Surface Pattern Design Guide

J A N AV E L L A N A janavellana.
com
THE UPPERCASE MAGAZINE
SURFACE PATTERN
DESIGN GUIDE
HOW TO EXHIBIT AT SURTEX PLUS EXPERT ADVICE FROM LILLA ROGERS, CLOUD9 FABRICS, LIBERTY ART FABRICS,
TENEUES PUBLISHING, PRINT & PATTERN, SEW MAMA SEW, LOTTA JANSDOTTER , SPOONFLOWER AND MORE!
WELCOME
A message from
Janine Vangool
THE CONTENT
OF THIS GUIDE
IS PART OF
ISSUE #21
COVER BY
MOLLY HATCH
Dear Readers,
Were a print magazine.
We always have been, we always will be.

This expanded digital edition of our Surface Pattern Design Guide
is available as a free download to help promote the amazing talent of
our readers and to provide valuable industry advice to those hoping
to break into a career in surface pattern design.
When it comes to decorated surfaces, more is

definitely moreespecially for folks who derive
their livelihood from creating patterns for such
things as fabric, stationery and interior decor.
This special digital edition of our Surface
Pattern Design Guide profiles 100 artists
who work at making our world a prettier place
through their art. The Guide also features tips
and advice from industry experts representing
companies such as SURTEX , Liberty Art
Fabrics, Cloud9 Fabrics, Spoonflower and
teNeues Publishing. The creators of popular
blogs Print & Pattern and Sew Mama Sew
offer their insights. Lotta Jansdotterone of my
personal heroinesshares her tips on living a
life full of pattern.
JA N I N E VA N G O O L
publisher, editor, designer
ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Tw eet or In stag ra m
@ up pe rcas em ag
an d us e th e ha sh ta gs
#u pp erca selo ve
an d #p atte rn spleas e
UPPERCASE
a magazine for
the creative and curious
DRESSING THE PART
My love of patterns extends

into my wardrobe. Erin and
I are both starting to dress
like the magazine!
UPPERCASE / 3
DIGITAL
EXCLUSIVE
UPPERCASEMAGAZINE.COM
MEET OUR COVER ARTIST
JAN AVELLANA
DREAMS DO COME TRUE
It has been an exciting time for

designer Jan Avellana: not only was
Jans art chosen for the cover of the
UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Design
Guide and featured within, but after
Windham Fabrics spotted her work in
UPPERCASE , she was asked to develop
a fabric collection with them. We are
thrilled for Jan and honoured to have
played a part in Jans successjust a
month after this issue was released!
WHAT IS IT LIKE LIVING AND BEING AN ARTIST

IN HAWAII? DO THE SURROUNDINGS INSPIRE
YOUR ART?
I love Hawaii. I love the beauty and majesty of the
outdoors. As I sit writing this all out, I hear a bird
chirping outside my window and I am overlooking
a nearby marina and a sliver of the pacific. I am part
fish, and I love being in the ocean. My surroundings
do indeed inspire my art, if only indirectlymy love
of blues and greens and the sunshiney-ness of the
weather are echoed in the joyfulness of my artwork.
DOES LIVING ON AN ISLAND MAKE YOUR FEEL
ISOLATED IN ANY WAY? HOW DO YOU FIND OR
CONNECT WITH A CREATIVE COMMUNITY?
I do feel isolated at times, and for this reason I love
to travel. Through the wonders of the Internet, Ive
met, connected and re-connected with some of
my dearest friends. And did I mention Lilla Rogers
Make Art that Sells Class?! Oh my gosh, a whole
tribe of fellow artist peoples that belong to me and
I to them. All those years feeling like such a misfit in
the world, and now I realize there are so many of us
artists out here. My online friends are a huge part
of my community. I also have a small group of artists
friends here in Hawaii.
WHAT DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?
CONGRATULATIONS, JAN! WERE SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOULL BE

PARTNERING WITH WINDHAM FABRICS. WED LOVE TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT YOU. WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD LIKE? DID YOU GROW UP IN A CREATIVE FAMILY?
I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, the third of three daughters to my parentssecond generation Japanese Americans. My childhood was wasrough. My
parents met with lifes realities harda tsunami that claimed our brand new house,
a fire and a failed family business and then serious illnesses and hospitalizations
for both my mom and dad, and even a time of being homeless. By the grace of
God we survived it all, and somehow out of all that chaos, I grew up to become an
artist, thanks in large part to my parents, who are both latent artists. My mother
had a love of fashion and sewing and my fathera closet writercame from a long
line of accomplished writers and artists. He also has a lovely voice and beautiful
handwriting, the kind that you dont find anymore. But anyway, I didnt discover my
own way to the arts until I was in college. Im a late bloomer!
WAS THERE A MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU REALIZED THAT YOU
WANTED TO PURSUE BEING AN ARTIST?
There were always inklings. Looking back, I think my earliest knowing was when I
was a childI loved writing. By the time I was in college I realized I wanted to pursue the arts as a career, so I majored in the fine arts and practiced graphic design
for several yearsbut there was always something missing. Then three things happened nearly all at once: I stumbled upon a website called Another Girl at Play
and read the interviews of 25 women all thriving in their creative lives, I met an
artist-pastor name Dale Vallejo-Sanderson with the God-given gift of counselling,
and a friend gifted me with a book by Parker Palmer called Let Your Life Speak
lifechanging. Those three things were each a strong epiphanyand I knewOMG,
Im an artist too! It only took me a decade-plus, a few thousands miles (and tears),
two college degrees and two careers to figure this out!
I can say now, without a doubt, that I am an artist through and through. This acceptance has only come recentlyin the last ten years or so and what a relief its
been. The more freedom I give myself to pursue my artistic passions, the happier
I am! Ive finally accepted that I am happiest when wholeheartedly immersed in
creative play!
4 / UPPERCASE
Well, its just a little bit crazy. Im currently juggling

two part-time jobs, so my day looks something
like this:
6:00 am: Rise and Shine! Get my two boys up, make
and eat breakfast, get myself ready for work.
7:30 am: Walk to school.
8:15 am 12:00 pm: Teaching job #1
(remedial reading).
12:30 pm 2:00 pm: Lunch break.
2:30 pm 4:45 pm: Teaching job #2 (remedial math).
Evening 8:30 pm: Mommy and wife until everybody
goes to bed.
8:30 pm until I fall asleep in my studio: Artmaking
(Rinse, repeat! Phew!).
HOW DID YOU FIRST COME ACROSS
UPPERCASE MAGAZINE? HOW WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH IT?
HOW IS IT PART OF YOUR CREATIVE LIFE?
My relationship with UPPERCASE magazine is like
having the hugest crush on Robert Pattinson from
afar, knowing that youll NEVER get him to even
glance in your direction, but crushing over him
anyway. (Not that I get what all the hoopla is over
that guy, lol!) But seriously, Ive only ever lurked on
the UPPERCASE website and blog, oh, hundreds
of times. Ive only ever drooled over the beautiful
covers and the featured illustrators online. Ive only
ever read through the submission guidelines and
participate invitationsera few (hundred) times, and
I might have fantasized about treating myself to a
subscription one day when I make it!
UPPERCASE magazine and their artists are what I
aspire towards. I am in total and utter awe of the art
ists you feature. If UPPERCASE magazine and I were

to meet up in person, Id be the goofy misfit in the
corner hoping for an autographbut Id have a really
cool set of pens on me!
WHAT LED TO YOUR DECISION TO SUBMIT
YOUR PATTERNS FOR THE SURFACE PATTERN
DESIGN GUIDE?
Total whim. On one of my lurking escapades, I saw
the call for entries and I thought, Oh, why not?
Theres no way Id ever make it in, but at least Ill have
a few new patterns for my portfolio.
HOW DID YOU FEEL UPON FINDING OUT THAT
YOUR ARTWORK WAS CHOSEN AS THE COVER
OF THE GUIDE?
Embarrassing to admit, but I lost what little cool
I had going for meJanine can attest to this fact!
When I received Janines email letting me know that
not only did my art make it into the Surface Pattern
Design Guide, but that she was happy to tell me that
she also chose my work for the COVER, I send back
the most unprofessional and slightly shocked email
to her ever. It reads in full:
Are you serious???!!!!!!!!
I amended that email later on, with a slightly more
professionally worded Thank you! What a surprise!
type of message. Needless to say, there was a
fair amount of hysterical jumping and babbling to
everybody I came in contact with (mostly non-artists
who looked concerned) about UPPERCASE magazine and Surtex, and there might have been some
screaming involved. And ice cream. Im still over the
moon about it all!
WINDHAM FABRICS HAS SIGNED YOU TO
AN EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT TO DEVELOP A
COLLECTION. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION
WHEN YOU FOUND OUT THE NEWS?
When Mickey Krueger, President of Windham
Fabrics contacted me after seeing my artwork on the
UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Design Guide cover,
I have to admit I was skepticalit was just too much
to hope for! Mickey sent me a lovely email and then
we followed up with a couple of phone calls. My first
thought was, Umyeah, right because theres just
no way all of this could be happening to me. This

was and is just too unreal, and I was (and am) still in
shock over UPPERCASE, so I kept my emotions in
check.
It wasnt until we both signed the contract that I
celebrated in my usual way (see details of my UPPERCASE performance, above)! I still cant believe
it really. Really?! Is it really true?! In any case, this is
all completely new for me. I have no idea what to expect. I only hope to make the best art Ive ever made
and make Mickey and his fabric buyers happy!
NOW THAT YOURE ON THE WAY TO ACHIEVING A FABRIC COLLECTION, WHAT DREAM
PROJECT IS NEXT ON YOUR LIST? WHAT DO
YOU HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF YOUR WORK?
Id absolutely love to have a line of bedding and
home decor. Im a complete nut about sheets, and
towels and pillows! Ive been known to lug home
comforters and quilts from my travels! Oh, how Id
love to be a Land of Nod and a Demdaco artist.
And I hope that my work results in books somehow
Im not exactly sure what that looks like yet, but
books, yes. My wish is that my work finds its way into
peoples hearts and brings them some joy and hope
and that the story of my journey will encourage others to pursue their truest lives.
That said, my hugest art dream right now is to find
just the right agent to represent my art, someone
I can trust and with whom a real friendship can
blossom. Im taking my time with this and nurturing
relationships along the way. I hope to be exhibiting my artwork at SURTEX next year, either with a
booth of my own or through an art agentor both!
My heart bursts at just the thought of it all coming
together, but it is, and for the first time in my life I can
see it happening.
Thank you to Janine and UPPERCASE magazine
for allowing this diminutive island girl from Hawaii to
grace the cover of your ber cool Surface Pattern
Design Guide! Because of you, Im being represented at SURTEX in a big way, even though I dont yet
have an agent or a booth of my own. Because of
you and the exposure your magazine offers,
I am on my way and closer than ever to achieving
my art dream.
janavellana.com
UPPERCASE / 5
DIGITAL
EXCLUSIVE
MICKEY KRUEGER
WINDHAM FABRICS
FA B R I C I N S I D E R
Finding new talent is an important part of Mickey

Kruegers role as president of Windham Fabrics.
In addition to discovering Jan Avellana through
the UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Design Guide,
participants Erica Hite and and Sara Franklin will
also be working with Windhamand Mickey says hes
talking with several more!
WINDHAM FABRICS IS THE QUILT COTTON
DIVISION OF A LONG-RUNNING FAMILY-RUN
MILL, BAUM TEXTILE MILLS WHICH WAS
FOUNDED IN 1955. WITH A CORPORATE HISTORY SPANNING SO MANY DECADESAND
CHANGES OF FASHIONHOW DOES WINDHAM BALANCE TRADITIONAL OFFERINGS
WITH CONTEMPORARY DESIGNS?
Traditional designs and their history are of particular
interest to me. My office is filled with 19th century
document fabrics and quilts that offer some of
the most stunning surface designs. Like in fashion
design, the tastes of those buying our fabric evolve
and change over time. We deal with trends and
changes in the mood of the marketplace the same as
any other creative company. Considering our depth
in designers and their varied styles, sometimes we
follow those trends, and sometimes we buck them.
We like to think that no matter what the sewist is
interested in, Windham will have something that
attracts them.
WHAT ARE THE HALLMARKS OF A BESTSELLING DESIGN?
This is a question that we constantly ask ourselves,
but have yet to find a clear answer. Because of the
nature of our business we are designing for so many
end uses, which makes answering this question even
harder. When considering traditional vs modern
designs there are some basic differences in the
aesthetic of what is popular. But even considering
designs for the same audience we have seen what
we think are home runs fail, and ho hum designs
become best sellers.
WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB?
Although I do not consider myself artistic, I do love
the design process. We work with so many designers, and the the way a collection is developed is
different for each designer. It is always satisfying to
see a well done collection receive critical as well as
commercial success. This is best when the collection
comes from a designer who might not be well known
within our industry.
6 / UPPERCASE
WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU LOOK FOR

WHEN SOURCING NEW DESIGNERS OR
SURFACE PATTERN DESIGNS?
We have a customer base with divergent tastes, and
a variety of needs. As a result we are always looking
for designers offering something that we dont
already have. I suppose the designers that I look
for are those who are true to their own aesthetic,
but can still stay within the bounds of what we
know our customers will find pleasing. While I am
not afraid of taking chances with designers, I am
still running a business and must prudently consider
what we think will sell. For this reason I like to get my
sales and design experts involved in the selection
process because everyone brings something unique
to the table.
ARE THEIR SPECIFIC TRENDS IN COLOUR
OR MOTIFS THAT YOU HAVE NOTICED THAT
ARE EITHER EBBING OR EMERGING?
I keep seeing clean lines, and simple motifs with
generous use of negative space. With the help of
the internet, design proliferates very quickly. As
a result artists, (and end users), pick up on trends
very quickly which can lead to a kind of sameness
in design. The best designs come from those artists
who can lend a uniqueness to a trend that separates
them from the rest.
WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR FOLKS HOPING
TO BREAK INTO FABRIC DESIGN OR TO HAVE
THEIR WORK LICENSED?
Always be true to your own aesthetic, but dont take
for granted the needs of your client, (or potential
client). Be flexible, and be fast. If you are targeting
a specific industry, learn a little about that marketplace, and present your designs in a way that the
client will best understand in their own language.
windhamfabrics.com
JANINE VANGOOL
UPPERCASE
Thank you to everyone who submitted samples
of their work in hopes of being included in the
UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Design Guide. The
submissions surpassed my expectations in both
quality and quantity. Out of 297 submitters, I have
selected 100 portfolios to publish in this guide.
After looking through over 2,000 individual patterns, Ive compiled my top ten tips for standing
out in the crowd as a surface pattern designer.
10 T I P S
TO P
1
Dont try to fit into a niche of
someone elses style just because everyone
BE YOURSELF.
else is doing the same.
2
Use a technique other than
using digital tools in the creation of your
EXPERIMENT.
pattern elements.
3
When presenting your work,
use colour palettes to unify themes and
CONTINUITY.
designs.
4
There were
recurring motifs like seed cups, dandelion
MAKE ORIGINAL MOTIFS.
seeds and starburst thistles (many of

which I did not include here) and designs
that I call doily flower circles. Push past
trends in your portfolio work. Set the new
standard.
5
Show
a variety of approaches in size and scale
PLAY WITH DIFFERENCES IN SCALE.
within a family of patterns.
6
7
8
Live what you love
and others will, too!
9
10
Let loose and see where
it takes you!
TELL A STORY.
EXPRESS AN EMOTION.
WEAR YOUR PATTERNS.
HAVE A POINT OF VIEW.

