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

ABSPD Alumni / / Loni Harris

So many of our ABSPD Alumni have been up to great & exciting things & we love sharing their fantastic news! In the run up to the next series of M2 of the e-course (there is still time to register) we will be sharing some of our alumni successes! Which you can also see more of in our Success Stories Facebook album!

Loni Harris is another fabulous Alumni of e-course & has always had a passion for art & design. With an education in graphic design, Loni has now gone on to pursue her real passion; surface pattern design! Loni describes her work as "fun, quirky", "hand-drawn" &" slightly textured".

Since ABSPD Loni has gone from success to success! She is currently represented by Pink Light Studio, has built a beautiful website, runs an Etsy shop 'Cactus & Olive' selling lovely baby mobiles & other paper goods & has a huge collection of gorgeous patterns with DENY Designs!

Visit Loni on her website or follow her on Pinterest. You can shop her entire DENY Designs collection here.

If you are interested in ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)’ we are thrilled to announce we are running a new series (starting on August 19th 2013) Register here. Also, don’t miss out on our next run of Module 2 ‘Creating Your Professional identity’ which is running 19th August 2013! If you hurry there is still time to register! Brought to you by Rachael Taylor and Beth Kempton.

Rachael on Twitter: @rachtdesign Beth on Twitter: @DoWhatYouLoveXx

You can also read some magic words from some our past students who have gone on to achieve some amazing things!

ABSPD Alumni / / Mel Smith

So many of our ABSPD Alumni have been up to great & exciting things & we love sharing their fantastic news! In the run up to the next series of M2 of the e-course we will be sharing some of our alumni successes! Which you can also see more of in our Success Stories Facebook album!

Mel Smith is another of our very successful alumni! Having spent a few years freelancing & working in  a small greetings card company, Mel is now working on her own projects. Her designs have been sold in John Lewis & several other stores nationwide. She is currently running a Kickstarter project to raise money to create an eco-friendly, patterned notebook collection. She is also attending Top Drawer/Home 2014 where she plans to fully launch her brand 'Mel Smith Designs' with a selection of lampshades, cushions, kitchen textiles as well as her notebooks.

She has also recently launched a licensed collection with Keka Cases & has designed cute wedding stationery for a friend.

We wish Mel good luck with launching at Top Drawer/Home 2014! You can visit her on her website, blog, Facebook or Twitter.

If you are interested in ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)’ we are thrilled to announce we are running a new series (starting on August 19th 2013) Register here. Also, don’t miss out on our next run of Module 2 ‘Creating Your Professional identity’ which is running 19th August 2013! Brought to you by Rachael Taylor and Beth Kempton.

Rachael on Twitter: @rachtdesign Beth on Twitter: @DoWhatYouLoveXx

You can also read some magic words from some our past students who have gone on to achieve some amazing things!

ABSPD Alumni / / Wendy Kendall

So many of our ABSPD Alumni have been up to great & exciting things & we love sharing their fantastic news! In the run up to the next series of M2 of the e-course we will be sharing some of our alumni successes! Which you can also see more of in our Success Stories Facebook album!

Wendy Kendall is a freelance surface pattern designer based in the UK. Since graduating with degree in print design she has gone on to work as a bedding/nursery designer for UK manfacturers. Her 10 years of experience within the interiors industry has given her trend & design knowledge that has been invaluable to her surface pattern designs. "I have a simplistic, graphic, clean design approach that mixes playful patterns/textures with quirky handrawn outlines. I love the use of bold colours against bright whites and I particularly enjoy creating designs for children".

Wendy (as well as Phyllida) has produced a wonderful fabric collection with Dashwood Studio. A UK based textile company, Dashwood studio are an up & coming company who "specialise in producing beautiful, design-led fabric collections for today's quilt and home-sewing communtities". They are "passionate about what we do" & love "collaborating with the best design talent the UK has to offer". Wendy's 'Petite Street' collection has all around appeal & mixes illustrative hand-drawn styles with a graphic approach, with use of 'strikingly modern colour palettes'. We love how her collection comes together & her use of colour is perfect for crafting with!

Wendy also has fabulous licensed collections with Wallpapered.com, S-Blinds & DENY Designs!

You can find more about Wendy & her work on her website. Read more about her collection with Dashwood Studio on their website. Also connect with Dashwood Studio on their blog.

If you are interested in ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)’ we are thrilled to announce we are running a new series (starting on August 19th 2013) Register here. Also, don’t miss out on our next run of Module 2 ‘Creating Your Professional identity’ which is running 19th August 2013! Brought to you by Rachael Taylor and Beth Kempton.

Rachael on Twitter: @rachtdesign Beth on Twitter: @DoWhatYouLoveXx

You can also read some magic words from some our past students who have gone on to achieve some amazing things!

ABSPD Alumni / / Phyllida Coroneo

So many of our ABSPD Alumni have been up to great & exciting things & we love sharing their fantastic news! In the run up to the next series of M2 of the e-course we will be sharing some of our alumni successes! Which you can also see more of in our Success Stories Facebook album!

