ABSPD Graduate wins Wallpaper of the year!

Wow the good news just keeps coming! We are thrilled to announce that Wendy Kendall WON the Ideal Home Show wallpaper of the year competition! A huge CONGRATULATIONS goes to Wendy, we just love her 'Petite Street' design!

We are constantly blown away by the success stories coming through from The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design alumni. Not only did we have a winner we also had two more of our talented alumni in the final. Three, yes three of the finalist are all from our ABSPD community! We would also like to congratulate Martha Copinger Binns & Laura Escalante Mora for making the top five!

For more information about the day you can read Martha's blog post & Wendy's write up here.

Wendy's award winning design

The famous Laurence Llewelyn - Bowen with the talented Wendy & the lovely Kat from Wallpapered.com

A selection of the finalists (above)

 

Wendy & Martha 

Martha & Laurence

'Owl Flight' by Martha

We also had two of our alumni in the top five last year! Nikki Griffiths & Jane Bridges. What a talented bunch!

If you are interested in The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course) you can find out more information here. The next full series starts April 29th! To read more of our success stories & student buzz visit our Facebook page here.

ABSPD Alumni

Every week we are blown away by the success stories coming through from the graduates of The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course). Our alumni are regularly popping up in the press, featuring on leading design blogs & winning competitions! A large number of our graduates have catapulted into the design world & launched great licensing & freelance careers... signing contracts with prestigious companies such as teNeues, Artscase, DENY Designs & many more...

Today I wanted to share with you another fabulous success story! A number of our talented graduates were selected & published in a fab new LOGO book by Zeixs. CONGRATULATIONS everyone!

Abi Sims

Schatzi Brown

Diane Rooney

Katy Clemmans

Above 3 images by Nicky Ovitt 

If you are interested in The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course) you can find out more information here. The next full series starts April 29th! To read more of our success stories & student buzz visit our Facebook page here.

Interiors Roundup: Clarissa Hulse

I am so excited to be sharing gorgeous interiors with you. As Rachael Taylor’s new Interiors roundup editor, I will be posting every Thursday afternoon with my weekly update of all things Interiors. This week, I am sharing amazing designs from Clarissa Hulse.

Clarissa Hulse produces absolutely amazing designs for bedding, lampshades and cushions as well as lovely little gift items. I have been an avid follower of her designs since I first came across them at a trade show almost 3 years ago now and find it difficult to put in to words just how much in awe I am of the use of colour in her designs. Just take a look at the pictures, need I say more? They are beautiful! A full collection of her products can be viewed on her website www.clarissahulse.com I highly recommend taking a look! I will be back next week with more inspiration and very much look forward to sharing more fabulous interiors with you!

Enjoy your week! Emily x

Beauty Breakdown: cutesy time

Good morning creative people!

Welcome to a Beauty morning with me, MaJo :) Every Thursday I'll delight you with gorgeously packed beauty products (and every now and then, I'll even throw you a beauty secret).

This week I'm bringing you a taste of sweetness. Kawaii is the Japanese word for cute, adorable and loveable that has grown into a whole strong and popular aesthetic movement in Japanese modern culture, not to mention its influence among many western designers (including me… I love incorporating a touch of cutesy in my work). 

Kawaii style is recognisable by the candy fresh bright colours, adorable characters, and soft shapes (just think about Hello Kitty and all her Sanrio® friends: they are the greatest representation of Kawaii style). Kawaii design is used in a variety of markets, including beauty products. Below you'll find some of the most adorable cosmetics I've every seen; with striking and interesting motifs that would for sure catch your attention in any shop you'd see them. They also give me the idea of being sweet-smelling and gentle to the touch (kind of what you expect people to feel when using a beauty product, right?) Enjoy the eye candy!

missing U season 3 (image courtesy of etude house)

…and the bird trend continues... 

missing U hand cream (image courtesy of etude house)

Will insects be the new birds? (trend-wise)

Mini Me perfumed stick (image courtesy of etude house)

Perfect to keep in different handbags. 

