Tag Archives: print design

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 1, Snippet 10

Snippets’. Chats with Creatives. Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes designers tick. This series is all about asking some fun and different questions and learning about the inspirations and ideas behind the artist and their work. We hope to inspire others by sharing snippets of these creative stories. We gave the artists and designers featured a varied list of questions to choose from so we will learn something new from everyone involved, should be fun!

Today on Snippets we are talking to Lara Cross, the textile designer behind Glorybox Designs, a bright and eclectic range of fabrics, fashion and jewellery based on prints. She has a vibrant passion for colour and her quirky style is evident throughout her work.

The Snippety Snips:

Tell us a bit about yourself and what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

Looking back on my upbringing, it seems so obvious that I would end up being a textile designer- but really, I didn’t even know it was a thing until I was in my third year of studying fashion. Even fashion design was a late start for me, I had initially planned on being some sort of creative director and studied Drama and Film at uni, then lived in China for five years and came home to ‘start’ my life. It took a long time to find that field where my skills just clicked in to place, but I did have a great time getting there! Being surrounded by beautiful textiles, colours and prints was just normal to me, I didn’t know that I could be ‘good enough’ to do that too. I think I have always struggled to prove to everyone that so-called normal people can love colour, and that just because you’re creative it doesn’t mean you’re an idiot. It’s probably not your experience if you grow up in a city, but I grew up in a small town and there is certain pressure to conform- so a lot of my work and ranges tend to have a story behind them, a little provocation and thought to give it meaning as well as beauty.

I enjoy word-play, puns and often have a bit of tongue-in-cheek when I come up with a new theme- my last range was called ‘Iconoscopy‘ which was a tribute to our aging rock icons, and the next range is battle Armor for modern feminists, so no doubt there will be subtle references to female anatomy as well as some more blatant imagery. I have been compiling war words that we use daily, and I’ll start sketching off those, from there I’ll probably end up in mixed media experimentation and move into digital. I work with both screen and digital prints, but the designs always go through the computer before they get there. Digital design is definitely one of the late great discoveries of my life. I use my prints in my clothing and in my resin jewellery, I am very hands-on.

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

I love colour mixing when I screen print. I don’t really plan ahead I just go in with an open mind and play. I was also pretty surprised to discover how much I love the minutiae of digital design and getting right into the pixels to create repeats. It’s a secret language. There’s lots to enjoy.

What would your dream creative project look like?

The day I get the phone call from Romance Was Born to collaborate on a range….that will be a pretty great day. (Just to be clear, they can also email me)

Which other Australian designers, artists or creative people are you enjoying?

I am thoroughly enjoying the work of Haus of Dizzy and Doodad and Fandango– they are both forging great paths in sticking it to the patriarchy, all while looking awesome. The rise of dressing for yourself is something that really appeals to me and my customers.

In another life what natural talent would you wish for?

I would love to write raunchy high-society books like Jackie Collins and Rebecca Chance. Maybe I still will….

Love your Locals:

City/Town/Village where you currently reside:

Dulwich Hill (Sydney’s hipster Inner West)

Favourite spot for a bite:

IKEA, not a popular choice I know but I get really freaked out by how obsessed people are with “good’ coffee or things served on wooden boards.

Secret Inspirational spot:

I love the run-down and industrial, behind my house there is a derelict lot that has lots of tire piles, runaway bamboo and fabulous rusty things. It’s being demolished bit by bit (there was an amazing old warehouse I could sketch in and spray paint on) but for now it still a bit of a secret garden of crap that I can enjoy.

You can follow what Lara is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

Textile Collection Babushka

Exciting news from us at Digital Fabrics, we have launched a new textile collection! This time we dove head first into a private collection of vintage European textiles and found just the inspiration we needed! The Boho-Chic trend is one that pops up time and time again, and it’s for good reason. We just can’t get enough of bohemian patchwork, colours and textures, and have designed a range of prints heavily inspired by collected embroidery treasures.

Whilst the boho design aesthetic is undoubtedly fabulous, the statement style can be a little overwhelming for some. We wanted to create timeless re-imaginings that pared-back the heavily embellished designs typical of bohemian textiles, resulting in versatile and accessible designs.

Elements of vintage textiles were scanned, redrawn and redesigned to create the Babushka collection. Finding the balance between streamlined design and textured details was key in maintaining the essence of folk embroidered pieces whilst still giving them a more contemporary feel, and negative space became as important a feature to focus on as the motifs and designs themselves.

The collection features both flirty, feminine motifs and minimal, geometric design elements, whilst using bold contrasting colours to maintain a crisp aesthetic throughout the range. The range revamps vintage embroidered textiles, resulting in elegant, graphic designs that can be used for so much more than the blouses and table-wear that we so often associate with the bohemian style. We cannot wait to see what you create with these prints!

The Babushka Collection is available for purchase in our Design Library!