DONT BE AFRAID.
E I N E K L E I N E D E S I G N ST U D I O
BA R I J .
LIZ ABLASHI
einekleinedesignstudio.com
BARI J. ACKERMAN
BariJdesigns.com BariJ.typepad.com
I am a self-taught designer and illustrator. I am a lover of pattern, and am inspired by the natural world,
vintage illustration, childrens books, folk art and
mid-century interior design. I enjoy experimenting
with diverse subject matter, techniques and a variety
of styles. My prints and patterns run the gamut from
sophisticated geometrics to vintage florals to quirky
conversationals to art for children. My many hobbies
include knitting, needlepoint, gardening, playing my
ukulele, reading and bird watching.
Bari J. Ackerman, the designer behind Bari J., is

well known in the fabric industry for her whimsical
designs and bold eye for pattern and colour. She has
created many successful lines of fabric for renowned
fabric houses such as Art Gallery Fabrics and has a
line of home decor wall stencils and a line of sewing
patterns. Bari is the author of Inspired to Sew, and
her work has been featured in many national and
international magazines.
UPPERCASE / 7
THE INDUSTRY EVENT
SURTEX
Where art and commerce meet in one massive

trade show all about surface pattern.
rt buyers and licensees from

around the world converge to discover unique, cutting-edge surface
designs, original art and design resources at
SURTEX. Held every spring at the Jacob K.
Javits Convention Center in New York City,
SURTEX is the only business-to-business marketplace of its kind in the world. For surface
designers wanting to break into the industry,
it is seen as the ultimate goal. If youre looking to make new contacts, learn about the
latest trends in art and surface design, meet
buyers who are seriously interested in buying
or licensing your artwork and expand your
business, then it all starts at SURTEX.
CONTACTS
More than 6,000 attendees go to SURTEX
every year, seeking the perfect original
art and design for their next bestselling
products. They come from a mix of industries,
including textiles, wall coverings, home
furnishings, floor coverings, greeting cards,
social stationery, housewares, tabletop, paper
products, beauty, packaging and giftware,
making SURTEX the most important trade
show on the industry calendar.
EDUCATION
An integral component of SURTEX is its
conference component. This conference
includes a dozen informative sessions led by
notable industry experts, covering everything
from monetizing art and design to licensee/
licensor relationships, to product development, digital trends and legal strategies.
SURTEX.COM
8 / UPPERCASE
EXPOSURE
The SURTEX event directory is a valuable
reference tool for buyers, available on-site,
as well as online throughout the year. At
the press centre, exhibitor press kits are
displayed for key media, who are eager to
see and report on the latest new designs
and trends. During the show cycle, exhibitors are included in press and social media
outreach and in the official show e-newsletter,
distributed to 18,000 subscribers from the
art and design community. Exhibitors can
promote their business and services through
the online marketplace and SURTEX YouTube
channel. There are additional fee-based
services to get even more out of SURTEX.
NETWORKING
The show is all about making connections.
Off the convention centre floor, there are
other networking events where exhibitors
meet with industry colleagues and professionals. The SURTEX Cruise on the Hudson
takes place on opening night and gives exhibitors a chance to unwind, as well as meet
with buyers and show attendees in a relaxed
atmosphere. Artists and designers can also
meet with each other at the exhibitor Happy
Hour at the end of the second day.
As you can see, SURTEX isnt just a booth
space in a big convention centre. From booth
set-up guidance to effortless marketing support, to meeting the right contacts to buy or
license your designs and the valuable education and networking opportunities, SURTEX
is designed to ensure a productive and costeffective experience in New York City. To find
out more, please visit surtex.com and start
planning for your participation!
N ATA L I E A L EXA N D E R
ST U D I O A L I Q U E
ZO E AT TW E L L
KAT E AU ST I N D E S I G N S
nataliealex.com
ALIK ARZOUMANIAN
studioalique.com
zoeattwell.com
KATE AUSTIN
kateaustindesigns.com katelovescolour.com
I am a graphic and surface designer with a love of

stationery and all things Paris. I cant resist anything
vintage and am at my most content with my camera,
searching for old, beaten-up signs and intricate
metal railings to photograph. My designs are usually
a fusion of ideas from diaries, photographs and
drawings, finally manipulated on the computer. I
enjoy working with bold colour palettes and would
describe my style as contemporary with a raw, unpolished appearance.
I am an illustrator obsessed with surface pattern

design. I love to repeat drawings over and over
until I find the simplest way to describe a form. I
use gouache to paint motifs and then play with the
colour and pattern digitally. I keep the painted motifs
on a single piece of paper. This way I have a painting
to keep, or give away. I like to think of my work as
being simple, bold and playful.
Zoe Attwell is a surface pattern designer based in

London, England. Zoes design style is mostly hand
drawn, abstract and stylised. She is drawn to design
from the 1950s, geometrics and Scandinavian design,
and to the colourful and abstract. Zoes first range of
products, which includes cushions, tea towels, notebook sets, greeting cards and A3 prints, launched
at Home London in January 2014. Zoes patterns are
happy and cheerful, and designed to bring fun and
colour to your home.
I am an artist and designer from Toronto, Canada.

I make surface patterns for textiles, paper and
beyond. I work in bright, saturated colours to create
bold graphic designs, often inspired by nature and
the seasons. Im always taking photographs and
I draw every day in one of the many sketchbooks
I carry with me. My work has been featured in a
wading pool and on cushions, bags and skirts. I also
designed an entire hotel room!
UPPERCASE / 9
U P P E R C A S E S U R FA C E PAT T E R N D E S I G N G U I D E 2 0 1 4
LILLA ROGERS AT SURTEX
OPPORTUNITIES
ARE ABUNDANT!
INTERVIEW BY JOANNE HUS
Lilla Rogers is a multitalented dynamo.

She founded and leads the
phenomenally successful
Lilla Rogers Studio,
through which she and
her agents represent
about three dozen brilliant
artists. Shes also an
accomplished illustrator
and a published author
and has her own craft
line, Ruby Violet.
illa teaches an online course called Make

Art That Sells (MATS), which I had the
pleasure of taking last year (the next session of classes go from March 31 to May
3, 2014, and again from October 20 to November 22,
2014). Like so many of my fellow MATS students, I aspire to be an exhibitor at SURTEX in the near future,
and I want to be sure I get the best return on my investment of time and money. So who better to ask for
advice than this amazing artist/businesswoman/mentor/author? Lilla was kind enough to sit down with me
at her gorgeous studio in Arlington, Massachusetts,
and dish on why shes been an exhibitor at SURTEX
for eight years and counting, and how best to prepare
as an exhibitor.
JA N AV E L LA N A
E L L E N LU C K ET T BA K E R
E M I LY BA LS L EY
janavellana.com blog.janavellana.com
thelongthread.com
emilybalsley.com bluestarink.etsy.com
I am a mixed-media artist and illustrator with a

passion for art, writing and seaside adventures with
my family. After a long hiatus, Ive been re-kindling
my love affair with arty messes of all kinds. Making
the top 50 semi-finalists in Lilla Rogers 2013 Global
Talent Search has inspired me to keep creating and
moving forward. I believe in shining a bright light on
innocence and joy, and that lifting peoples spirits
matters, one drawing at a time.
10 / U P P E R C A S E
Ellen Luckett Baker is a fabric designer, author and

blogger from Atlanta. She designs for the Japanese
fabric company Kokka and blogs about crafts and
sewing at The Long Thread. She is the author of 1, 2,
3 Sew and 1, 2, 3 Quilt, both published by Chronicle
Books. Ellen holds a BA in Art History and a Masters
in Non-Profit Administration. As a designer, she
hopes to bring beauty to everyday objects, while
maintaining a sense of simplicity.
Emily Balsley is an illustrator and designer living in

Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, daughter,
dog, cat and fish. Her style is organic, focusing on
people, animals and the natural world. In order to
capture the analog nature of her work, Emily starts
every illustration with detailed ink sketches before
she brings them to the computer, finishing them digitally. She loves colour and pattern, and is inspired
by vintage fabric, mid-century design and childrens
picture books.
EXPERT ADVICE
Joanne Hus creates playful

illustrations that appeal to kids and
the grown-ups who buy for them.
joannehus.com
WHAT ARE THE UNIQUE ADVANTAGES OF

EXHIBITING AT SURTEX?
WHATS THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE

AS AN EXHIBITOR AT SURTEX?
First of all, we get lots of leads at SURTEX. The

follow-up takes two agents two full months working
flat out to catch up! Second, nothing can replace
face-to-face, human connections. SURTEX is a great
opportunity to see many of our clients in person, and
make new connections as well. Its also a time when
we get to see our artists, most of whom are located
far from the agency. In a way, its like a corporate
reunion, where our staff members and our artists get
to share some time together. And we love New York
in the spring!
The first year, walk the show as an attendee. Talk to

artists in their booths. Check out the quality of the
work and the quantity of work theyre showing. Note
the design of their booths. Stop at agents booths,
too. See what kind of art they represent, think about
where your work might fit in. Bring your business
cards or postcards with samples of your art, maybe
a small booklet thats business-card size or some
other small leave-behind. [See below for more suggestions about speaking with exhibiting artists and
agents.] After you walk your first show, assess what
you learned.
Of course, the trend reports, educational seminars

and the concurrent shows at the Javits Center are
another draw. The National Stationery Show is great
for trend shopping. The International Contemporary
Furniture Fair is the place for the most exciting
trends. And I love the new Creative & Lifestyle Arts
show, its so much fun!
But one of the biggest reasons we go to SURTEX is
the opportunity to brainstorm with the movers and
shakers in the industry. I lined up several interviews
with creative directors and creative VPs for my
MATS e-course while at SURTEX, and recruited our
judges for the Global Talent Search there, too.
HOW HAS SURTEX CHANGED OVER THE
YEARS YOUVE BEEN AN EXHIBITOR?
SURTEX has become even more sophisticated and
exciting. It features a lot more quirky, individualistic
art, and has become much more artist driven.
Weve noticed a more indie-art vibe, and an artistbranded look.
The attendees have also become much more qualified. There are fewer looky-loos and far more bona
fide art buyers, people who are there to find the
freshest new work for their products. Each year we
exhibit at SURTEX we are busier and busier, and we
get more and more business!
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOURE READY

TO EXHIBIT AT SURTEX?
You dont ever really know for sure, but you can do
several things to ensure the best possible outcome.
Take a portfolio-building course like my MATS
e-course, which will teach you how to create work
that sells in 10 different markets. Although theres no
magic number of pieces you should have, Id advise
somewhere between 20 and 30 amazing pieces.
They should contain lots of icons and patterns, and
show lots of varietysay, from a talking piece of
bacon to a repeat pattern of op-art florals.
When you exhibit, dont just focus on getting as
many leads as you can. Do some market testing as
well. What did everyone love? Speak with art directors. Ask them for some honest feedback and let
them know you want to get even better. And followup is key! Have a simple form to fill out, to make your
follow-up easier.
WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU SAY TO
POTENTIAL EXHIBITORS?
This is such an exciting time! Opportunities are
so abundant!
lillarogers.com
HOW TO SPEAK WITH ARTIST AND AGENT EXHIBITORS AT SURTEX

Most people are happy to share their advice and experience, but be sensitive about whats going on: if an artist
or agent is speaking with a potential buyer, come back later. Likewise, if a potential buyer stops by while youre
speaking with the exhibitor, excuse yourself promptly and come back later. Feel free to ask exhibitors how the
show is going for them. Exchange business cards, and ask if it would be all right to contact them after the show,
to hear more details about their experiences and what they might do differently next time. Ask if there would be
a convenient time frame in which to reconnect with themexhibitors have a lot of following up to do once they
get back to their offices and studios! Always send a quick thank you email either that day or the next. You may
not hear back immediately, but good manners go a long way. And dont even think about bringing your portfolio!
Its a sure way to offend people who have invested a lot in exhibiting at SURTEX, not to mention that its against
SURTEX rules.
U P P E R C A S E / 11
L E S L EY BA R N E S
I N E B E E RT E N
lesleybarnes.co.uk
etsy.com/uk/shop/LesleyToast
inebeerten.be
forestfoundry.com
Lesley Barnes uses her colourful illustration and

moving image work to tell stories. Her animations
have shown in competition at film festivals around
the world and have won a number of awards. As an
illustrator, Lesley has worked for clients such as the
V&A Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum of
Childhood, the Glasgow Film Festival, Puffin Books,
Random House, Time Out, Belle and Sebastian,
Cond Nast and the Sunday Times Style magazine.
She has even designed official Post-it notes!
Im Ine Beerten but Im also known as Zesti. Im a

