ABSPD Module 4 / / Card Crazy Live Brief!

We are bursting with excitement about some of the incredible ***LIVE BRIEF'S*** that we have in store for you! Set by a hand-picked selection of ***TRULY AMAZING COMPANIES*** in Module 4 of 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)'! Module 4 is an advanced seven week course in which you will learn everything you need to know about building your professional portfolio. The course is crammed with masterclass video tutorials, regular live briefs from real companies, templates, tons of brilliant inspiration, invaluable content, a weekly Q&A with Rachael, & individual work reviews from either Rachael or another flourishing designer! PLUS you will get six months’ FREE access to the MOYO Directory, where you can create a bespoke profile, upload unlimited portfolios and attract potential clients. This is a rare opportunity to build your commercial portfolio in a structured way, with the support & guidance to boost your confidence & make you raring to go!

Card Crazy are a UK based, greetings card publisher with the focus of making designers stand out from the crowd! They invest a lot of time in designing beautiful greetings cards & providing a no-nonsense service that delivers at all times. They love to celebrate & showcase their designers ensuring that they share in the success of their designs! We love our own collection with Card Crazy & we are very excited for them to share their Live Brief! You can register here for March 2014, when Module 4 begins! This is an amazing opportunity to gain REAL design experience from a brilliant brief along with the chance to present your work to an innovative company. Rachael has worked with Card Crazy on her own illustration & pattern card ranges & loved designing for them!

Many of our graduates are now big players within the design industry & we're proud to say we have really nurtured some amazing talent! You can see more success stories from current students & Alumni in this Facebook album or read some of our lovely testimonials. We are so pleased that the course & our Alumni have received outstanding industry recognition, as we have been going from strength to strength since our intial launch at the end of 2011.

WE WILL BE REVEALING EACH WEEK THE COMPANIES THAT WE HAVE CONFIRMED SO FAR. STAY TUNED!

So far we have lined up wonderful textile company Dashwood Studio (see the announcement post here) & fantastic modern homewares company DENY Designs (see the reveal post here).

ABSPD Module 4 / / DENY Designs Live Brief!

We are bursting with excitement about some of the incredible ***LIVE BRIEF'S*** that we have in store for you! Set by a hand-picked selection of ***TRULY AMAZING COMPANIES*** in Module 4 of 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)'! Module 4 is an advanced seven week course in which you will learn everything you need to know about building your professional portfolio. The course is crammed with masterclass video tutorials, regular live briefs from real companies, templates, tons of brilliant inspiration, invaluable content, a weekly Q&A with Rachael, & individual work reviews from either Rachael or another flourishing designer! PLUS you will get six months’ FREE access to the MOYO Directory, where you can create a bespoke profile, upload unlimited portfolios and attract potential clients. This is a rare opportunity to build your commercial portfolio in a structured way, with the support & guidance to boost your confidence & make you raring to go!

WE WILL BE REVEALING EACH WEEK THE COMPANIES THAT WE CONFIRMED. STAY TUNED!

We are so delighted to announce that modern, think-outside-the-box home furnishings company DENY Designs will be writing a Live Brief for Module 4! This global, prestigious company offers products to transform the home while supporting art communities all over the world. They believe in each product being custom-made for each & every customer using state of the art printing methods to create fresh, vibrant colours & high-end quality products. DENY Designs are a passionate group of people who want to inspire & be inspired, create & be visionaries & they want to share this with designers & customers from across the globe!

This is an amazing opportunity to gain REAL design experience from a brilliant brief along with the chance to present your work to an innovative company. DENY Designs is a company that really shows the impact & power of surface pattern design & the range it can have. Currently DENY Design produces over 30 home-wares products with plans to expand even more in 2014! It is wonderful to see the versatility you can get from one design! Their team of artists even includes some of our ABSPD Alumni such as Loni Harris, Wendy Kendall, Tammie Bennett & Vy La! Rachael has collaborated with DENY Designs herself & cannot sing their praises enough!

Many of our graduates are now big players within the design industry & we're proud to say we have really nurtured some amazing talent! You can see more success stories from current students & Alumni in this Facebook album or read some of our lovely testimonials. We are so pleased that the course & our Alumni have received outstanding industry recognition, as we have been going from strength to strength since our intial launch at the end of 2011.

