How are Innovative ideas born?

If I were to say to you, go ahead mix up red and blue, florals and geometrics, retro and vintage and it will all come together, would you relish the challenge?

Whilst designing this Red Teasel collection ( which also has hints of cool blue hues to offset to rich warm tones) I wanted to break away from an obvious genre and create something completely unique.

Retro, vintage, contemporary, edgy, classic, I love them all, and selecting one kind would be like taking a sibling away from its family. I found the solution is to try mixing up patterns in a way that would be harmonious and make a room feel complete. The pictures below show a use of delicate branch patterns put together with bold abstract teasels arranged in a retro style geometric pattern. The contemporary vivid colour palette punctuated with pops of neutral browns and whites is the thread that  holds the collection together.

My message is to be positive about mixing things styles and genres and see what happens.

Innovative ideas are born when we persistently question what if?



Surface Pattern Inspiration: Urban Photography in NYC

Urban pattern inspiration from a trip to NYC last spring. 

 Juxtaposed shapes to play with.

Tonal greys highlighted with with a shot of bright yellow.

 Repeating patterns with subtle changes in scale and form.

Free flowing branches soften bold hard edges.

Perspective guided by thick and fine lines.

 Glass reflecting light and shadow highlighting contrasts.



Is Drawing a design detective?

Inspiration can be hard to find when you actively set out to go and find it. Have you ever experienced seeing an everyday object in a completely new way? Well that happened to me this morning and instead of thinking “well that’s nice” I picked up a pen and sketchbook and began to draw…

As I started to wash up in the kitchen this morning, the stopper on the soap bottle caught my eye.  I noticed a beautiful textural pattern. I began to draw the linear texture. The drawing process unveiled  why it caught my eye. Whilst drawing I noticed how the texture was sometimes linear, sometimes pointed at the end or curved. The lines varied in thickness and length, the rhythms were craftily interrupted by delicate shafts of light. This stopper holds a wealth of inspiration for a whole series of new geometric patterns. My designs are created using photography, but aided by drawing. Drawing unveils the inspiration on how to create exciting patterns.