Belgian surface pattern designer with a love of bold
colours and simple, strong graphics with a playful
touch. Zesti stands for with great enthusiasm and
energy, having zest for life, and I hope those qualities are visible in my work and life. Im a member of
the Forest Foundry, a global art collective with seven
other wonderful artists. Please visit us at booth 726
at SURTEX.
TA M M I E B E N N ET T
A RT + D E S I G N
SA R A B E R R E N S O N
R E B E C CA B I S C H O F F
A N N E WAS H E R E
saraberrenson.com
rebeccabischoff.com
TAMMIE BENNETT
tammiecbennett.com
Sara Berrenson is a surface designer with a serious

passion for pattern. She works primarily in gouache
and watercolour, adding hand and computer illustration. Her collections include charming novelty
prints mixed with playful florals and geometrics.
Drawing inspiration from nature, interior design and
fashion, her style is contemporary, colourful and
fresh. On the weekends you can find her scouring
flea markets for cute knick-knacks and vintage fabric.
Sara specializes in designing for home decor, gifts
and apparel.
Inspired by vintage textiles, storybooks and scientific

illustration, Rebecca Bischoff started her own studio
after nearly a decade as an in-house surface and
product designer. Her designs often begin with a
pot of ink and a brush or nib pen. Rebeccas line of
textiles for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Blythe, debuted
in 2013, and she will be releasing new collections at
SURTEX 2014, booth 650. Rebecca lives and works
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
ANNE BLANKMAN BOLLMAN

annewashereandthere.com
Tammie Bennett loves creating patterns with bright

colours and bold graphics. Her patterns have an
optimistic and youthful quality. She is inspired by
her childrens art, running on trails, vintage childrens
books and candy shops. She will be showing her
work at SURTEX, at booth 651.
My path to a career in surface pattern design was

winding, but every step of the way was critical. I
studied fine art and was taught to create balanced
compositions and to balance my use of colour. I
started my career in interior design and learned
to combine patterns and textures. I ventured into
graphic design and expanded my typography
and layout skills. I discovered the world of surface
pattern design in my current job as a stationery
designer.
DESIGNER ON THE RISE
ELIZABETH OLWEN
SURTEX: AGAIN, PLEASE!
A SURTEX STORY
During the planning for SURTEX 2013,

I experienced a strange brew of emotions: joyful nervousness, confidence
with a side of doubt and a blend of
hope and fear. But after the big show
was over, if I had to choose one word
to describe the experience, it would
be a big, fat Yay!
GO BIG OR GO HOME
When I decided to do SURTEX, I tried
to gather as much information as I
possibly could. I read blogs, bought
e-books, listened in on SURTEX webinars and spent way too many hours on
LinkedIn, then put all of that information through a filter and started to
design my whole presentation. My
career has been in graphic design
up to this point. Ive spent years
designing brands and presentations
for other businesses, so it was such a
rewarding experience to put that kind
of effort into my own business. I was
challenged to create things that Id
never done before: I designed a trade
booth, a press kit and a promo video. I
had fabrics printed, made a lookbook
and put ads in publications. I decided
that if I was going to do it, I had to
dive in headfirst. When it was all set
up, it was thrilling to see the whole
package.
SO MAYBE ITS OKAY TO OBSESS?
3 M I L E S C R EAT I V E
S U R FAC E PAT T E R N D E S I G N ST U D I O
ROBYN BOCKMANN
moyodirectory.com/
3milescreative-robynbockmann
Founded in 2013 by designer Robyn Bockmann,

3 Miles Creative is a surface pattern design studio
based in Melbourne, Australia. Drawing from her
textile and graphic design background and 12 years
of industry experience, Robyn creates patterns that
are a mix of hand-drawn and digital graphics, and
that are commercially appealing, modern, colourful,
fun and energetic.
I cant tell you how many nights I lay

awake in bed worrying that I was
going to forget something. I had been
building an epic checklist for months.
But during set-up, I felt like a magician
pulling rabbits out of my hat. Do you
have any safety pins, people asked?
Of course! How about scissors? Two
sets! Tape? Do you want duct, Scotch
or double-sided? I was pretty hard on
myself, and never let myself believe
that I was working enough, but I didnt
want to get to SURTEX and feel like
I could have done more. So even
though I drove myself crazy some
days, I can truly say that I gave it my all
and it was worth it.
LAU R A B U C H A N A N
laurabuchananartist.com
I come from a small town called Ramelton in County
Donegal, Ireland. I completed a BFA, specializing in
printmaking, in 2009, and am undertaking a Masters
in Surface Pattern Design and Textiles at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. My work explores
the link between nostalgia and contemporary design
through colour, photography and pattern. I am
influenced by mid-century modern and Scandinavian
design as well as the Irish designer Orla Kiely.
LINKEDIN LOVER
I love LinkedIn. I went for the
networking opportunities with new
companies, but I stayed for the group
forums. The Art of Licensing group is
amazing, and the first-time SURTEX
exhibitors group was so helpful.
Those groups saved me in so many
ways. Its invaluable to have a forum
to which you can ask questions and

actually have people respond, and its

nice to have people to share the little
adventure with.
ITS SO NICE TO HAVE FRIENDS
TO SHARE IT WITH
I was lucky to have two of my best
friends come with me to New York
and to have such strong support at
my side. It was important for practical
things, like having people to help me
set everything up, impeccably wrap
gift boxes and create beautiful flower
arrangements, and to give me a break
so I could eat lunch and to save me
when things got hairybut more
important, to be my wing-ladies and to
share the experience with me. It was
so much richer of an experience being
surrounded by people who wanted
me to succeed and would share what
felt like mini-triumphs with me.
AND NICE TO MEET NEW
FRIENDS, TOO
I met so many warm, lovely, giving
people and left with a full heart. I met
tonnes of friendly fellow exhibitors
and some of my design crushes, who
are as lovely as they are talented,
like Helen Dardik, Lilla Rogers, Tracy
Walker, Alanna Cavanagh and the
other nice people from i2i Art, Dinara
Mirtalipova, Paper and Cloth, Rebecca
Bischoff, Hannah Rampley, Rachel
Gresham and so many others. I also
met many new companies that were
so down-to-earth and receptive to my
work. I had prepared to pull on some
armour to protect my feelings, but was
so happy that I didnt need to.
successful show is the aftermath. One

thing people tell you is that you need
to consider the show an investment in
your future, and to be aware that the
results may not be seen until youve
exhibited a few times. Everyones
experience is different but I feel really
fortunate to say that I started seeing
the results of the show right away
and that this year has been the most
exciting one yet. Before the show, I
had sent a million submissions to busy
companies by mail or the Internet and
was lucky if I heard back. Exhibiting at
SURTEX was like doing a tonne of art
submissions all at once, but I actually
got to speak to the clients face-toface, and I got to connect with some
of my dream clients as well as companies that I didnt know existed. As a
direct result of SURTEX, I have lots of
new products in the works, including
gift wraps, scrapbooking products,
tech cases, bedding, housewares,
fabric and lots of stationery products.
Its been an incredible year full of hard
work, but I cant wait to do it all again!
AFTER THE SHOW
Elizabeth Olwen is a Toronto-based

surface designer. Inspired by pastoral
beauty, folklore and romance, her work
is driven by the desire to leave something beautiful behind with every step
she takes. Elizabeth creates beautiful
florals, modern geometrics and fun
novelty prints. She has a growing
collection of licensed products
available in the market, working with
clients like Target, Cloud9 Fabrics,
Madison Park Greetings and teNeues
Publishing. She loves old wallpapers
and vintage fabrics, and is hopelessly
devoted to travel.
When I left, I was so happy about

how it went, but the real verdict of a
elizabetholwen.com
M AC R I N A B U SATO
M E LA N I E CA R D E N AS
behance.net/macrinabusato_design
lillarogers.com/macrina-busato/
melaniecardenas.com
quietwhimsy.com
I like to work by hand and to explore the beauty

of images from other periods, to make them say
new things in new contexts while keeping a warm
nostalgia. My works are a mix of handmade drawings, ephemera, typography and calligraphy. I am
a cultural anthropologist who 15 years ago went
progressively into graphics and surface design. My
studio in Madrid sometimes looks more like a library,
full of antique science and technical books, old
magazines and engravings!
Im a Los Angeles-based graphic designer working

at DreamWorks Animation by day and a pattern
designer and maker of paper goods in my spare
time under the name Quiet Whimsy. I draw a lot of
inspiration from mid-century design and particularly
admire the work of Marimekko, Ray Eames, Lucienne
Day, Mary Blair and Vera Neumann. I like to think my
work is a mix of California style with some Scandinavian sensibilities thrown in.
M A R I A CA R LU C C I O
I L LU ST R AT I O N A N D D E S I G N
MARIA CARLUCCIO
mariacarluccio.com
society6.com/mariacarluccio
Ever since I was a child Ive loved to play with colour,
shape and line. I try to approach my art as an adult
in the same way, to enjoy the ride and let it take
me to the places I need to explore. Whether its an
image for a childrens book or a simple watercolour
exploration, I want it to be infused with the random
discoveries I make along the way.
A LA N N A CAVA N AG H
HALLE CISCO
J OJ O C O C O D E S I G N
alannacavanagh.com
alannacavanagh.bigcartel.com
hallecisco.com
JOANNE COCKER
jojococo-design.com
moyodirectory.com/jojococodesign
Alanna Cavanaghs work has a witty, retro sensibility

and is influenced by illustrators of the 1950s and
60s. Her simple but sophisticated drawings have
appeared on many surfaces, including tea towels,
dinner plates, CD covers and postage stamps. Her
client list includes Chronicle Books, Four Seasons
Hotels, Tatty, Target and One Kings Lane. Most recently, Alanna collaborated with teNeues stationery
on a boxed set of notecards that will be released
this spring.

I am an illustrator and designer based in Portland,

Oregon. I have been drawing for as long as I can
remember. I used to obsessively draw house plans
and meticulously glue handmade library cards into
my books. I have taken an art class here and there,
but am mostly self-taught. I rarely draw from real-life
observation, but instead from memory of an object
or person. I use pen and ink and the computer to
add colour to my drawings.
Joanne Cocker is a textile and surface pattern

designer who loves everything patterned and fun.
Based in Stockport in the UK and with over 14 years
experience in the industry, she works with companies on a freelance basis as well as working on her
own designs and brand. She loves to create stories
around her designs and enjoys creating imaginative
pieces. Hand drawing a lot of her designs, she then
adds texture and patterns for her own unique style.
10 T I P S
TO P
MICHELLE ENGEL BENCSKO
CLOUD9 FABRICS
To stand out in a sea of portfolio
submissions, here are some tips to
developing eye-catching fabric collections.
1
Variety of style
may show flexibility but doesnt evince
DEFINE YOUR STYLE.
uniqueness.
2
Whether pen and ink
or Illustrator, be thorough and consistent in
MASTER YOUR TOOLS.
your discipline.
3
Work that is inspired
from within is revealing and captivating.
4
Evoke a mood
SHOW SINCERITY.
EXPRESS THROUGH COLOUR.
that supports a theme.
5
Elaboration on
theme, colour and/or technique shows
GO DEEP AND EXPLORE.
passion.
6
Scale prints up
and/or down to balance and contrast.
7
The quality,
THINK BIG AND SMALL.
PAY ATTENTION TO LINES.
E L I ZA B ET H C O F F EY
ALLISON COLE
A L I S S E C O U RT E R
moyodirectory.com/elizabethcoffey
allisoncoleillustration.com
bangbangyourethread.etsy.com
alissecourter.com
Draw, stamp, scribble, paint, stencil, photograph,

stitch, collage. I love to explore the many ways
to make a mark, and to incorporate the results in
surface patterns. I received a BFA from Virginia
Commonwealth University and work from my studio
in Richmond, Virginia. Designing surface patterns
is the perfect marriage between my careers as a
graphic designer and mixed-media artist. My design
style is sophisticated, clean and modern, but with a
funky, hand-rendered twist.
Allison Cole is an artist, teacher and full-time illustrator working out of a small bungalow in Providence,
Rhode Island. She graduated with a BFA from the
Rhode Island School of Design and has worked with
such clients as Target, Papyrus, Galison/Mudpuppy,
Madison Park Greetings, Keds, The Land of Nod and
Camelot Fabrics. Allisons work spans many different
illustration markets, including editorial, publishing
and licensing. She is represented internationally by
Lilla Rogers Studio.
texture, thickness and colour of a line

punctuates, defines and unifies (as can
a lines absence).
8
The areas
where there is nothing are just as important
EMBRACE NEGATIVE SPACE.
as those where there is something.
Alisse Courter is a Brooklyn-based artist specializing in allover prints in unique colour combinations.
Working mostly digitally, she creates florals, novelty
prints and geometrics that would be at home on
stationery, home goods or anywhere else you can
imagine. She is fairly new to the licensing world and
will be showing at SURTEX for the first time this year
at booth 744.
9
Creative minds are often
on the same wavelength, but even the most
BE ORIGINAL.
10

timeworn ideas can appear fresh. Be aware

of trends that may be pass and promote
your inventive ideas.
C LO U D 9 C O L L ECT I O N S
F R O M TO P TO B OT TO M :
ENCHANTED
BY M I C H E L L E E N G E L
B E N C S KO
G R EY A B B EY
BY E L I Z A B E T H O LW E N
BA R K & B RA N C H
BY E LO I S E R E N O U F
Michelle Engel Bencsko