USA Work Trip / / ABSPD Alumni Meet Up

On a recent work trip to Boston, I was fortunate enough to meet up with a lovely group of the students & Alumni of 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)' (from left to right: Alik, Margaret, me, Hannah & Mary). It is always wonderful to to get to meet the students in person & chat about their experiences & successes during & after the course & I feel so grateful to be part of their journeys. We met at Wagamama & enjoyed a lovely meal together, it was such a fun evening & they were all such a fab group of talented ladies.

Are you having your own ABPSD meet-up? Let us know by leaving a comment or on the ABSPD Facebook page & we will share them with our fantastic community!

You can find out more about my trip to the USA on previous posts including my inspirational trips to the Boston Marina & Boston Aquarium, the Pumpkin Patch & getting to meet my agent Lilla Rogers for the first time!

Alik Arzoumanian is an illustrator & surface pattern designer living in Cambridge, MA, USA. She was trained as an illustrator at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Since graduating in 2004, Alik has mainly been illustrating picture books, until she decided to pursue my love of surface pattern design. Alik just loves making patterns & likes to think of her patterns as being simple, bold, & playful. If you want to know what about Alik visit her blog, website or find her on The MOYO Directory.

Margaret Applin is an artist/designer living in Lowell, Massachusetts. Born & raised in New England, Margaret's art is full of inspiration taken from the natural landscape & the changing seasons. Margaret explores various techniques such as stamp & stencil making, drawing, mono printing, screen printing, or straight digital design to develop the building blocks that define her artwork. Margaret's style is characterised by simple images that are transformed into quirky, casually elegant, fresh & modern design expressions. See more of Margaret's work on her website, blog or on The MOYO Directory.

Hannah Milkins is a lover of all things decorative, swirly and beautiful. Currently she is an aspiring pattern designer & illustrator based out of New York's Capital Region. Since taking the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course she has been having fun experimenting, refining her style & building a professional portfolio. She looks forward to continuing her pattern journey as she makes new friends & takes next steps into the wonderful world of design! Find more of Hannah's work on her website or her MOYO Directory profile.

Mary Tanana is a designer who is inspired by many things; art, photography, gardening, landscapes and nature. She’s had a life-long love affair with anything patterned, & after a long & successful career as an award winning jewellery designer, she has once again embraced her first love of surface pattern design. Mary originally studied fashion illustration, & has adapted her fascination with textures & patterns into a unique design style. Her style is influenced by the diverse art & architecture she observed while traveling & living overseas. Follow Mary on her blog or Facebook or take a look at her portfolio.

ABSPD / / Module 4 ‘Building your professional portfolio’ is here!

At last it is time to unveil Module 4 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design: Building Your Professional Portfolio! This brand new course has been developed in response to popular demand from graduates of Module 3, but is open to anyone who has some experience in surface pattern design and wishes to concentrate on growing their body of commercially-viable work. Module 4 is an intense seven week course, which consists of five weeks of class plus two weeks of design reviews.

Module 4 will run for the first time MARCH 24 - MAY 10 2014. PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED in order to allow individual design reviews for every class participant, so book your place now! Instalment plans are available - see this page for details.

Module 4 includes:

- Weekly LIVE briefs from real companies

- A series of video-based technical masterclasses to hone your professional design skills

- A series of advanced design challenges to help you grow as a designer and build a strong, sellable portfolio

- Insight into the practicalities of managing a growing design studio

- A whole host of downloadable templates

- Opportunity to put questions to Rachael Taylor

- Individual work reviews from a flourishing designer*

- Six months' extended access to class materials once class has finished

PLUS you will get six months' FREE access to the MOYO Directory, where you can create a bespoke profile, upload unlimited portfolios and attract potential clients. *Please note this course includes a review of two designs per student, when submitted in line with the guidelines given in class. The review will either be by Rachael Taylor or another flourishing designer whose opinion we trust and respect. 

This is a rare opportunity to build your commercial portfolio in a structured way, with the support and guidance to boost your confidence and make you raring to go!

Video-based technical masterclasses

This module includes a series of 10+ advanced video-based masterclasses including the following topics: 

- Character design (hand-drawn and graphic) 
- Typography (traditional and contemporary) 
- Using mixed media, textures & collage in pattern design 
- Using photography in pattern design 
- Advanced repeats 
- Advanced mockups 
PLUS You will also get access to a library of textures and media to use. Each video will be supported by a PDF transcript including step-by-step visuals. This is an advanced class and you will need to be proficient in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to get the most out of this module. Please note we do not offer technical guidance for any other software programmes (including free software).

