print & pattern: March 2006

31 March 2006

FIRE KING MUGS

i love looking on ebay at these lovely little fire king mugs. i made collages of some of my favourites from over the last few months to put in my scrapbook.

images from ebay sellers and' 857 fire king mugs'

"fire king mug book" yamashita satoshi ISBN-309-26682-7
this is the book i use to see some of the huge range fire king mugs that were produced. i had it shipped from japan for around £22 ( $38 dollars ).

more fire king

various images taken from sellers on ebay.

notebooks

i use these little A6 fabric covered notebooks for writing up notes at trade shows, sketching designs ideas as they come to me, or jotting down things i've seen whilst out on store visits. they are just the right size to always keep in your bag.

geometric design on left by orla kiely, pink dots & black retro leaf both from paperchase.

gift wrap archive

two from neisha crosland

two from caroline gardner

30 March 2006

habitat

whilst visiting habitat on the kings road, chelsea recently i had to reach for my camera.

one thing i really admired were the window graphics. apart from being on the visual merchandising this same great design appeared on other products including beautiful voile curtains ! with both dots and optical patterns being in trend for aw06/ss07 -

this design is ripe for interpretation.

japanese wrap

ive been out searching

for wrapping paper with

a japanese theme.

i need it for a 2007

moodboard im working

on called 'geisha'.

for 2006 the theme had

been called 'kimono'.

but with the film and

everything.

there seems to be no

end to peoples appetite

for japanese prints, even

though they've been

around for several

seasons now.

wrapping paper from peter jones, sloane square, london.

book report

something else i'd like to do is take a regular look at my bookshelf, and check out some books that would be great for designers to own. the first book is the "pattern + palette sourcebook"

by anvil graphics. its divided into 6 sections; for example - pop, deco, asian, and features a series of patterns shown in different colourways. (+ theres a cd included too)

published by rockport ISBN 1-59523-161-x £19.99 ($29.99)

29 March 2006

graphic design

the "next directory" cover is always right on style with the latest graphic design trends.

this is the latest summer 06 book - it captures the mood perfectly.

vintage bag ?

as a pattern designer i feel i should practice what i preach - so i always have a patterned bag. this one may look vintage or designer but in fact was purchased on a market stall. for just £5.00 ! ( the labels says www.bagzone.com ). i fell for the colours especially, as well as the retro vibe.

fashion print

even whilst out clothes shopping you can see so many inspirational prints. i had to buy this top

by ben sherman because i fell in love with the pattern. these radiating motifs certainly gave me some ideas. hopefully i'll share them with you when they're done.

top by ben sherman purchased march 06 in john lewis £30.00

mug watch

i purchased these three mugs recently - not to use ! but just as pattern inspiration.

fashion mugs like these are generally cheap and are usually good barometers of the latest print trends . always check out mugs when you are out looking for inspiration.

the first two were from woolworths - and the floral one is from sainsbury's.

28 March 2006

start with cath kidston

at last i have time to figure out how this blogging works.
i wasnt sure where to start - i really just want to inspire and interest people who love pattern as i do.

who better to begin with than one of my fave designers cath kidston. these are some of the pieces from my own collection of cath kidston delights - i love companies who put pattern onto a wide array of products.
my motto would be' if you can have it patterned why have it plain'. but maybe thats just because im a surface pattern designer and my livelihood depends on patterns remaining in fashion !