is the co-founder and
design director at
Cloud9 Fabrics. Cloud9
Fabrics uses only 100%
certified organic cotton
in the manufacturing of
their base cloths and
uses eco-responsible,
low-impact dyes for
printing and dying.
Cloud9 Fabrics is committed to bringing beautiful and unique fabrics
to the home sewing
marketplace and places
a strong emphasis on
the distinction of their
artists, designers and
licensing partners.
cloud9fabrics.com
PLAY.
Enough said.
S I LV I A D E K K E R
S U SA N D R I S C O L L
ELLIE FIDLER
SA R A F R A N K L I N D E S I G N
CA R O LY N F R I E D LA N D E R
R I TA F R ST E N AU
silviadekker.nl
pinterest.com/silviadekker
theprinttree.com
dottywrenstudio.com
elliefidler.com
SARA FRANKLIN
sarafranklindesign.com paper-loop.com
carolynfriedlander.com
rita-fuerstenau.de
blog.rita-fuerstenau.de
Silvia Dekker has been working as a pattern designer

and illustrator for over 12 years. She is known for her
work for the European department store HEMA,
designing artwork for their home and childrens wear
departments. Other clients include Flow magazine,
Target, Hallmark, Oilily, ONeill, Fisher-Price and
teNeues. She loves anything floral, folkores and fairy
tales. Silvia lives in a small town close to Amsterdam
in the Netherlands and is represented by Lilla
Rogers Studio.
I am a freelance surface pattern designer and

illustrator. I create patterns and illustrations for
numerous markets, including stationery, home, gift,
textiles and apparel. I will be exhibiting at SURTEX
2014 as part of the Dotty Wren Studio in booth 834.
The studio is four freelance designers creating trend
led designs for Stationery, apparel, home dcor, gift,
table top and bolt fabric. The Dotty Wren Studio
both license and sell their artwork.
Ellie Fidler is an artist and designer. She has

designed large-scale tapestries for major corporations in Canada and the USA, including TV Guide,
the State of California and Intel. She has an MFA in
textiles from California College of the Arts and has
studied at York University in Toronto. She is inspired
by the tropical gardens and colours of Mexico and
love to create in pen and ink, and paint on paper.
Sara Franklin is an illustrator and surface pattern

designer living in California. She specializes in
mixed-media digital art, from pen and ink drawings,
watercolours and recycled paper textures. Inspired
by colour, nature and general quirkiness, she sees
the world around her as an ongoing illustrated panorama. These patterns are the result of her A Pattern
a Day project. When shes not designing patterns
or greeting cards for her card line Paper Loop, shes
most likely dreaming about Hawaii.

Carolyn Friedlander is a designer working from

her hometown of Lake Wales, Florida, where she
enjoys warm weather, few distractions and a potent
community of creative folks. She draws inspiration
from features of the Florida landscapeits longleaf
pines, palmettos, water, scrub land and sandas well
as her background in architecture. When not designing quilts and fabric, you can find Carolyn sewing,
salvaging fixtures and finds for her 91-year-old farm
house or exploring dirt road scenery.
I live in Kassel, Germany, where I work as a freelance

artist, arts pedagogue and publisher. Besides
my work as an illustrator, I create surface pattern
designs for paper goods, home textiles and stage
costumes. Together with two friends I run the independent publishing house Rotopolpress for graphic
storytelling. Our range of products focuses on comic
and illustration books, but also includes art prints,
paper games, postcards, calendars and hand-printed
sketch booklets.
10 T I P S
TO P
VICTORINE
LAMOTHE,
ASSOCIATE
EDITOR
TENEUES
Greg Irikura/courtesy of teNeues
As associate editor at teNeuesan international

publisher of high-quality calendars, books and
stationery with offices in New York, London and
ParisVictorine Lamothe offers her tips on how to
make a good impression.
INVEST IN A GOOD WEBSITE. Whenever someone emails me with a portfolio

submission, the first thing I do is go straight to
their website. It usually takes me about 20 seconds to decide whether or not Im interested,
so having a top-notch site is a definite plus.
Try to make your site stand out visually, and
organization is also a must. Many artists have
websites that are difficult to navigate, which is
a big turn-off.
FOLLOW UP. Editors are flooded with

queries every day. If you havent heard
back from me, its usually because Ive been
busy or distracted. It doesnt hurt to follow up
about a week after submitting your portfolio.
Following up also shows that youre dedicated
to working with me.
RESEARCH. I cant tell you how many

times Ive received submissions with work
that just isnt our style. Before sending your
portfolio, do your research. Check out other
products that the publisher has done in the
past. Take a look at your artwork and judge
whether or not its appropriate to send to a
particular publisher.
VARIETY, VARIETY, VARIETY. When

submitting your illustrations for review, the
more the better. Many publishers license multiple products with the same artist, and variety
is the key to this. If you only do floral patterns,
try branching out into something else. Showing
versatility is always a good thing.
PROVIDE FEEDBACK. I love it when my

artists tell me what they think of a new
product category or a stationery layout. Were
always striving to improve ourselves and receiving feedback from everyone, including artists, is
very helpful. Its also nice to work with people
who collaborate with you during the entire
process.
BE POLITE. This should be a no-brainer,

but there are many people out there who
dont know how to communicate courteously
and professionally. If someone is impolite, the
chances of me not wanting to work with them
automatically skyrocket. Nobody wants to work
with an unpleasant person.
DONT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS. Is there a licensing proposal point

that you dont understand? Is the process not
completely clear to you? Dont be afraid to send
questions to your editor. It shows me that youre
thorough and care about your work.
PERSISTENCE. Are you having trouble

breaking into the stationery industry? Just
keep it at. Query every single publisher you can
think of, follow up with them and then do it all
over again.
BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU

POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA. One of the
first things I do when vetting a new artist is
google them. If a public Facebook page with
drunken photos or a Twitter account with inappropriate tweets pops up, that shows me that
you dont care about your professional image
on the Internet.
10
BUT BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Create a professional blog, Facebook
page or Instagram account. It absolutely helps
you get your illustrations and your name out
there. As an editor, I really enjoy seeing what all
of my stationery artists are up to. Its also a helpful way to check out someones latest work.
teneues.com
PROMOTION
E C OJ OT
A M P E R SA N D D E S I G N ST U D I O
N ATA L I E G E R B E R
M U F F I N G R AYS O N
CAROLYN GAVIN
ecojot.com designerjots.squarespace.com
MORGAN GEORGIE & CARRIE KIEFER

ampersanddesignstudio.com
nataliegerber.ca
Carolyn Gavin lives in Toronto, Canada, with her

husband Derek, daughter Lily and English Bulldog
Ziggy. Growing up in South Africa, Carolyn has
warm memories of a life filled with exotic colour,
rich imagery and intense contrast. All of this filters
into Carolyns work. She designs for her recycled
paper company Ecojot and freelances through her
agent Lilla Rogers Studio. Carolyn has worked on a
variety of projects, including five fabric collections,
scrapbooking and packaging.
Morgan Georgie and Carrie Kiefer are pattern

designers, graphic designers, shop owners and the
curators of the lifestyle blog Ampersand Design
Studio. After holding various positions at Hallmark
Cards, Morgan and Carrie followed their dream
and left their corporate jobs to start their studio in
2009. Since then, Ampersands modern, happy and
uniquely colourful designs have been produced on
textiles, stationery, home accessories, tech accessories, wall art and clothing fashion.
PAULINE GRAYSON
muffingrayson.com
muffinGrayson.etsy.com
As an artist, designer and producer I create functional design for everyday living. Craftsmanship is
important to my creative process, but so is function.
I combine my love for illustration, surface design and
hand-printed fabrics with conscious material choices
and in-studio practices. My studio focus is boutique
textile printing, but I am also motivated by interdisciplinary and cultural collaborations. Creative alliances
provide opportunities to share knowledge, which
helps round out my work as an artist and designer.
My name is Pauline Grayson, but everyone calls me

Muffin. I am two parts wife and mama, three cups
graphic designer, two tablespoons cookie addict and
one teaspoon baking queen. I am a lover of life, my
hunky husband, two gorgeous littles, living in Utah,
finding joy in the moments and making awesome art.
Im inspired by all things little and sweet and cute,
and am passionate about creating delicious designs
and patterns for those hungry for art!
SA M A N T H A H A H N
I L LU ST R AT I O N
L E N A H KA N S O N
N O N STO P D E S I G N
SAMANTHA HAHN
samanthahahn.com
samanthahahn.com/blog
LENA HKANSON
nonstopdesign.se
Samantha Hahn is a New York-based illustrator working with a range of clients, from the Paris Review,
Vogue Nippon and Galison, to Anthropologie and
Chronicle Books. Shes known for her feminine
watercolours and vibrant surface pattern designs.
She pens the blog Maquette and can also be found
on Pinterest and Instagram.
Pattern design is my passion and I am happy to have

it as an occupation for more than 10 years. I work as
a freelance designer and most of my customers are
Swedish companies, like IKEA. My pattern design is
quite graphic. I like dots in different combinations
and I use lots of colour. Besides designing patterns I
like to screen print and use embroidery in my design.
I also make different collections for my design studio,
non stop design.
N OT T E N E
N A D I A H AS SA N
KIMBERLY ELLEN HALL

nottene.net nottene.etsy.com
nadiahassan.com
patternoftheweek.tumblr.com
Nottene is a multi-disciplinary design studio with a

focus on textiles and illustration. In case you were
wondering, Nottene, pronounced nuh-ten-nuh,
means nuts in Norwegian. The studio is led by
Kimberly Ellen Hall. With a Masters in textiles from
Central Saint Martins, Kimberly has worked from
here to there in publishing, fashion and art. She has
designed for Coach, Hussein Chalayan, the Village
Voice, Peter Jensen, the Denver Art Museum and
others.
Im a colour enthusiast with a passion for patterns.

I delight in applying them to any surface that will
sit still, from fabric to phone covers to entire city
streets! Its said that variety is the spice of life, and
my designs are a celebration of this old adageI
enjoy experimenting with style and motifs, while developing fun, fresh colourways is the common thread
and the driving force behind my work.
E R I CA H I T E I L LU ST R AT I O N
AND DESIGN
P E R U N OTO
ERICA HITE
ericahite.com
PETRA HOFMANN
perunoto.blogspot.de
de.dawanda.com/shop/perunoto
Erica Hite lives in a southern town in California

where almost all of the days are sunny and not a
cloud exists in the sky. Her rambunctious two little
boys keep her busy during the day running to fun
destinations, playing games or concocting interesting new cooking feats in the kitchen. At night after
their bedtime, Erica heads to her studio, puts on
earbuds and sketches, paints, uses her computer or
simply takes the time to daydream.
Petra Hofmann is a pattern designer from Germany.

She has a degree in graphic design and worked several years as a packaging designer before recently
started her own label. Shes a lover of travel and music, where her inspiration comes from. Her process
begins with putting pen to paper. She uses her hand
and her heart to create beautiful, bold patterns for
her own paper and textile products. She welcomes
licensing opportunities and commissions.
CO LO U R F U L STA S H
W E L L- O R GA N I Z E D Q U I LT E R S , L I K E A N G E L A P I N G E L O F C U T
TO P I EC E S , O F T E N SO RT T H E I R FA B R I C STA S H BY C O LO U R .
EXPERT ADVICE
HOW WILL THE DESIGN READ IF ITS CUT

AND SEWN SIDEWAYS OR UPSIDE DOWN?
The thing that makes textiles different from other

surfaces is that they will be cut up, and in some
cases sewn into three-dimensional shapes. Although
quilters and sewists do use one-directional fabrics,
its much easier to work with designs that dont read
as upside down or sideways when turned different
directions. Tossed, or two-way, repeats work best
best for most sewing projects.
IS THE REPEAT SUBTLE?
There will always be a repeat when designs are

printed on fabric, but the more subtle it is, the better.
Sewists and quilters shouldnt have to think about
where to cut or not cut based on the repeat.
ARE THE COLOURS GOING TO COORDINATE WITH OTHER FABRICS?
Although apparel sewists often buy their fabric on

a project-by-project basis, craft sewists and quilters
are well-known for building up a stash, or a ready
supply of small cuts of many fabrics that theyll pull
from as theyre planning their work. A beautiful print
might be the inspiration for a new project, but quilters will often turn to their stash for coordinating or
complementary, supporting fabrics. Its wonderful if
new fabric collections introduce beautiful emerging
colours, but if they also include familiar colours from
the past few years its even better.
PRETTY PRINTS
S M A L L- SCA L E P R I N T S F R O M L I B E RT Y, I N LO N D O N , L I K E
T H OS E I N T H I S P I L LOW D E S I G N E D BY C O R E Y YO D E R O F
L I T T L E M I S S S H A B BY, H AV E B E E N P O P U L A R W I T H S E W I ST S
FO R N E A R LY 1 0 0 Y E A R S .
IS THE SCALE GOING TO WORK FOR

A VARIETY OF PROJECTS?
Oversized designs that youd put on a sofa probably

wont look good on a human body and wont make
much sense if theyre cut up for a quilt. Large-scale
prints can be great for bags, bedding and decor applications, but quilters and craft sewists are typically
drawn to medium- and small-scale prints.
WILL THE DESIGN WORK IF ITS

PRINTED ON STRETCHY FABRICS OR
WORN OVER CURVES?
10 T I P S
TO P
KRISTIN LINK
Most modern apparel fabrics have a bit of stretch to

them, and all human bodies have curves, so unless
a print is being designed specifically for quilting
cotton, it helps to consider how it will look when
stretched over a round baby belly, a pointy elbow or
a full-size bust.
SEW MAMA SEW