This is for you if:

- You want to be stretched and challenged as a designer to create new work and expand your design comfort zone 
- You want to strengthen and build your portfolio quickly, with pieces that are commercially viable 
- You want advanced technical guidance for developing sophisticated work
- You want to learn more about putting strong collections together
- You want to work more on developing your signature style
- You want to become part of a supportive community of fellow designers
- You have graduated from Module 3 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (although this is not a pre-requisite if you already have some design experience)

PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED in order to allow individual design reviews for every class participant, so book your place now! Instalment plans are available - see this page for details.

ABSPD Module 3 / / Announcing Oysterbaby Live Brief!

We are so excited to share that Module 3 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design: 'Monetising your designs' features a live brief from Oysterbaby, to design patterns for their gorgeous reversible bamboo fibre baby slings!

Oysterbaby is an inspiring young company run by Kate Thorman, who will personally feed back on participants' responses to the brief. 

Module 3 also includes live briefs from other real companies - all will be revealed in class. We have a brilliant track record of course alumni being signed by the companies who provide the live briefs for class, so this is a fantastic opportunity to get your work in front of a real company (& someone may even get a deal from it!) 

What are you waiting for? There is still time to squeeze in to Module 3 here. 

And if that wasn't enough, we also have a live brief for Module 2 students!

If you are at the stage where you need to develop your brand identity, learn more about online & offline marketing, & create your professional identity, then Module 2 is for you. There is still to register for Module 2 if you hurry!

ABPSD Module 2 / / Announcing Create-Ologie Live Brief!

We are beyond thrilled to announce that Module 2 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design: 'Creating your professional identity' will feature a live brief from Jo Packham's delicious new site Create-ologie. The brief will be to design fabric to be featured on one of the products in their online catalogue. Jo Packham will personally feedback on the work, & will choose one design to be produced as Spoonflower fabric, & used in a styled photoshoot for the stunning magazine Where Women Create! Fancy having a go? Take this brilliant opportunity & register here.

If you are at the stage where you need to develop your brand identity, learn more about online & offline marketing, & create your professional identity, then Module 2 is for you. There is still time for you to squeeze into Module 2 here.

And we also have an exciting live brief announcement for Module 3! If you feel ready to start monetising your designs, Module 3 is for you. There is still time to sign up so register for Module 3 here!

ABSPD Inspiring Quotations / / Competition Winner!

Happy Friday! Today we are announcing the winner of our ABSPD Inspiring Quotations Competition & showcasing some of the AMAZING designs we received. We get send many emails & words of gratitude from the alumni of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (which makes the hard work worthwhile) - & thought it would be fun to ask students to design their words into a visual testimonial. You can see our winner below. We have tried to share a diversity of creative styles but please be sure to check out our testimonial Facebook album to see all of our wonderful entries! We would like to thank everyone for their brilliant designs & kind words, it really means a lot to us. We love the ABSPD community & we are honoured to be a part of it!

We are excited to launch the next round of classes this very Monday, there's still to join if your quick! (*This is the last time we will run the courses until Spring 2014).

Love the #ABSPD team x

And the winner is...

Brandi Powell! 

We thought Brand's design really showed her signature style & we loved the clever composition & the way she used her motifs & typography.

Below you can see a variety of lovely designs that were entered:

Sam Osborne

Anneline Sophia Designs

Faye Brown

Bethan Lumb

Gill Eggleston - Pattern Addict

Joanne Cocker - Jojo Coco Design

Jo Elise Designs

Melanie Pennell - Bee and Haych

Nicola Griffiths - Pikadoodles

Rosie Simmons

Sonia Atwal - Apple Kaur Designs

Ali Benyon Designs

Carolyn Greifeld

MOYO Directory / / Giveaway!

It's giveaway time! We are loving seeing all the new designer profiles going up on the new MOYO Directory, and want to encourage you to make the most of all the features the site offers by beautifying your profile even further. To do this, we are offering a giveaway of these delicious prizes: 

* A gorgeous tote bag from the Rachael Taylor collection (see below)

* Two fat quarter bundles of Phyllida Coroneo's gorgeous Enchanted Forest fabric collection, courtesy of Dashwood Studios (see above)

* A copy of Marie Perkins' new book 'Print & Pattern Kids'

* Some patterned washi tape from Japan

The prize will go to the person whose MOYO Directory profile we love the most, in terms of the effort that has gone into making it beautiful, and the variety of images shared to really make the portfolio stand out. The winner will be chosen on Friday 27 September 2013 so be sure to get working on your profile between now and then! (And if you haven't signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join and start sharing your work with the world!)