Phyllida Coroneo is a UK based surface pattern designer with a background in high fashion. She is well experienced in trend & colour research. She also worked 15 years within the interiors industry for both residential & corporate clients. Her knowledge of colour, trends & markets has led a natural progression towards surface pattern design. "My design reflect my love of colour, nature, fashion and culture. I love to create fashion inspired colour palettes and mix bohemian and vintage style florals with contemporary and ethnic patterns".

Phyllida has gone on to create some amazing design work including her 'Enchanted Forest' Collection with Dashwood Studio. A UK based textile company, Dashwood studio are an up & coming company who "specialise in producing beautiful, design-led fabric collections for today's quilt and home-sewing communtities". They are "passionate about what we do" & love "collaborating with the best design talent the UK has to offer". Collaborating closely with creative director David Sweet, Phyllida has created a beautiful fabric collection. Her 'Enchanted Forest' collection was inspired by childhood memories of Somerset countryside & the children's book series 'The Faraway Tree' by Enid Blyton. Her colours stem from her love of interiors & fashion styling, as well as cultural influences. We absolutely love her use of colour & the magical qualities of her collection.

Phyllida also has a beautiful licensed collection with Keka Cases!

You can find more about Pyllida & her work on her website, Twitter & Facebook. Read more about her collection with Dashwood Studio on their website. Connect with Dashwood Studio on their blog.

 If you are interested in ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)’ we are thrilled to announce we are running a new series (starting on August 19th 2013) Register here. Also, don’t miss out on our next run of Module 2 ‘Creating Your Professional identity’ which is running 19th August 2013! Brought to you by Rachael Taylor and Beth Kempton.

Rachael on Twitter: @rachtdesign Beth on Twitter: @DoWhatYouLoveXx

You can also read some magic words from some our past students who have gone on to achieve some amazing things!

More about MaJoBV!

Good morning creative people!

Welcome to a Beauty morning with me, MaJo :) This week though, Rachael gave me the chance to tell you guys a bit more about myself, so my weekly Beauty Breakdown will be posted next Tuesday afternoon (a one time exception). 

This quote really helped me feel better on a sad day… you can read more about it here.

You already know the basics about me: I'm a Colombian living in Milan, Fashion, Textile and Surface Pattern Designer in L♥VE with whimsical, bright, quirky, fun design, nail-art, dogs and fake eyelashes :) So far 2013 has been a great year for me: I was chosen as one of the Top 10 designers to participate in REPEAT(ed), became an Artscase artist, was chosen by Rachael to be one of her guest bloggers, and have some more great news in the boiling pot :) I'm just really thankful for all the amazing things that have happened so far, and I'm very excited for the road I'm paving for myself: I'm sure it'll take me far… I just have to believe it!

Anyway… I would like to take advantage of this free post I was given to also talk more about my life in Europe and why I'm here. I can't really explain why, but ever since I was little I wanted to live in Paris. Life works in different ways, so I ended up moving to Milan instead. I love travelling and learning from new places and cultures, I also like change, so I don't think I will stay here forever… I would like to experience long term stays in other European cities too, so I might move to Paris someday in my life, who knows, right? 

People wonder why I choose to be here instead of choosing my own country and family and all the comforts I could have there… well, I guess the quick answer is: I like creating my own success, even when there is an easier way to choose. I miss my family A LOT! but I was taught to be independent and to work for what I want, and all I want is to prove my family I'm strong and capable enough to do so :) 

Il Duomo di Milano - I literally cried the first time I found myself in front of it. It is just stunning and every time I see it I realise how lucky I am to be in such a historical city. 

Searching deeper, there are many more reasons why I like living here: Europe is filled with art, history and culture… everywhere you go, everywhere you look you breath in years and years of inspiration. Europe is a really small continent, but so culturally rich it seems huge. I love travelling, and moving around Europe is very easy and also cheap if you find the right offer. I love the fact that I can take a plane and be in Berlin, Paris or Madrid in an hour or so. I have over 25 countries with their own language, culture, traditions at the palm of my hand… I feel I'm on the World's bellybutton, and I love it!

I took this picture one day while walking to work… it is the courtyard of a beautiful old building in downtown Milan, and I just found everything about it beautiful. So many architectural motifs to be inspired by. I wanted to show you an example of how easy and simple it is here to find things that just take your breath away :) 

I don't know where life will take me, I don't know if I'll live the rest of my life in Europe or if I'll eventually move back to Colombia… I might, so I'm trying to soak in as much inspiration as I can while I'm here. One thing is true though, inspiration is everywhere… even in the tiniest of places, even in front of wherever you are now sitting reading this post. We all just need to learn to observe, and we'll be able to find beauty everywhere!

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this personal post. I hope you've enjoyed getting to know me a bit better. I leave you with some of my newest work (and a couple of oldies) hoping to still inspire you today. Have a great day, MaJo.

Also my beautiful country (Colombia) serves me as inspiration… actually, it is always present in my work even if not always as literal as in this design which was inspired by the colonial architecture and colours  of the gorgeous city of Cartagena.