I started my business in a very un-planned way; I’d been working designing prints and patterns for the fashion industry for 6 years, and I got frustrated by the lack of creativity involved in my role. I decided to go freelance to try to carve out more creative opportunities for myself. That was over 4 years ago, and at some point I was still frustrated. I wasn’t getting the ‘dream’ commissions that I was after, so I just started making the prints and patterns that I thought were missing from the world! The vision now is to keep on making patterns that surprise my customers and clients; I love hiding little details in designs that you can only find if you carefully explore them! It’s important to me that there is design out there that pushes the medium of pattern away from the generic and expected and into the playful and esoteric.
I like to think that there is a touch of ‘Where’s Wally’ about my patterns; I love detail and creating prints that you can explore with your eyes! I get inspired by my surroundings, so I like to travel and visit museums and flea markets, collecting objects that interest me and vintage printed ephemera. I’m lucky in that sense that my brand is about me and my taste. I often have a gut feeling about an idea; if I like it and want to pursue it, then it will keep popping into my head until I start working on it. I really listen to those instinctive feelings, as it’s when I’ve worked against them that things tend to go wrong! I also know that colour and pattern are the cornerstones of my work, so I make sure to investigate interesting colour combinations and to always take an idea into a surface pattern outcome.
Washi taped to my computer is a reminder “Do as much personal work as you can.” I know that my personal work and brand is what leads to interesting illustration commissions, so I’m always jotting down pattern ideas or working on illustrations in my sketchbook!
For this reason, I wanted a unique tissue paper that would stand apart from the regular custom tissue designs out there, so I knew that noissue would help make that happen! With the new tissue paper, my packaging has reached a whole new level and I love posting my customers a package that will be exciting to open! Already they are telling me that they want to frame the tissue paper that wraps up their artworks. That feels like the best outcome I could have hoped for!