   

A bit more about the MOYO Directory:
The MOYO Directory is a visually striking, easy to navigate, highly customisable directory, which allows you to create your own profile, upload unlimited portfolio images and receive direct enquiries from potential clients etc. Ultimately it will be a fantastic place to showcase your designs, attract work and get noticed even more. It will be a fantastic complement to your existing website, and we aim to make it the most popular designer directory available. Access it anywhere – on your PC, tablet or phone – to find designers on the go.

It is a one-stop-shop for companies looking to hire talent or find freelancers so you need to part of it! Showcase your work, share your social media links and network with other designers – all for less than the cost of a single advert on any leading design blog. Let it complement your existing website, or if your website isn’t ready yet, your personal profile and portfolio area will be the perfect substitute.

We aim for the MOYO Directory to become the go-to resource for companies seeking designers to work with, either freelance or for licensing/selling designs.

Features include:
* Quickly and easily customise your own MOYO profile
* Upload unlimited portfolio albums
* Get great value marketing for your business
* Complement or replace your existing website
* Find other designers near you Find out more here 

DEADLINE: This giveaway will close at 12 noon GMT on Friday 27 September 2013. We will only consider MOYO Directory profiles posted at that point.

THE SMALL PRINT: There will be one winner who will be announced on this blog shortly after the deadline. The competition is open to anyone over 18 anywhere in the world. There is no cash alternative. Our decision on the winners is final and no correspondence will be entered into. By entering you agree for your email address to be added to the mailing lists of Do What You Love and Rachael Taylor Designs but you can unsubscribe at any time.

Launching the brand new MOYO Directory!

It is hard to believe that it is two years since Beth Kempton & I released The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design into the world! Since then, we have helped thousands of budding designers develop their pattern designs skills, build their brand & monetise their designs. They have had some incredible successes - winning national design contests, landing multiple clients, launching their own labels, being featured in industry books & magazines & so on. But then we realised there was something missing... a go-to place for potential clients to find surface pattern designers just like them. So we created the MOYO Directory - the online home of surface pattern designers. Over the coming months we will be heavily promoting this to the key players in industry - buyers, studios, trade show organisers etc - to help bring even more attention to the work of the featured designers.

(Image shows Rachael's MOYO Directory profile)

And we would love to have YOU join our directory! Are you a surface pattern designer, illustrator, graphic designer, mixed media artist or other kind of artist or designer? Then this is for you! The MOYO Directory is a visually striking, easy to navigate, highly customisable directory, which allows you to create your own profile, upload unlimited portfolio images & receive direct enquiries from potential clients etc. Ultimately it will be a fantastic place to showcase your designs, attract work & get noticed even more. It will be a fantastic complement to your existing website, and we aim to make it the most popular designer directory available. Access it anywhere – on your PC, tablet or phone – to find designers on the go.

The MOYO Directory is a one-stop-shop for companies looking to hire talent or find freelancers so you need to part of it! Showcase your work, share your social media links & network with other designers – all for less than the cost of a single advert on any leading design blog. Let it complement your existing website, or if your website isn’t ready yet, your personal profile & portfolio area will be the perfect substitute. We aim for the MOYO Directory to become the go-to resource for companies seeking designers to work with, either freelance or for licensing/selling designs. Features of the MOYO Directory:

• Quickly and easily customise your own MOYO profile
• Upload unlimited portfolio albums
• Get great value marketing for your business
• Complement or replace your existing website
• Find other designers near you

It’s very easy to get going in just a few simple steps:

(1) Visit www.moyodirectory.com

(2) Watch the short introductory video

(3) Sign up

(4) Create your profile

(Image shows Suzanne Washington’s MOYO Directory profile)

(5) Upload your portfolio images – you can have as many albums and upload as many images as you like

(Image shows Jessica Swift’s MOYO profile)

(6) Share your unique URL on social media, on your blog and in your newsletter mailings etc (Hint: There is an option to search by ‘Most Loved’ so be sure to get all your followers to your profile!)

And it’s not just for surface pattern designers – you can be listed as a illustrator, mixed media artist, graphic designer etc, and really stand out from others in your field.

What are you waiting for? Check it out and sign up now!