Sometimes people do things that just put a huge smile on your face and this week the ever lovely Kris from Tag Along Teddies was responsible for putting a grin on my face from ear to ear. The reason…. she has again gifted me with a lovely ‘just because’ pressie that contained this lovely hand sewn cupcake, some beautiful specialty cupcake cases and…..
ummmm…. a big bag of milk and white chocolate stars, but they seem to have already disappeared.
They came at a time when they were greatly appreciated and a healthy dose of chocolate was just what the doctor ordered [giggle]. Thanks Kris. You are always thinking of others and we do appreciate your generosity and friendship.
I thought I’d share with you today a topic that one of my students raised in class this week. How do I know what to design?
The question was in regard to my new Christmas Collection which my students have been watching develop over the past few months. It is a very good question and it made me realise that those who haven’t worked in the industry probably have no idea how designers work.
It’s pretty much the same for graphic designers, interior designers and many crafters… we start with a mood board. Sometimes they are called an inspiration board or ideas board, but they all do the same thing.
The mood board is used to inspire the design concept. My mood board begins with a colour palette; sometimes I add swatches of fabric or pretty papers, sketches, sayings or words I might want to incorporate into the designs etc.
The picture shown here on the left is my mood board I used for this years Christmas designs. Initially I used a visual art diary for my design ideas. This page shows the colour palette I have chosen. It was originally inspired by another project I painted earlier that used this shade of red and the jade green together. It was completely different to my usual Christmas colours and I felt it was fresh and interesting, plus it excited and inspired me. That’s really important when you are about to tackle a big design project.
Once the basics are there, I use the inspirational mood board to help establish the general look and direction prior to jumping into the designing stage. In some ways, Christmas is now a fairly straightforward project for me because I have designed a Christmas collection every year for the past 18 years. I’ve already created a ‘look’ or ‘style’ that is my own. Lets’ face it, when it comes to Santa we all know he has a white beard, rosy cheeks, a fondness for red suits and is a little on the chubby side. How different can he look from one designer to another? That’s why, once I established a series of designs depicting my version of Santa, reindeers and elves, I have stuck with them over the years. My style is already recognisable so next on the agenda is creating a theme. This year, apart from the different colour scheme, I have chosen a few elements to tie the designs together: penguins, candy canes and polka dots.
Before I began designing, I looked back over my Christmas designs from previous years to see what themes were popular, which patterns sold better than others and considered my customers feedback. This year I am basing my designs on practicality and usability – basic functional designs that compliment each other. I began with small scale sketches in my visual dairy. Once I have some ideas floating around, I researched the availability of materials and project surfaces.
By this stage I had more ideas and designs than I needed, so I selected a smaller group I was happy with and then develop them further. From there I move through the various stages of pattern drawing, painting, construction and instruction writing.
Well… I hope this has given you a little insight into the design process. It’s great fun and I can’t think of another job I’d rather have.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