H AYJAYO H
HAYLEY HOLDEN
hayjayoh.com
hayjayoh.wordpress.com
My surface design brand is called HayJayOH.
I create patterns inspired by fantasy, reality and
world culture using creative drawing techniques.
My designs reflect an appreciation of colour, found
objects, texture and unusual composition. I love combining contemporary digital printing techniques with
traditional handcrafted surface embellishments. I am
open for licensing deals, collaborations and creative
freelance projects.
Over the past 10 years Ive been both a retail

buyer and passionate consumer of sewing
fabric. Although I can typically make a decision
about whether or not to buy something at
a quick glance, every once in a while I find
that I love a design but wish the artist knew
more about sewing and quilting. Here are 10
questions to consider if youre trying to market
your designs to the sewing industry.
F U S SY C U T T I N G
A N E XC E L L E N T E X A M P L E O F A Q U I LT D E S I G N E D FO R F U S SY
C U T T I N G I S T H E V E RY P O P U L A R EC O N O M Y B LO C K BY
R I TA H O D G E O F R E D P E P P E R Q U I LT S .
ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES

FOR FUSSY CUTTING?
Quilters often cut around a design element on a

piece of fabric in order to frame it exactly the way
they want within their work. Some quilt patterns
are designed to take advantage of graphic prints.
Illustrations with a bit of white space around them
are ideal for this type of work.
ARE THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON-TREND?
IF ITS A COLLECTION OF PRINTS, DOES

IT TELL A STORY OR EVOKE A MOOD?
From owls to hedgehogs to fox to deer, quilters and

apparel-sewing moms cant wait to catch the next
trend in illustrated animals and other cute graphics.
If the images seem a year or even a season past their
prime, however, bolts of fabric can sit until the trend
is revised.
Great fabric designers often develop their collections around a central theme, so the prints are either
conceptually related (the sea, skiing, the night sky)
or stylistically related (trade blankets, watercolour,
Scandinavian art). Sewists and quilters will buy a
bundle (a stack of small cuts) of a complete fabric
collection, not just for the individual prints but for
the story or mood of the group as a whole.
S E T T I N G T R E N DS
D E S I G N E R L I Z Z Y H O U S E B OT H FO L LOW S T R E N DS A N D
STA RT S T H E M . A G R E AT E X A M P L E I S H E R N E W CAT N A P C O LL ECT I O N FO R A N D OV E R , A S S E E N O N T H E SW E E T H E A RT
D R E S S BY S H A N N O N C O O K O F V E RY S H A N N O N .
IF ITS A COLLECTION, ARE THERE

COORDINATING DESIGNS TO SUPPORT
THE FEATURE PRINTS?
Although craft sewists and quilters are drawn to
unique graphic designs, a large percentage of what
they actually buy are blenders, or supporting prints
that can complement a variety of feature fabrics.
Often geometric, sometimes tone-on-tone and
usually small scale, coordinating blenders in a variety
of colours can make the difference between a good
fabric collection and a great one.
10
DOES IT INSPIRE?
Sewists and quilters are passionate about print and

patternthey are artists and fabric is their medium!
There is nothing they love more than something
beautiful and unique that inspires them to create.
They have a certain je ne sais quoiyou only know
it when you see it, but youre always keeping an eye
out for it. Great textiles inspire creativity in other
makers, and thats a beautiful thing.
Kristin Link is the mastermind behind the

popular sewing community Sew Mama Sew.
With 10 years of industry experience, Kristin is able
to work with designers, manufacturers, publishers, shop owners, authors and bloggers to publish
unique, high-quality tutorials, industry news and
sewing inspiration every day.
sewmamasew.com
J I L L H OWA RT H I L LU ST R AT I O N K H R I ST I A N A . H OW E L L
C O LO R + PAT T E R N
JILL HOWARTH
jillhowarth.carbonmade.com
shamelesslycute.blogspot.com
KHRISTIAN A. HOWELL
khristianahowell.com
I am a freelancing mom of three, living near Boston.

My background is in graphic design. I am passionate
about hand lettering, childrens products and surface
pattern design. I stumbled into a career in illustration. As an art director at Hasbro Toys, I embellished
collateral and product packaging with drawings.
Requests for my illustrations began to come in, and
before long I was doing more drawing and less
layout design, and I liked it!
Khristian is a colour and pattern expert whose bold

designs cover an eclectic range of styles. She loves
to play with ideas of hard and soft, light and dark,
and feminine and masculine. She delivers colourfocused, modern work with a touch of romance and
edge. Her work has been featured in ELLE DECOR,
Real Simple and HGTV Magazine. She contributes to
Better Homes and Gardens and her clients include
3M, The Land of Nod and Blend Fabrics.
F R A N C E S CA I A N N AC C O N E
ZO E I N G R A M
V I CTO R I A J O H N S O N
J U DY KAU F M A N N
francescaiannaccone.com
mrseliotbooks.etsy.com
zoeingram.com
lillarogers.com /zoe-ingram
victoriajohnsondesign.com
victoriajohnsondesignblog.blogspot.it
hellopattern.com
judykaufmann.com
Francesca Iannaccone uses bright colour palettes,

layered textures and sharp, clean graphics with a
mid-century influence, breaking down the detail into
shape, colour and pattern. She uses both handdrawn and digital elements, as well as natural and
found textures. As well as designing and licensing
her work for publishing, Francesca sells her prints
and cards from her online shop and to retailers in
the UK and abroad.
Zoe Ingram is a surface designer and illustrator with

an honours degree in printed textile design. Her
work has been described as design with a twist,
lush, colourful, elegant, playful and organic. Zoe
loves colour and often uses hand lettering, layering
and textures in her work. Her clients include Robert
Kaufman Fabrics, Midwest-CBK, Quarry Books,
American Greetings and IKEA. Zoe won an international talent search and is now represented by Lilla
Rogers Studio. SURTEX booth 317.
Im an English print designer in Rome. I worked in

New York for 12 years, eventually co-owning and running a design studio specializing in womenswear and
paper product design. My work is heavily influenced
by my years in the fashion industry. I love harmonious, wearable colour and vintage-inspired imagery.
Ive worked with many leading retailers and have
been featured on Print and Pattern blog numerous
times. Ill be exhibiting at SURTEX in 2014.
Coming from the world of illustration, Judy

Kaufmann has recently open up new horizons into
the world of illustrated patterns, creating contemporary, innovated, eclectic and unique artworks,
designed for any kind of surface.
W E N DY K E N DA L L
JOSEPHINE KIMBERLING
S U D E N M A R JA
TA B U LA R O S I
ST E P H A N I E KU B O
wendykendalldesigns.com
dottywrenstudio.com
josephinekimberling.com
facebook.com/JosephineKimberling
MARIANNE KIVIMKI
sudenmarja.fi
JANNA KRUPINSKI
www.tabula-rosi.de
stephaniekubo.com
stephaniekubo.tumblr.com
Wendy Kendall is a freelance surface pattern

designer based in Staffordshire, England. With an
obsession for home interiors, she has over 12 years
experience working for UK home textile manufacturers. She has developed her own unique style
combining hand-drawn, quirky outlines with linen
textures and pattern fills, and her simplistic, clean
design elements fuse with stunning palettes and
repeats. She is exhibiting at SURTEX for the first
time this year at booth 834.
Inspiring happiness through pattern and paint is

the mission of Josephine Kimberlings lifestyle brand,
which specializes in surface pattern and painted
artworks. Josephine is inspired by flowers and animals, as well as the gorgeous patterns and colours
that come down the runway. Her artwork collections
offer a unique combination of fashionable pattern,
trend-right designs and commercial appeal, which
contributes to creating compelling product lines for
a wide range of categories.
I am a graphic designer and illustrator from

Finland. We have a little letterpress studio in our
home and we make lovely letterpress cards with a
brand called sudenmarja. Very often the pictures
from our sudenmarja cards later become patterns.
The basis of my illustrations and prints is bringing happiness and joy. The inspiration for my work
comes from everyday life: family, nature, home and
children. I get new energy and new ideas from
the forest.
Tabula Rosi is the alter ego of Janna Krupinski, a

German-based graphic designer with an obsession
for all things fun and colourful. After working as an
art director in advertising agencies for several years,
she is now working as a freelance designer. On her
blog Tabula Rosi, started in 2012 as a playground for
her creative endeavours, she shares her craft and
sewing projects as well as her passion for designing
colourful fabrics and fun illustrations.
I am a freelance illustrator currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. I work in various media,
most of which find their way into my pattern designs.
Recently, the patterns I have been working on focus
on nature and ambiance. I enjoy creating patterns
that evoke a certain feeling or atmosphere rather
than draw attention to one particular element in the
design. I want to allow the eye to travel around.
J OY LA F O R M E
D E S I G N & I L LU ST R AT I O N
JOY LAFORME
joylaforme.com
Im a designer and illustrator from New York with
a passion for colour and design inspired by nature
and life. I have a Masters degree in Design from
Savannah College of Art and Design, and my journey
through this industry has been teaching me what the
industry needs, and how I can fit into it. Ive learned
that I have a natural ability to see life in print and pattern, which has opened up a passion in me.
10 T I P S
TO P
EMMA MAWSTON,
HEAD OF DESIGN
LIBERTY
ART FABRICS
mma Mawston has been working with the

famed British institution Liberty of London
for more than twenty years. As head of design, she is the eye that is in charge of creating prints for both fashion and home fabric lines. Working
with her team as well as freelance artistsand access to
an archive of prints dating back to the 1870sthe prints
that Liberty produce are part of an important heritage of
textiles. Emma shares the ten hallmarks (plus a bonus
eleventh) of what makes a classic Liberty print.
1 Be inspired by and love what you do.

2 Team work
3 Come up with original briefs for design

and colour that blend effortlessly
with Libertys heritage.

BECOME A CLASSIC
4 Research
5 Have hand-drawn and painted art work.
6 Have an amazing archive.
7 Have creative digital

and hand repeat work.
8 Be constantly pushing the boundaries

of both screen and digital printing.

9 Feedback
10 Understand the way print works

on both the body and in interiors.

11 Create designs that are timeless.
liberty.co.uk
L I B E RT Y P R I N T S F R O M TO P TO B OT TO M : ASA K A BY H I N A AOYA M A ,
W I N D RUS H BY H E L E N M U S S E LW H I T E , W I L D F LOW E R S BY S U B L AC K W E L L
GA B R I E LA LA R I O S D E S I G N S
S U S S E C O L L E CT I O N
AS H L EY LOT E C K I
GABRIELA LARIOS
gabrielalarios.com
gabotelarios.blogspot.co.uk
SUSSE LINTON
susse.co.uk
thesmashworks.com
I am a London-based pattern designer and illustrator

producing designs for international clients, including
fashion and homeware accessories, fabric companies, wallpaper and wall art. I obtained an MA from
Camberwell College of Arts in 2007 as an Alban
scholarship awardee. My art depicts imaginative,
fun and colourful illustrations inspired by childhood
experiences in my native country of El Salvador and
my love for nature and story tales.

I am a designer based in London. I create surface

pattern designs and illustrations that are applied to
fashion fabrics, home ware and paper products, with
the intention of adding fun to everyday objects and
bringing happiness into the world. I love to work
in different media, including embroidery, paint and
on the computer. My inspiration comes from many
everyday things, from travel to vintage graphics to
colour. My mission is to add fun to your day.
Ashley Lotecki grew up on the Canadian Prairies,

where extremes of weather encouraged excessive
amounts of make believe and art creation. From
here, an enthusiastic passion for design was the logical progression. Ashleys style is fluid, asymmetrical
and quirky. She enjoys creating whimsical pieces that
give a sense of movement and life, often inspired by
childhood memories and antique objects. In 2013,
Ashley started her own freelance design studio with
a focus on illustration and surface pattern design.
DAW N M AC H E L L
L I ZZ I E M AC KAY
H O L LY M AG U I R E
M AS H A M A N A P OV
M I C H E L L E M A N O LOV
G I N A M A RT I N
dawnmachell.co.uk pop-i-cok.blogspot.co.uk
lizziemackay.com
dottywrenstudio.com
hollymaguire.co.uk
hollymaguireuk.etsy.com
mashkaman.com
dvashop.com
patternandco.com
gina-martin.com
Im a freelance designer from Somerset in England.