Luscious lip cream (image courtesy of jshoppers)

To me, this packaging is very clever. It is cute and pretty, and also comes in a perfect gift box.

Bandai, Rilakkuma Medicinal lip cream (image courtesy of jshoppers)

This tube bear would for sure make me smile every time I use it. 

Make Essence eye concealer (image courtesy of jshoppers)

Isn't this the cutest concealer packaging you've ever seen? 

How adorable is that bear with dark circles (lol). 

Tonymoly Petite Bunny lip gloss bar (image courtesy of h2Dream)

Is it a pen? no! It's the sweetest lip gloss ever!

Ichigo Milk Flavor soap (image courtesy of amazon)

Can't really explain why, but this packaging reminds me of yogurt taffy pop ^-^ .

Lovely ME:EX Mini Pet Perfume Hand Cream
(image courtesy of the face shop)

Imagine this lovely kitten next to you on your nightstand: 

the perfect friend for perfect soft hands.

Speaking of hands… 

Get baby velvety hands and feet by applying every night a rich nurturing hand cream before going to sleep (it works even better, if you wear soft cotton gloves and socks too). 

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. See you next week with more inspiring designs. Have a great day, MaJo. 

Talitha Shipman

Recently Rachael announced that she is now a proud member of the Lilla Rogers Studio. For the next few months we have decided to feature a regular weekly showcase from Lilla's esteemed group of designers & Illustrators. Today we bring you the lovely Talitha Shipman.

Talitha Shipman is an illustrator & graphic designer based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Talitha hand paints some of her illustrations specifically with water colours which gives Talitha a unique signature style. But she tends focused a lot more of her designs on Photoshop but making them look as though they are 100% hand-drawn. Talitha likes to bring in natural hand-drawn textures & patterns into her illustrations which creates a more hand-painted look. Nature is a huge inspirations within Talitha illustrations particularly dogs, birds & flowers as well as people.

Talitha is also a designer & animator for Blue Pony Motion Design. Talitha has many clients including American Greetings, Hallmark Cards, Deep Magazine & many more. You can find Talitha on Facebook. Enjoy, Hannah.

Gift Guide: Easter Alternatives

What do you buy the person who has everything? Well, I can think of a thing or two...
Welcome to my weekly gift-guide; I’m thrilled to be sharing a selection of creative, quirky and downright awesome gifts with you here on Rachael’s blog. This week’s guide features a few alternative Easter gifts.

For me, Easter is the ultimate symbol of spring. Perhaps it’s the pretty pastel colours, the lazy 4 day weekend, dinner with family out on the patio or vases of fresh daffodils on every available surface. Whatever the reason, Easter is truly a special occasion and every special occasion needs gifts, right? I love to celebrate spring and Easter with a few thoughtful gifts for my loved ones. Chocolate eggs are a classic, but they don’t really scream ‘surprise’. If you fancy doing something a little different this year, here are a few suggestions...

I love the idea of hosting a delicious afternoon tea on Easter Sunday. Crumb have put together an amazing selection of afternoon tea hampers, including this one especially for Easter. Get your best gal pals together and treat them to a slice (or two) of cake. 

Afternoon tea calls for delectable chinaware and Anthropologie have just the thing. Available in gorgeous spring hues this little tea cup and saucer will put the special in special occasion. 

J'adore the daffodil fabric of these pocket mirrors. Handmade in the UK by Rebecca Larsen of Edamay.

A more traditional Easter gift, but one that lasts longer than chocolate. This vintage-style tin can be personalised and filled with tasty treats or tiny toys. Handpainted by Chantal Devenport Designs.

The Easter Bunny serves double duty as a delightful egg cup. Available at John Lewis.

The nature theme continues with this beautiful hand painted brooch by Emma Gray of Menagerie.

An adorable character and edible too, this chocolate squirrel by Rumseys Chocolaterie pays homage to the Easter egg tradition - with a twist. 

Oh and what's this? Owl vases in an array of bright colours. I'll take three. 

What do you think? Will you be treating your favourite people to an alternative gift this year or sticking to the tried and tested favourite? 

Have a lovely day, Leonie x