For those of you that have been around for awhile, you have seen me posting about surface pattern design. This is much different than making glass stitch markers so I thought I would give a bit of an explanation about what I am doing and why.
I have always been a maker of some sort or another. In the 1990's, scrapbooking came into my life. But I wasn't too interested in making layouts and putting the pictures in the books, I wanted to make the papers that people were using but has no clue on how to make that happen. So, I created papers using stamps, markers and paints and never did complete a scrapbook.
Fast forward to 2018. I was deep into making stitchmarkers and used Spoonflower to make some fabric using my logo design. That sparked that interest again like the papers but I had no idea how to proceed with it, plus I had no time to do anything but melt glass.
Then 2020 happened. Right before everything shut down, I saw a post about an online Surface Pattern Design class that taught how to use Adobe Illustrator and design fabric. There it was again and it had a name. I decided to make the investment for the course and give it a go. While the world shut down, I was learning about making patterns, creating artwork and the world of surface pattern design.
Fabric, pillows, clothing, mugs, water bottles, plates, labels on products, rugs, curtains, stationery, notebooks, just to name a few, are items that often have artwork on them. Someone creates the designs for these items and that is called Surface Pattern Design. Sometimes they are employees of the manufacturer but many companies use the services of outside designers and "rent" the use of their artwork to put on products for a specific amount of time. This is called Art Licensing.
I am now at a point where I have learned how to make patterns and have a portfolio that I am sharing with companies that license artwork from designers. I am excited to see my art out in the world someday in stores.
Now you know what Surface Pattern Design is!