Ive been designing for over 15 years with an
established background in childrenswear print and
am now embracing other areas of surface pattern,
including greeting cards, wall art, books and fabric.
Last year I came together with three other designers
and formed Dotty Wren Studio to showcase our
work, and were exhibiting at SURTEX this year, at
booth 834. Come and say hello!
I am an illustrator based in Bristol, UK, with a big passion for surface pattern and textiles. My work tends
to include detailed yet playful and bright imagery
made using gouache, and pen and ink. I really enjoy
being able to apply my work to homeware, clothing
and functional items. My patterns are inspired by vintage design, packaging, fashion and popular culture.
They often feature elements of nature and food, as
well as everyday objects.
Masha Manapov is a multi-discipline designer and

illustrator based in Tel Aviv, working on commissions
with local and European clients. After receiving
a Bachelor of Design, Masha has exhibited and
published her work in various print and online publications worldwide. Her work focuses mainly on print
and press media, specializing in conceptual, colourful and textured imagery. Recently she launched her
online shop of paper products and designed goods.
I am a freelance texture artist and surface pattern

designer, an enthusiastic photographer and a
blogger who loves colouring in whilst exploring
the world! Designing patterns and illustrations is
a passion. By combining my love of textures and
decorative motifs (from florals to geometric designs,
dancing bunnies to colourful birds), I am happy to
spend many an hour drawing and doodling from
my studio in Bavaria, working for a diverse range of
companies.
Gina Martin is a Kansas City-based illustrator and

surface designer. After working as a designer for
Hallmark Cards, she started her own business as
an independent designer. Since then, shes been
fortunate to collaborate with some of the biggest
names in the retail, fabric, gifts, tabletop and social
expression industries. Ginas colourful and happy
collections are inspired by her love of all things
vintage as well as folk art and traditional crafts.
Dawn Machell is a freelance designer and illustrator

from West Yorkshire in the UK, specialising in the
baby and childrens markets. Her quirky-but-cute
designs have appeared on a wide range of products,
including apparel, stationery, nursery interiors, greeting cards and toys. Her work is created digitally,
using Illustrator and Photoshop, and also with
applique/embroidery and collage/mixed media. She
will be showing at SURTEX for the first time this year
with the Dotty Wren Studio.
T R ACY M AT TO C KS
PA P E R _ H O U S E S
A M A N DA M C G E E D E S I G N S
J I M M EZ E I D E S I G N
MIRDINARA
SA R A CAST R O M O N T E I R O
theispot.com/artist/tmattocks
tracymattocks.com
MHAIRI MCDOWALL
moyodirectory.com/mhairimcdowall
AMANDA MCGEE
amandamcgeedesigns.com
JIM MEZEI
jimmezei.com
DINARA MIRTALIPOVA
mirdinara.com
saracastromonteiro.com
Im an illustrator and designer. Ive been passionate

about drawing since I was a wee child and am happy
to say that Im still going strong! Throughout the
years Ive been perfecting my craft and evolving as
an artist and Im amazed at how much growth each
year brings. Creating art brings me so much joy
and I hope it brings the same joy to its recipients!
I have a special love for anything related to
stationery and giftwrap!
Mhairi McDowall is a Scottish surface pattern

designer. Both her mother and grandmother made
their own clothes and loved to cross-stitch, setting
Mhairi onto a creative path. Her home surroundings
in Scotland and man-made structures are strong
influences on her designs. Mhairi has her own label,
Paper_Houses, creating colourful designs with a soft
geometric style. Mhairi believes that colourful patterns add an electric hit to your life that encourages
you to be bold.
Amanda McGee is a designer and illustrator based

in Ohio who creates art that is bright and cheerful,
inspired by vintage and retro styles, whimsical, cute
and joyful. She creates digitally and using traditional
media, drawing and painting by hand. I am fond of
hand lettering, adore vintage textiles, love creating
craft templates and enjoy sewing. My favourite place
to sketch and develop ideas is in the comfort of my
light-filled sun room, with a strong cup of coffee!
Im an illustrator and designer from Stratford,

Ontario. I often work with relief prints when creating
patterns because I love the subtle differences you
get when you print by hand. These little imperfections and the process keep me going back to it
and experimenting with how I can manipulate the
medium.
Dinara Mirtalipova is a Uzbek girl and a self-taught illustrator and pattern designer. She seeks inspiration
in fairy tales, folklore, native songs and traditional
ornaments. With a love of travel and adventure,
Dinara found herself in snowy Ohio, where she lives
with her husband and their daughter. Her best inspirations come at night. She closes her eyes and immediately patterns flourish in front of her. She keeps
a sketchbook on her night table to catch these ideas
before they disappear.
Im a textile and surface designer with a passion for

pattern. My style can be described as colourful, bold
and geometric. Im inspired by strong and vibrant
colours because they make me feel so alive. I try to
create that same feeling with my designs in the hope
of inspiring people. Colours have a tremendous
effect on our mood, so surrounding ourselves with
great colours can only make us happier!
O N - D E M A N D FA B R I C
STEPHEN FRASER, C0-FOUNDER
SPOONFLOWER
An easy digital printing service turns your
fabric (and wallpaper, and wrapping
paper!) dreams into reality.
J E N EA N M O R R I S O N
A RT & D E S I G N
JENEAN MORRISON
jeneanmorrison.com
Residing in Memphis, Tennessee, I spend most of my
days making art. Much of that art comes in the form
of patterns, whether it be for my fabrics (licensed to
Free Spirit Fabric) or my line of Pattern and Design
colouring books. My patterns mix complex, detailed
line work with a sophisticated palette, featuring both
hand-drawn and computer-generated elements. I
have a strong love of detail and passion for design
from the 1950s and 1960s.
Spoonflower was my wifes idea. Six

years ago, I was an Internet consultant who knew nothing about sewing
or fabric or textile design. My wife,
Kim, on the other hand, was someone
who loved fabric and making things.
She decided to make new curtains
for our den, and as she searched for
the perfect material, mentioned how
cool she thought it would be if she
could design her own fabric. For an
Internet geek like me, it seemed that she should be able to use the web
to design her own fabric. Previously, I had worked for a startup that
allowed people to publish and sell their own books. Creating a similar service that would allow people to create and sell their own fabric
designs seemed as if it shouldnt be too difficult. I approached an entrepreneurial friend, Gart Davis, about the idea of launching Spoonflower. Of course I was completely wrong about the not too difficult
part, but it turned out that there were a large number of creative people
who were hungry to design their own fabric. Spoonflower became the
worlds first service to allow average people to create fabric through
the Internet.
HOW HAS IT GROWN AND EVOLVED SINCE THE ORIGINAL VISION FOR
THE COMPANY?
Spoonflower evolved from a proof-of-concept site in our first year

that simply allowed people to get their own fabric designs into a global
marketplace and that allowed independent artists to sell their surface
designs on different materials. This was a major change, and in its own
way paralleled the market-changing shift that transformedand con-
P H OTO O F ST E P H E N F R A S E R : L E I G H A N N H I N E S P H OTO G R A P H Y
HOW DID SPOONFLOWER BEGIN?
tinues to transformindustries like the music and video industries. Just as video consumers now expect to be able to watch any
movie they want, fabric buyers are starting to
expect to be able to buy whatever design they
want, on whatever fabric they need. Want
dachshunds on organic cotton? Choose between 80 different dachshund fabric designs.
Want to cover a chair with zombie twill? Go
to Spoonflower and scroll through pages of
options. Spoonflower has also grown to offer
wallpaper and gift wrap, in addition to fabric.
The shop section of our website is probably
the largest marketplace for surface designs
by indie designers anywhere in the world.
HOW MANY YARDS OF FABRIC ARE TYPICALLY
PRODUCED BY SPOONFLOWER IN A DAY?
We produce over 2,000 yards of fabric per day.

WHO IS THE TYPICAL SPOONFLOWER CUSTOMER? OR IS THERE SUCH A CUSTOMER? I
SAW THAT A RECENT CHALLENGE WINNER
WAS CREATED BY A PHYSICIAN!
All kinds of people use Spoonflower to design

fabric. I still think of the typical customer
as someone like my wife, who is not a professional designer but loves to make things.
Shes messed around with creating her own
designs, but also buys fabric from the marketplace for specific projectsmost recently a
horse design on organic cotton knit to make a
new blanket for one of our daughters. We also
service customers who run small businesses
making and selling things through Etsy or
through boutique shops or services. Theres
also the many talented artists from all over
the world who have been drawn to fabric design as a medium, partly because of the success and notoriety weve achieved.
The designer you mentioned is Dennis Bennett ( spoonflower.com/profiles/dennisthebadger ), a physician from Germany who
designs and sells fabric in his spare time on
Spoonflower. Many of these artists have gone

from winning fans in our community, often

through participation in our weekly design
challenges, to being offered contracts as
professional fabric designers, with lines of
fabric available through well-known companies like Robert Kaufman Fabrics and
Timeless Treasures.
THE WEEKLY DESIGN CHALLENGES YIELD
SOME IMPRESSIVE RESULTS, BOTH IN QUALITY OF DESIGN AND THE SHEER NUMBER OF
PARTICIPANTS. HOW ARE CONTEST THEMES
DETERMINED?
Picking contest themes is a lot of fun, and

between the suggestions people send us and
our own creative team we never seem to run
out of ideas. Im proud to say that weve held
close to 300 weekly design challenges at this
point and have yet to repeat a theme. The biggest challenge is not in coming up with new
ideas but coming up with ideas that balance
accessibility with our desire to inspire original work. Vintage is a fun idea, for example,
but at this point we know that if we did a contest with that theme, the likely result would
be a lot of people submitting vintage artwork
they found on the Internet. It would be hard
to separate the work of skilled artists trying
to make their own work look vintage from
actual vintage art being submitted by people
who are just good scavengers of old artwork.
So instead of vintage, we might try vintage gadgets. Having said that, most contest
themes we choose have strengths and drawbacks. In the interest of encouraging people
to think of our contests as accessible and fun,
rather than cutthroat competitive, we moderate the entries very lightly. This is invariably
frustrating to the more competitive artists
who participate, but I think its a good balance
of interests most of the time.
AS MANUFACTURERS OF WHAT CONSUMERS
AND DESIGNERS WANT TO HAVE MADE IN THE
MOMENT, YOU LIKELY SEE TRENDS EMERGE
BEFORE TRADITIONAL FABRIC COMPANIES
CAN REACT. HOW DOES SPOONFLOWER USE

THIS TO THEIR ADVANTAGE?
Hah! Note to self: we should try to figure out

a way to use that to our advantage. We really
see Spoonflower as a tool and a platform for
artists and creative people. I mentioned that
many designers who have become popular
on our site have gone on to launch successful lines of fabric for established companies.
In the past weve been asked how we could
better profit from our position at the beginning of that chain of success, but our position
is that we are here to support artists by empowering them. Even if Spoonflower is just a
stepping stone for an artists success, we feel
really good about that. Our business model
is built around a technology and a platform
that is accessible to many people, rather than
around our ability to predict bestsellers and
identify upcoming talents.
WHAT TRENDS IN COLOURS AND/OR THEMES
DO YOU SEE EMERGING?
We still see a lot of the chevron, arrow, triangle trend in surface designs, with lots of greys
and muted, almost pastel, colourspopular
both in fabric and in wallpaper. As a longerterm trend, wallpaper is still on the upswing,
especially in the US, where it has generally
been much less popular than in Europe. Last
but not least, whales are the new owls.
DO OTHER COMPANIES USE SPOONFLOWER
AS A SOURCEBOOK FOR POTENTIAL DESIGNERS?
Yes! Fabric companies regularly mine Spoonflower for promising designers, and, to our
delight, many of the artists who first discovered fabric design through Spoonflower have
gone on to launch successful lines. We also
cosponsor a design contest each year with
Robert Kaufman Fabrics called Fabric8 (fabric8contest.com), the winner of which goes on
to sign a contract with Kaufman.
WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL DESIGN?
I think what makes fabric designs successful

is texture, which is ironic given that we sell
fabric over the Internet, where its impossible
to feel the texture. But in digital designjust
as in the brick-and-mortar world, where the
texture of fabric is a primary factortexture
is one of the things that makes a surface design stand out. You can see this in the work
of Holli Zollinger (spoonflower.com/profiles/
holli _zollinger), one of Spoonflowers most
successful designers. Her artwork is not
flashy and her colours, from a digital standpoint, are quite simple and restrained, but she
really incorporates texture successfully into
colour and pattern in a way that is beautiful
and pleasing. The other sorts of designs that
are successful, at least in commercial terms,
are niche subjectslike my earlier examples
of dachshund fabric and zombie fabric. These
are narrow and specific subjects, which
means that while they may not have huge
audiences, they are easily located by people
searching on Google. Because the competition for this sort of fabric is limited, they can
often sell successfully in the marketplace.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH COPYRIGHT ISSUES?
Like YouTube and Tumblr and all the other

services that allow people to publish and distribute digital content, Spoonflower has some
liability in terms of copyright. The terms of
service of our website prohibit people from
uploading content that does not belong to
them, but that goes ignored by some and is
misunderstood by many. Were somewhat
lucky in that our fabric, which is digitally
printed on demand, is typically more expensive than the mass-produced fabric you might
find in a store. This means theres not a big incentive to steal designs from a popular fabric
designer like Amy Butler and post them on

Spoonflower. If you can buy her fabric in the
store or on Spoonflower, youll do much better
to buy it in the store. That reduces, but does
not remove, the incentive for piracy. Part of
our challenge is that we have thousands of
designs being uploaded to the site every day,
around the clock. As a small company with
limited resources we try to keep our policy
relatively simple. Whenever we are notified
by intellectual property owners that theyve
identified violations of their rights on Spoonflower, we respond promptly by removing the
content and, in many cases, suspending the
customer that uploaded it.
HOW DOES SPOONFLOWER BENEFIT DESIGNERS HOPING TO START A CAREER IN SURFACE
PATTERN DESIGN?
First of all, we set out to make it easy and affordable to experiment with fabric design.
Its free to use our site, to create an account to
store designs and to mess around in the preview function with different styles of repeat.
Ordering a swatch of one of your own designs
costs just $5. Were extremely proud that our
site is used by students and by art teachers
to introduce young people to fabric design as
an art form. We also give people the power to
make their designs viewable by the Spoonflower community, which gives them the
opportunity to find new fans, be inspired by
other artists and get feedback on their work.
A big part of being discovered on Spoonflower
is our weekly design challenge, which acts
as a weekly design brief to help inspire new
work. Setting aside the competitive sensibilities of many veteran designers, we try to make
the contest whimsical, fun and accessible. As
Ive mentioned, through the platform of our
contests, many designers have gone on to get
the attention of mainstream fabric compa-
nies and to begin careers as surface pattern

designers. Having said that, surface pattern
design is a pretty hard way to make a living,
but its a nice way to augment your day job.
CAN YOU SHARE SOME CUSTOMER SUCCESS
STORIES?
Laurie Wisbrun, the author of Mastering

the Art of Fabric Printing and Design, is a
successful designer who has credited Spoonflower with helping her get started with the
medium. Weve had many others follow the
same route, including Mark Cesarik, who designs for FreeSpirit; Patty Sloniger, who designs for Michael Miller; Andie Hanna, who
designs for Robert Kaufman; and Samarra
Khaja, who has done a number of designs for
Timeless Treasures. Weve also seen Spoonflower used in innovative ways by many
aspiring fashion designers, including some
who have gone on to show apparel during
New York Fashion Week and on a fashion-related reality show that shall remain nameless.
WHO ARE SOME OF THE TOP DESIGNERS ON
SPOONFLOWER?
I mentioned Holli Zollinger, who is terrifically popular. The Dutch artist Deborah van
de Leijgraaf (spoonflower.com/profiles/bora )
is another popular designer who has won
many contests. Annelie Hervi (spoonflower.
com/profiles/mrshervi ) is another great designer. There are many! You can browse some
of our bestsellers by visiting our main shopping page.
IM THRILLED TO SEE WALLPAPER, GIFT WRAP

