I love the initial stages of creating, when a client comes to you with their vision, and their inspiration, and you get a rush of exciting ideas and ways in which you can help them. I love being able to see what I will paint in my mind, and then how I can manipulate that in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator and then still always be pleasantly surprised at the finished result.

What does a typical creative day look like for you? How do you stay on plan and organised?

A typical day for me is a little bit of a hot mess actually! I have two kiddies under 5, and I also work at a Brisbane based university for 3 days a week and thus arrange my creative design work at varying stages around this. Mostly I work at night, once the kiddies are asleep and I host my creative workshops on the weekends. I stay on top of my workload by completing little bits every day, and stay organized by using a Passion Planner. I write down all my clients needs and deadlines, and I also write down all the personal designs, and tasks I want to achieve within my business, which keeps me focused!

What would your dream creative project look like? Who or what is your dream project, client or job? Tell us about why you would love to collaborate with them and what you find inspiring about their work.

I would love to further explore the possibilities of having my designs feature more on active wear and swimwear out in the market place. I would love to be custom creating designs for people left right and centre! I find it so exhilarating when you see your artwork making a product pop! I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work with Sarah from @saltysparrowbikini on her new line release coming later in the year. I would also love to work with @midoribikinis. I love their designs and aesthetics and feel my designs would fit well with this brand.

Which other artists/ designers/ makers, artists or creative people are you enjoying at the moment?

I am currently in love with @jessswan_art I love the colours she uses, the shapes, tones everything! It is mesmerizing watching her work!

Tell us about your creative space, what are your tips for keeping a creative studio space organised?

It is my dream to soon create a creative space. Currently I work from my dining table (I know there are many of you out there just like me) and I also have a very small old fashioned house which does not leave a lot of room for arts and crafts and product storage. I use a combination of storage draws and desk space to stay on top of my organisation at home. I am hoping soon to extend our house for multiple reasons, and I may just sneak in a little studio while I am at it!

What has been your proudest creative business achievement to date?

My proudest creative business achievement to date and a dream come true is an upcoming swimwear design project I have been able to assist with. Sarah from Salty Sparrow Bikini (@saltysparrowbikini), has chosen my designs to feature on her first swimwear line which I am over the moon about! I am also super excited to be working with Jemma from Newymummyblogger on the designs for an upcoming project she will be releasing soon. But I will keep that hush hush for now 🙂 Another major achievement for me is being able to work so closerly with Digital Fabrics to help teach textile design classes. I keep pinching myself about this amazing opportunity!

Tell us about how you get your creative juices flowing, what is your process?

I love speaking with new clients about their design ideas and inspirations, as often their ideas require me to push my artistic and creative boundaries each time. They make me think outside the box and think of ideas/combinations that I would not have ventured into, if it was not for their influence! This is my favourite part! Then I usually research their inspiration and competitors to get a vibe for the type of project I am working on and then I get to creating. I usually see the end product first, and then work towards creating the elements to bring this to reality.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up this year that you would like to plug!

I have loved working with Workshop Brisbane, The Craft Parlour, Sarah and Jemma, and also Lauren from @cocokini_ (another bikini designer who has also featured my designs)

I am super excited to further develop my relationship with Digital Fabrics and help by teaching textile design class for beginners, and I look forward to printing some more fabrics for some special pieces I have in mind. Watch this space! My next venture is the release of a cute little day clutch, great for the beach, where I have collaborated with Kate from @blue_eyed_girl_creations who has helped to sew the clutches for me. I can’t wait to see what people think of them.

You can follow what Stacey is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

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Tag Archives: surface design

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