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 1, Snippet 10

The Snippety Snips:

Tell us a bit about yourself and what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

What would your dream creative project look like?

The day I get the phone call from Romance Was Born to collaborate on a range….that will be a pretty great day. (Just to be clear, they can also email me)

Which other Australian designers, artists or creative people are you enjoying?

In another life what natural talent would you wish for?

I would love to write raunchy high-society books like Jackie Collins and Rebecca Chance. Maybe I still will….

Love your Locals:

City/Town/Village where you currently reside:

Dulwich Hill (Sydney’s hipster Inner West)

Favourite spot for a bite:

IKEA, not a popular choice I know but I get really freaked out by how obsessed people are with “good’ coffee or things served on wooden boards.

Secret Inspirational spot:

You can follow what Lara is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

Textile Collection Stripped Back

Stripes are an absolutely timeless design staple! But with them always being in style it’s easy to sometimes forget just how fabulous and versatile they are. Here at Digital Fabrics we wanted to shine the spotlight on stripes again, and have created a gorgeous range of prints that re-imagines classic stripe designs – introducing our Stripped Back Collection.

Our most recently designed textile collections drew focus to luscious textures and the organic nature of hand drawn motifs. What better way to keep things interesting than to launch a series of designs that celebrates crisp lines, formal shapes and a timeless aesthetic. It was crucial to adopt interesting considerations of both colour and form since we were working in the continuous design space of ‘stripes’. Not only did the designs need to feel fresh, it was also essential to create a diverse collection to avoid designing prints that were too similar to each other.

Variation in band width was key in generating a distinct range of textiles. This allowed us to develop wide, colour-blocked styles as well as contemporary revivals of the pinstripe. Colour was also a major element when it came to designing striking stripe prints. The collection re-imagines neutrals, using soft blush pinks in the same way that you would typically use brown and cream colours. The range pairs these neutrals with dreamy sorbet inspired hues, bold mustards and deep navy accents.

The collection features prints which are both minimal and edgy, with some designs undeniably inspired by the rich history of stripe patterns in print design. These designs would be fabulous in both the home and the wardrobe, and we can’t wait to see what you do with them!

The Stripped Back Collection is available for purchase in our Design Library!

Check your artwork repeats seamlessly with Offset Filter in Photoshop.

Open your file in Photoshop. Main menu > File > Open
Check size of your image. Main menu > Image > Image size. Take note of the pixel dimension (PX) at the full resolution size.

Change the resolution to half of its value and take note of the changed pixel dimension. Keep these numbers handy as you will need them to offset your artwork. Don’t click OK at this stage, as you don’t want to change the resolution size, you only need the pixel information.

Once you have pixel dimensions noted you can offset and check your file for seamless repeat. Go to Main menu > Filter > Other > Offset. In the open box enter that half pixel values that you have noted down. Select option Wrap Around and tick the Preview option, so you can preview what is happening to your artwork. The side edges of the artwork will now be visible in the middle and the middle will become the sides. In other words the artworks sides got folded into the middle.

If your artwork in not in seamless repeat, you will see it in the middle of your artwork, through vertically and horizontally missed joins and miss matched lines. In some artwork this will not be obvious and you will need to zoom right in to the joining pixels to spot the issue.

When your artwork repeats seamlessly, there is no miss matched lines and elements of the artwork flows seamlessly.

________________________________________

If you are at the beginning of your textile and surface design journey you might want to consider our workshops and classes on offer or continue learning more online through our available tutorials.

Check your artwork repeats seamlessly with Offset Filter in Photoshop.

Open your file in Photoshop. Main menu > File > Open
Check size of your image. Main menu > Image > Image size. Take note of the pixel dimension (PX) at the full resolution size.

Change the resolution to half of its value and take note of the changed pixel dimension. Keep these numbers handy as you will need them to offset your artwork. Don’t click OK at this stage, as you don’t want to change the resolution size, you only need the pixel information.

Once you have pixel dimensions noted you can offset and check your file for seamless repeat. Go to Main menu > Filter > Other > Offset. In the open box enter that half pixel values that you have noted down. Select option Wrap Around and tick the Preview option, so you can preview what is happening to your artwork. The side edges of the artwork will now be visible in the middle and the middle will become the sides. In other words the artworks sides got folded into the middle.

If your artwork in not in seamless repeat, you will see it in the middle of your artwork, through vertically and horizontally missed joins and miss matched lines. In some artwork this will not be obvious and you will need to zoom right in to the joining pixels to spot the issue.

When your artwork repeats seamlessly, there is no miss matched lines and elements of the artwork flows seamlessly.

________________________________________

If you are at the beginning of your textile and surface design journey you might want to consider our workshops and classes on offer or continue learning more online through our available tutorials.

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 1, Snippet 8

Today on Snippet’s we are talking to Anna Hayman, a UK based print designer who creates fabrics, wallpaper and other homewares from original lino printing and ink drawings. Her work is influenced by the art and craft era as well as the sixties and seventies which is clear in her current work.