AND OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE. WHAT OTHER
PRODUCT OFFERINGS ARE IN STORE?
This year were continuing to roll out new

fabrics, including a line of technical fabrics
from synthetic fibers that are really lovely
and versatile. The colour on the new fabrics
is just terrific. Every couple of months were
planning to hold a 24-hour promotion, a Free
Swatch Day, during which anyone can get a
printed swatch of any of our fabrics for free,
which is a great way to try out a new fabric,
but also a great excuse to try your hand at fabric design for the first time. Were also looking
to add a non-vinyl, peel-and-stick, removable
wallpaper to our wallpaper lineup.
TELL US ABOUT THE SPOONFLOWER BOOK.
Weve very excited about the Spoonflower

book, which is scheduled to launch in the fall
from STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books. It is
the result of collaboration with writers and
contributors from within the Spoonflower
community. The book will offer an introduction to designing your own fabric, in the context of a series of about 30 projects, from personalized quilt tags to a pillow in the shape of
your own pet. The techniques are meant to
allow even a novice to enter the world of digital surface pattern design, and the projects
themselves range from the sort of thing you
could do with a kid to complex ideas that are
sure to inspire even veteran designers.
S P O O N F LOW E R FA B R I C S I N O R D E R O F
A P P E A R A N C E I N T H I S A RT I C L E
W H A L E A N D 4 S H I P S BY D E N N I ST H E BA D G E R
DO YOU HAVE ADVICE FOR ASPIRING SURFACE

PATTERN DESIGNERS?
Dont be afraid to experiment! Fabric is like

pizzaeven a bad design printed on pretty
cotton is still kind of nice.
N E W Y E A RS R E SO L U T I O N S TAG S BY E N D E M I C
S M A L L SCA L E G EO M E T R I C FAT Q U A RT E R B U N D L E
D I M S U M D E S I G N C H A L L E N G E FAT Q U A RT E R B U N D L E
D I M S U M D E S I G N C H A L L E N G E W I N N E R BY C J L D E S I G N S
spoonflower.com

S H A N N O N N EW L I N L LC
N E I KOA RT. C O M
SHANNON NEWLIN
moyodirectory.com/shannonnewlin
NEIKO NG
neikoart.com
forestfoundry.com
Shannon Newlin is an emerging illustrator and

painter. Her professional experience includes over 10
years in product development and design. She has
designed several Disney Consumer Product style
guides in addition to developing multiple product
lines as creative director for a licensee. She now
devotes her energy to following her passion in paint,
pen and ink and mixed media. Shannon loves to
discover new ways to create surface pattern designs
through expressive colour and movement.
Neiko Ng is an illustrator whose work has been

exhibited in the US and abroad, including New York,
San Francisco, Shanghai and Hong Kong. She is a
proud member of the Forest Foundry art collective,
which will be attending SURTEX 2014, at booth 726.
FA B R I C D R AW E R
J E S S I CA N I E LS E N
E M I N E O RT E GA
A M Y P E P P L E R A DA M S
JILLIAN PHILLIPS
S U SY P I LG R I M WAT E R S
REBECCA NG
fabricdrawer.com.au
jessicanielsen.nl
jenielsen.etsy.com
emineortega.com
emineortega.carbonmade.com
pennycandyhandmade.com
spoonflower.com/profiles/pennycandy
jillyp.co.uk
ichinithree.com
pilgrimwaters.com
Im a graphic designer and a mad fabric collector

who has only recently entered the surface pattern
design world, after realising that I love creating
pretty patterns. The name Fabric Drawer came
about because I initially wanted to open my own
fabric store, but now I want to be the one who is designing the fabrics. I have a soft spot for pretty florals
and using line work, but I still enjoy experimenting
with different styles.
Jessica Nielsen is an illustrator and surface pattern designer who loves to make bold and bright
coloured designs. She finds inspiration from shapes
and colours in nature, which she translates into her
signature graphic style. Her patterns have been
licensed for wrapping papers, pillow covers, tents,
cards and gift tags. Next to commissions she designs
and develops her own paper and textile products.
I am a NYC textile/surface pattern designer with a

background in designing prints for fashion and home
furnishings. I was classically trained in hand-painted
design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and in
Rome, Italy. My patterns are an expression of my love
of colour. I am inspired by natural, organic shapes
and in particular by the beauty of flowers. My
designs usually begin as original drawings or paintings that are then digitally enhanced. They are sold
and licensed worldwide.
After 20 years as a graphic designer, Amy Peppler

Adams turned her focus to pattern and surface design. Working under the name Penny Candy, she has
licensed fabric collections with Riley Blake Designs.
Her work has been featured in books and magazines
in the US and internationally. A kid at heart and an
avid collector, Amy is inspired by anything vintage or
nostalgic, particularly from her 1970s and 80s childhood. She lives with her husband and son in Seattle.
Im a designer based in the south of England, where

I live with my miniature dachshund Bertie. I design
artwork and prints for kids clothing, stationery,
books and fabric. I love to travel and soak up as
much inspiration as I can! My all-time favourite city is
Tokyo, which I try and visit once a year. In 2008 I met
Lilla Rogers and shortly after I was signed up as one
of her artists.
Susy Pilgrim Waters work has some of these

qualities: a little edgy but a bit classic, minimalist
and over the top, compulsively decorative, layered,
exploratory and colourful. It is tried and tested. Susy
has worked extensively with publishing, magazines
and surface design companies.
A N D R EA P I P P I N S
KAT H KAT H ST U D I O
MARSHA ROLLINGER
LAU R E N R O LW I N G
KA R I N R N M A R K
A M Y S C H I M L E R - SA F F O R D
andreapippins.com
flygirlblog.com
KATHRYN PLEDGER
kath-kath.com
equinoxart.com
laurenrolwing.com
laundrymatceramics.tumblr.com
karinronmark.se
amyschimler.com
Andrea Pippins is an artist and designer with a

passion for making others smile with her work. Using techniques like stamping and drawing, Andrea
reinterprets her inspirations from many global
cultures into designs that reflect her keen interest in
rich hues, textural materials and mixed patterns. In
her work, Andrea embraces colour, texture and scale
with a fearless hand, offering a unique perspective in
the hopes of inspiring others to enjoy the beauty of
bold surface designs.
KathKath Studio is the collaboration between textile

designer Kathy Schicker and graphic designer
Kathryn Pledger. KathKath Studio designs and produces unusual and trendsetting designs for fashion,
interiors and lifestyle products. Their main area
of expertise is surface pattern design for digitally
printed products, including fashion accessories and
homeware products. KathKath Studio launched
ESCAPE, their high-end silk scarf and accessories
collection, in late 2013.
Patterns can be like doorways into parallel universesplaces of whimsical beauty and fantasy. For
me, patterns are a way of telling small stories and
exploring exciting themes, like how simple bulbs can
grow the most amazing tulips or how animals spend
their time in hibernation. Ive worked as a freelance
illustrator since 2010, doing my own creative projects
and commissions for magazines, books, advertisement and design. I have a Masters in Illustration from
the Storytelling program at Konstfack, Stockholm.
Amy Schimler-Safford studied fibre arts and textile

design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design,
and Rhode Island School of Design. She has been a
designer for over 15 years, selling and licensing her
pattern designs to a variety of clients in the apparel,
home furnishing, stationery, fabric and childrens
product industries. My whimsical style incorporates
my love of colour and texture. I feel extremely privileged to do what I love everyday.
Marsha Rollinger enjoys creating artwork in many

different styles and media under her studio name,
Equinox Art & Design. Finding inspiration everywhere, Marshas designs range from sophisticated
and textural to playful and whimsical. She is currently
developing a wide variety of new pattern collections
for the surface and textile design markets and is also
available for commission work and collaborations.
Marshas portfolio can be viewed at equinoxart.
com , where she has artwork available for purchase
or licensing.
Lauren Rolwing is a freelance illustrator. Some kind

people have described her works as being in the
vein of 80s pop graphics, but modern and refined.
Her influences range from the designers Paul Rand
and Ikko Tanaka, to fashion by KENZO, to the films of
Jacques Tati. In addition to illustration, she also has
a ceramic line named Laundrymat, inspired by her
clumsiness. She drives a yellow MINI Cooper S and
has three cats named Cora, Amelia and Cricket.
KNOW YOUR STUFF
10
TO P
PERKINS, DESIGNER & BLOGGER

T I P S MARIE
PRINT & PATTERN
STUDY AT UNIVERSITY OR
COLLEGE. This will give you
not only a great education but also
the opportunity for work placements
and the chance to make a splash at
a degree show. New Designers in
London, for example, is an excellent
place to showcase yourself to key
clients and employers. You can study
textile design, surface pattern design
or graphics and illustration, depending on which aspect of surface design
interests you most.
TAKE AN E-COURSE. These

days you can learn surface
design via the Internet through an
e-course. This is ideal if you dont have
the time and budget for full-time education, just need a refresher or need
to study from home. The e-courses
set briefs with helpful deadlines and
run competitions, which can provide
structure and the perfect motivation.
I recommend Rachael Taylors The
Art and Business of Surface Pattern
Design and Lilla Rogers Make Art
That Sells.
3
AG N E S S C H U GA R DT
L I N DA S O LOV I C ST U D I O
G R ETA S O N G E D E S I G N S
agnesschugardt.com
agnesschugardt.etsy.com
LINDA SOLOVIC
behance.net/lindasolovic
lindasolovic.com
GRETA SONGE
gretasonge.com
Born in Poland and raised in Canada and New

York State, Agnes Schugardt was educated at the
Academy of Art University in San Francisco and
Studio Berot in Paris with a BFA in Fashion Design
and Textiles. Heavily influenced by the folk art and
illustration from her own heritage as well as from
around the world, she tends to create unique illustrations and patterns with bright and happy colours
and original motifs.
I have always been making art. It is my passion, and

I create art in my studio nearly every day. In my free
time if I am not at a flea market or an estate sale I can
usually be found making quilts, covering furniture
with found objects or making plushies. Inspiration for
my artwork is not the old masters. I find inspiration in
vintage greeting cards, quilts, mid-century modern
childrens illustration, Marimekko and Japanese
Zakka sewing projects.
I am a native of South Louisiana and a resident of

Coralville, Iowa. I graduated from the University of
Iowa in 2004 with an MFA in Painting and Drawing.
My pattern designs are colourful, playful and often
character-driven. My process includes lots of paper
cutting, drawing, painting and printmaking, anchoring my work in the handmade. I embrace the beautiful imperfections that come with those methods.
CREATE A WEBSITE. Today

every designer needs a web
presence. It is essential that clients
and contacts can find you online and
see a selection of designs to understand your style. Make sure your email
address is clearly placed on the page
so that people can contact you easily,
and make sure your images dont take
a long time to load as busy clients may
become frustrated and give up. Sites
such as Blogger, Behance, Wix, Webydo and MrSite offer different ways
to get online without a big budget or
lots of tech knowledge.
KEEP YOUR WORK SAFE.

Never upload high-res images
online as they can be used illegally.
Add your name to your images, either
with graphics or a watermark (as long
as its not too obtrusive). If you send
digital images to clients, blogs or companies, make sure your name is in the
files title. People may pin your designs
on Pinterest, which can disassociate
your name from your work. If this
happens, leave a comment to properly
credit your work.
APPROACH BLOGS. Publicity,

or shout-outs, is a great way
to get your work seen by potential
customers. I have heard from many
designers who have received commissions as a direct result of being
featured on Print & Pattern. Target
blogs with good readership numbers
or a style you like. Send them good
quality images, but not high-res
300 dpi as huge emails may not get
through or will put off bloggers who
do not want to download large files.
Just send them in a decent size that
will show your work at its best on the
web, along with a website link and
a short blurb about what you have
submitted.
TARGET COMPANIES.
Contact companies you like and
admire or have always dreamed of
working with. It could be anything
from inviting them to check out your
online portfolio to a promo pack with
postcards and booklets sent through
the post. You may not hear back from
all of them but it is well worth a try. I
have gained commissions using this
method, so it does work.
CREATE A PORTFOLIO. Make

sure you have physical portfolio
in case you get invited to visit clients
or companies. Use piles of prints that
can be sorted, sifted and arranged in
groups during a meeting rather than
putting them in a bound folder. You
can also print your own fabric samples
with websites like Spoonflower.
THINK ABOUT YOUR MARKET. Produce designs that are

commercial but interesting. It sounds
obvious, but think about the market
in which your designs could be used.
Imagine the customers who will buy
the designs in the store. Your work
should be in the style you love and
you should stay true to your vision,
but it must also appeal to its audience
if you want it to sell successfully.
START SELLING. If you have

physical products you can sell,
such as art prints and greetings cards,
then it could be worth joining a visible platform website like Etsy or Not
on the High Street. Companies keep
an eye on these websites to spot new,
popular or emerging talent. My first
freelance commission after leaving
my in-house position came from a
commissioning art director who was
searching on Etsy.
10
ATTEND TRADE SHOWS.

