What makes a great pattern collection? There are many things that make for a great pattern collection, and every designer has their own opinion on this. There are many categories that need a variety of styles, and there are many ways of bringing a pattern collection together. That being said, for the kinds of categories and markets I enjoy working with, here’s my take: I think great pattern collections have a central idea. Of course the colour story binds the pieces together, but a great collection does not have to be matchy matchy. Think of some of your favourite style icons. Most of them don’t wear pieces that are perfectly matched. Instead the pieces just seem to go together in a really effortless way. You may find yourself saying, “Wow, I would never think those two items would go together, but it just works”. That is the intrigue I love about great pattern collections. They make you think and explore, and push your idea of what a collection really means. How do you go about building one? EVERYTHING starts with colour for me. I’ve spoken with other artists who will draw away in black and white and then colour later. My
brain just does not work that way. The colour is really what drives the story for me. I’ve often said that travel is one of my greatest inspirations, but rather than the buildings, people or food it is the colours of a place that leave the most lasting impression in my mind and create the storyline for me. So, first, I build a palette. Sometimes, it takes me a whole day to get just the right combination. Once the storyline has emerged from the palette (maybe the palette feels like the Hamptons, or India, or maybe a time period, or a Cirque show I saw…), I build the first print. These days I am thinking a lot about how things will work together in a room. So after I create the first print I’ll think, for instance, “If this were wallpaper, what would I do for the rug, the pillows, the wall hanging?” I often think about what it would actually look like in a space. I consider the scale and make sure it is varied. I consider the balance of bold, multi-colour combos, and more reserved two-colour combos that will give the eye a resting place. I also consider if each print can stand on its own. I want every piece in the collection to be strong and beautiful. What do you keep in mind when putting a collection together? I do consider the end use because there are specific categories and companies I really want to work with. It is not so much that I am tailoring my creativity to suit their needs. It is more about having an understanding that at the end of the day, the artwork must be suitable for product to get it out into the world. A part of my job is to understand this fact and make sure it makes sense for the companies on my (long) list of dream clients. I am working on taking this a step further by not only identifying the companies I want to work with, but also the demographic of their end user. I think it is important for every business in any industry to have a deep understanding of their customer. Art and artists are not excluded from the need for this valuable information. When I create collections for the quilting fabric industry, I have a different goal than when I create collections for the home décor fabric industry. The end use is different. The end user is different. I feel the collections are more likely to be successful if I take this into consideration. How do you pick the colour palette to work with? Wow. This is a tougher question than it seems! It is hard to say because colour is so instinctual for me, but here are a few key things I can point out. At any given moment you will likely find me in the midst of a particular colour obsession (This could