The Snippety Snips:

Tell us a bit about yourself and what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

I am a British print designer specialising in printed lampshades, wallpapers, fabrics and cushions. I create my designs from linoprints and ink paintings. I began trading in February 2016

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

My favourite part is transforming artwork – in my case a Lino print or an ink painting – into a pattern. Pattern is my utter obsession so creating repeat designs from artwork is a really exciting point for me, often there are literally endless possibilities of how it can be repeated, mirrored or formed, and seeing that take shape is completely thrilling. That comes just before the worst part, getting the pattern to repeat, which can take forever and is truly boring! Luckily I’m a bit of a geek 🙂

How would you describe your work, and what influences your style? I would describe my work as half hippy, half traditionalist, intricate, relaxed and colourful. I’m influenced by old English styles, I visit a lot of old places, and 1920’s places, but also love Bohemian 70’s style. Creatives I’m influenced by are Celia Birtwell, Biba, The Bloomsbury Group, Olaf Hajek, Aubrey Beardsley and many more.

In another life what natural talent would you wish for?

Writing! I have been reading a lot about the lives of writers recently and I must say it does seem an appealing occupation. I’ve always told myself I am terrible at writing, especially copy, but really I just haven’t had the space to explore it. I would love to take a summer learning how to construct a book, for instance.

Which other Australian designers, artists or creative people are you enjoying at the moment?

Estelle Briedis, for her exacting palettes of colour, Nine Lives Bazaar for their beautiful brand building skills and photography, and Instagram legend @labohemehouseofthewishingtrees for her inspiring and abundant use of brights with white, and layering of textures.

If you could only use one colour in your work what would it be?

Hard question! But I’m crushing hard on jade at the moment, a sort of greenish turquoise, a colour which can be hot and cool, and quenching somehow. I’d find it hard to live without orange though, deep vibrant orange, warm and fresh at the same time.

If you could have your portrait painted by any artist dead or alive, who would you choose?

Lucian Freud, not just because I love his work (I love flat looking paintings with a lot of detail) but because I feel I have the right sort of face for his portraiture.

Which five words best describe you?

English, rebellious, clever, arty, fun.

Love your Locals:

City/Town/Village where you currently reside:

Ringmer in Sussex, England.

Favourite spot for a bite:

Any good seafood restaurant, or sushi place.

Secret Inspirational spot:

Charleston farmhouse, the Bloomsbury group country house hotspot of the 1920’s, which is 15 minutes from where I live.

You can follow what Anna is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

Textile Collection Tropicana

We are right in the middle of a gorgeous Sydney Summer, and for most of us have gone back to work after a (hopefully) relaxing festive break. What better way to feel like we’re still on holidays than with the launch of a new range of summery prints- our Tropicana range. Time to take a very grown up trip to the tropics!

All of the designs began by taking inspiration from tropical flora and carefully hand painting a series of detailed Banana Palms and Monstera leaves. At Digital Fabrics we love all things textural, and by using one of our favourite mediums, watercolours, we were able to create really luscious leaf motifs to start creating textile designs from.

We wanted to rework classic tropical designs to create elegant and accessible prints. To achieve this we determined each design as a large scale print to celebrate the gorgeous watercolour aesthetic. We then primarily used a colour palette of contrasting neutrals with muted colours such as blush pink and sage to ensure the designs as timeless.

We see these designs being suitable for both interiors and fashion and just looking at these new prints has us dreaming about fabulous statement curtains or retro swimsuit designs. We’d love to hear about the kind of project you envision these designs for!

The Tropicana Collection is available for purchase in our Design Library!

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 1, Snippet 8

The Snippety Snips:

Tell us a bit about yourself and what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

I am a British print designer specialising in printed lampshades, wallpapers, fabrics and cushions. I create my designs from linoprints and ink paintings. I began trading in February 2016

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

In another life what natural talent would you wish for?

Which other Australian designers, artists or creative people are you enjoying at the moment?

If you could only use one colour in your work what would it be?

If you could have your portrait painted by any artist dead or alive, who would you choose?

Lucian Freud, not just because I love his work (I love flat looking paintings with a lot of detail) but because I feel I have the right sort of face for his portraiture.

Which five words best describe you?

English, rebellious, clever, arty, fun.

Love your Locals:

City/Town/Village where you currently reside:

Ringmer in Sussex, England.

Favourite spot for a bite:

Any good seafood restaurant, or sushi place.

Secret Inspirational spot:

Charleston farmhouse, the Bloomsbury group country house hotspot of the 1920’s, which is 15 minutes from where I live.

You can follow what Anna is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

Textile Collection Artful Simplicity

We’re very excited here at Digital Fabrics to be dropping another range of yummy prints! This time we’re inspired by bold earthy colours and organic forms, bringing to you a collection of hand painted, textural abstract designs.