If you want to sell surface
designs yourself or have an agency do
it for you, then it pays to visit a trade
show like SURTEX, Printsource, Indigo, Spring Fair or Heimtextil at least
once. That way you can see how it all
works and the way booths are presented. If you want to launch your own
label or brand, check out Top Drawer
in London, where your designs can be
seen by buyers from major retailers
and boutique shops alike.
Marie Perkins (aka

bowie style, her online
pseudonym) is the
author of the popular
Print & Pattern blog, a
UK-based website that
celebrates all aspects of
printed surface pattern.
She has also curated a
series of Print & Pattern
books published by
Laurence King featuring
portfolios of surface
pattern designers
around the world.
Her own design work
can be found at Inkjet
Designs.
printpattern.
blogspot.com
inkjet-designs.com
ST U D I O S S S
SALLI S. SWINDELL & NATE PADAVICK
www.studiosss.tumblr.com
Salli S. Swindell and her brother Nate Padavick are
a design and illustration team and the founders of
They Draw and Cook and They Draw and Travel.
When things get a little stressful, Salli relaxes by
creating patterns while listening to Philip Glass or
lafur Arnalds. She switches back and forth from
digital work to her favourite gooped-up ink pen
from college days. Salli never tires of drawing food,
decorative florals and snowflakes!
N I C O L E TA M A R I N
L I C E N S I N G I L LU ST R AT I O N
R AC H A E L TAY LO R
NICOLE TAMARIN
nicoletamarin.com
Rachael Taylor is a fun and energetic surface pattern

designer, illustrator and author. She has several years
of industry experience in a variety of fields. Her work
is extremely popular with the press and has even
made several appearances on television. In addition,
Rachael is the co-founder of Make It In Design and
the acclaimed online e-course The Art and Business
of Surface Pattern Design. Rachael is also regularly
hired to deliver seminars and lectures around the UK
and USA.
I work in watercolour and am drawn to classic

themes and imagery, anything from florals to
childrens to the everyday. I love details and little
extras, and try to deliver a consistent level of polish
to all of my work. I launched my business at SURTEX
in 2012 and am excited to return for my third show
this spring.
rachaeltaylordesigns.co.uk
PAT T E R N J OTS
BY M A I K E T H O M A
MAIKE THOMA
patternjots.com
patternjots.blogspot.ch
German native Maike Thoma is a freelance fashion
and surface pattern designer based in Switzerland.
She loves to draw and play with colours. Her style is
graphic/abstract with hand-drawn elements, and she
creates depth with her designs.
G U KU U K I ST U D I O
GLORIA URECH
facebook.com/GukuukiStudio
Gloria Urech is one of Spains most colourful bespoke print designers and the head behind Gukuuki,
a highly creative surface design studio based in the
UK offering stunning collections of colourful contemporary prints and supplying clients worldwide.
Influenced by different cultures and art techniques,
Glorias designs and contemporary prints are a feast
of colour. They are inspired by nature, as well as
textiles, surfaces and the way we live with colour.
D I E U W E RTJ E
VA N D E M O O S D I J K
dieuwertjemaakt.nl
Dieuwertje van de Moosdijk is an Amsterdam-based
print designer and illustrator. Her designs are
based on handmade motifs: either painted, sewn or
drawn. She even uses wood, waste materials and
her mothers dressing gown (!) in her patterns, which
gives each design an authentic character. Working
from her garden studio she cant help but use nature
as the key source of inspiration. Among her clients
are brands like Oilily (childrens clothing) and Flow
magazine (illustrations).
Take walks in nature. Patterns

and repeats are everywhere,
natural forms repeating
themselves over and over. If
you can, stay in it for a while.
Take walks when you are in

New York City. Patterns and
repeats are everywhere.
Dance the two stepit has a

nice repeat and it couldnt be
more fun (its even more fun
with a great dance partner!).
I also love to dance the Swedish
schottis.
BE INSPIRED
4
5
Buy some really nice pens

and paper (my favourite pen is
the Pentel Sign Pen). Sit down,
start drawing and see what
comes out. Keep drawing,
and see what comes out now.
Keep going.
To help with tip #5, enjoy a
Manhattan made with rye. Ive
made some of my best patterns
after a drink.
7
8
Doodle while on the phone!
Pinterest is also pretty

darn awesome for patterns
inspiration.
10
Do some block printing.

Patterns happen almost
automatically when you print
with a stamp.
Visit the Victoria and Albert

Museum in London for endless
inspiration (vam.ac.uk).
Make quilts.

10 T I P S
TO P
LOTTA JANSDOTTER
CREATING A LIFE
FULL OF PATTERN
Lotta ]ansdotters designs are like little plants
working their way through cracks in the sidewalk. Things of simple beauty that bring relief
to the urban landscape. Unstoppable creativity that thrives in unexpected places. Lottas
work is about her life, and life is her inspiration. Her genius lies in exploring the beauty of
everyday things: drinking coffee from a pretty
cup, writing notes on a hand-printed card,
dressing your child in the clothes you made
him. Slowing down and minding the details.
But that doesnt mean being precious about it.
Lottas products are functional and practical,
and her projects are approachable and easy.
Making life better is the result.
Lottas aesthetic is deeply rooted in the Scandinavian landscape. She was born on land,
a small group of islands in the archipelago
between Sweden and Finland. Her Swedish
heritage is also apparent in her pragmatic and
self-sufficient approach to design. Cant find
what you want? Make it! Dont know how?
Learn it! Lotta takes the basic craft skills she
learned as a child, such as potato printmaking
and simple sewing, and stretches them into
sophisticated tools. Lottas designs may be
steeped in artisan traditions and a DIY spirit
but the homespun aspect ends there. Her
look is sleek and urban and her products are
created for a busy city life.
jansdotter.com
A N K E PA N K E
WAT I ETS
M E L I S SA WAT TS
A N G E YA K E
I ZA P EA R L D E S I G N
BZ D E S I G N ST U F F
ANKE VAN DER MEER

ankepanke.nl
iheartpatterns.nl
CHRIS VAN MIDDENDORP & SARAH PIETERSE

watiets.nl watiets.etsy.com
cultivateartcollective.com/melissawatts
moyodirectory.com/melissawatts
angeyake.com
BARBARA CHOTINER
bzdesignstuff.com bzdesignstuff.etsy.com
WATIETS combines the design skills of Chris van

Middendorp and Sarah Pieterse. We have curious
minds and work to translate our wonders into designs. WATIETS is a Dutch wordplay meaning whysomething-what, a phrase related to curious young
children, who make all sorts of clever observations.
Were proud to keep hold of this inquisitive phase,
and we have adopted this mindset into our daily
work. This constantly helps us explore possibilities,
be intuitive and stretch our boundaries.
Melissa Watts is a freelance surface pattern designer

and creative based in the UK. Interiors, apparel and
paper goods. Contemporary, geometric, floral and
abstract. Anything goes! She has a love for bold
colour and pattern, and marries her original ideas
and artwork with computer manipulation to generate
eye-catching patterns. Her inspiration is taken from
many sources, and she keeps an eye on the latest
trends. Her designs are available for licensing or
purchase. Commissions are welcome.
MELISSA YBARRA
izapearl.com
izapearl.bigcartel.com
Anke van der Meer is a Dutch illustrator, graphic

designer and surface designer who makes creative,
sweet designs to inspire and make you smile. She
studied graphic design at de Eindhovense School
(2004-2008) and St. Joost (2008-2012). I have a
great weakness for pattern designs. I think half of
my closet is filled with dots, stripes and sweet
patterned clothes!
Ange Yake is a Canadian-based surface designer

with a love for pattern. Her style is a mix of modern
and organic and her designs often incorporate bold
colours, geometrics and textures. Her work is influenced by elements in nature, industrial architecture
and surface textures. She loves creating marks with
found objects and sketching with different mediums,
and manipulating these digitally to create patterns.
The patterns she produces are suitable for use on all
kinds of products.
Dallas-based Melissa Ybarra is the creative force

behind the surface pattern design studio Iza Pearl
Design. Melissa creates colourful, explosive florals
and fun, fanciful patterns. Her art has landed on a
vast array of products ranging from housewares and
gifts to tabletop and stationery goods. With her art,
she hopes to remind the world that life always has
a fun, fanciful side and that youre never too old to
playbe it with colour, your food or your friends.
Barbara Chotiner is a designer, illustrator and coffee

lover. She runs bz designstuff, a freelance art and design studio located just outside Philadelphia, where
she creates whimsical, sophisticated and modern designs for local and national clients. She sees her work
as a combination of math (order, rules and repetition)
and English (fluid, random and free). She is inspired
by city life (her first love is NYC), funny little flowers
and taking out excessive amounts of childrens books
from the library.
MARIMEKKOS
BOOKLIST
PRETTY INFORMATIVE
READING
THE PRINTED SQUARE: VINTAGE HANDKERCHIEF

PATTERNS FOR FASHION AND DESIGN
Nicky Albrechtsen, Harper Design
MAIJA ISOLA: ART, FABRIC, MARIMEKKO
PIE Books
1950S FASHION PRINT
Marnie Fogg, Batsford
PRINT & PATTERN
Marie Perkins, Laurence King
PRINT & PATTERN KIDS
Marie Perkins, Laurence King
FIELD GUIDE TO FABRIC DESIGN
Kim Kight, Stash Books
VERA: THE ART AND LIFE OF AN ICON
Susan Seid, Abrams
I JUST LIKE TO MAKE THINGS
Lilla Rogers, Quarry
HEATHER ROSS PRINTS
Heather Ross, Melanie Falick Books
MASTERING THE ART OF FABRIC PRINTING AND DESIGN
Laurie Wisbrun, Chronicle
PATTERN
Orla Kiely, Conran
THE ENGLISH ARCHIVE OF DESIGN AND DECORATION
Stafford Cliff, Thames & Hudson
ICONIC UNIKKO
PATTERN TURNS
50
The designers featured in our Surface

Pattern Design Guide all aspire to create work that is lasting. One can look to
the Finnish company Marimekko and its
classic Unikko pattern for confirmation
that pattern design can indeed make a
significant impact on culture.
THE STORY OF FORBIDDEN FLOWERS
In 2014, Marimekko celebrates the 50th anniversary of its most iconic print,
Unikko (poppy) with special colourways, limited edition products and celebratory
anniversary activities. The story of Unikko began in quite an unusual way.
It was born in 1964 after Marimekkos founder Armi Ratia had publicly announced
that Marimekko would never print floral patterns. Armi thought that flowers were
more beautiful in nature than on fabric. On the other hand, she wanted to create
something new that would suit the needs of modern life instead of florals,
which already dominated the world of textiles.
However, designer Maija Isola paid no heed to Ratlas decree andperhaps
inspired by the poppies growing in her yardpainted red poppies along with an
entire series of floral patterns in protest. Unikko looked new, graphic and distinctive, and once Armi saw it, she immediately included the design in Marimekkos
collection where it has been ever since, symbolising the power of expression and
inspiring people to follow their heart and free their creativity.
Since its introduction, Unikko has been seen in hundreds of different colourways
and on products from tableware to bags, and from sneakers to the livery of a
Finnair airplane. Whether at the height of flower power in the 1960s or in our
current times, Unikko has always reflected an easy-going attitude towards life.
Over the years the pattern has become a symbol of Marimekko.
unikko.marimekko.com
SUBSCRIBE
Great inspiration is
worth reading in print.
Each issue is 116 pages brimming with beautiful photography,
great illustration, inspiring stories and informative content.
With articles inspired by design, illustration, typography, ephemera
and creative living, youll want to keep and collect each issue.
Experience firsthand the delight of receiving U P P E R CA S E magazine.
subscribe today!
s ta c k s o f i n s p i rat i o n
fo r the
C R E A T I V E and C U R I O U S
T H E R E S A LOT M O R E W H E R E
T H AT C A M E F R O M !
Love this digital excerpt? Theres a lot more to discover

in the pages of UPPERCASE magazine. Head into our
back issue stacks for more inspiring content. Creativity
and curiosity dont go staleand neither do our issues!
C O M P L E T E YO U R S E T W H I L E
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What challenges did Jan Avellana face growing up?

What challenges did Jan Avellana face growing up?

What inspired Maija Isola to design the iconic Unikko pattern for Marimekko?

What inspired Maija Isola to design the iconic Unikko pattern for Marimekko?

J A N AV E L L A N A janavellana.

THE UPPERCASE MAGAZINE

Were a print magazine.

We always have been, we always will be.

When it comes to decorated surfaces, more is

DRESSING THE PART

My love of patterns extends

MEET OUR COVER ARTIST

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

It has been an exciting time for

WHAT IS IT LIKE LIVING AND BEING AN ARTIST

CONGRATULATIONS, JAN! WERE SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOULL BE

Well, its just a little bit crazy. Im currently juggling

ists you feature. If UPPERCASE magazine and I were

no way all of this could be happening to me. This

Finding new talent is an important part of Mickey

WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU LOOK FOR

else is doing the same.

seeds and starburst thistles (many of

within a family of patterns.

WEAR YOUR PATTERNS.

HAVE A POINT OF VIEW.

Bari J. Ackerman, the designer behind Bari J., is

THE INDUSTRY EVENT

Where art and commerce meet in one massive

rt buyers and licensees from

I am a graphic and surface designer with a love of

I am an illustrator obsessed with surface pattern

Zoe Attwell is a surface pattern designer based in

I am an artist and designer from Toronto, Canada.

LILLA ROGERS AT SURTEX

Lilla Rogers is a multitalented dynamo.

illa teaches an online course called Make

I am a mixed-media artist and illustrator with a

Ellen Luckett Baker is a fabric designer, author and

Emily Balsley is an illustrator and designer living in

Joanne Hus creates playful

WHAT ARE THE UNIQUE ADVANTAGES OF

WHATS THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE

First of all, we get lots of leads at SURTEX. The

The first year, walk the show as an attendee. Talk to

Of course, the trend reports, educational seminars

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOURE READY

HOW TO SPEAK WITH ARTIST AND AGENT EXHIBITORS AT SURTEX

Lesley Barnes uses her colourful illustration and

Im Ine Beerten but Im also known as Zesti. Im a

Sara Berrenson is a surface designer with a serious

Inspired by vintage textiles, storybooks and scientific

ANNE BLANKMAN BOLLMAN

Tammie Bennett loves creating patterns with bright

My path to a career in surface pattern design was

DESIGNER ON THE RISE

During the planning for SURTEX 2013,

Founded in 2013 by designer Robyn Bockmann,

I cant tell you how many nights I lay

actually have people respond, and its