Design a butterfly for World Lupus Day 2013

The 10th May 2013 is World Lupus Day and I wanted to mark this event by organising something on my blog. My idea is to create a gallery of butterfly designs so our day will be colourful and joyful even if we are celebrating a life threatening disease like Lupus. 
Why the butterfly? The symbol of a butterfly is often chosen to represent Lupus in the form of a logo. This is because a number of patients have the malar rash across the cheeks and on the bridge of the nose and this is said to resemble the shape of a butterfly.
 

If you would like to participate just send me your design (600px square, 72 dpi, rgb and jpeg format), your name, and one link to your website or Facebook page, to the following address dawnclarkson@libero.it. The gallery will be arranged in the order that I receive the designs so the sooner you send me your design the higher up in the gallery it will be! I am also preparing a gallery of children's drawings so if you have some little ones who like drawing butterflies (who does'nt?) then get them to start colouring now! Please send me these designs in the above format with the childs name. I have a deadline of May 5th so I can prepare the images and promote the event.

Please help me to commemorate this occasion and build awareness of Lupus.

Until then I leave you with a butterfly design I did myself, I hope you will all participate... the more the merrier. THANKS

Dream Design 21 - Sylvia Tay

It's been a bit quiet around here lately so today I am pleased to present a lovely Dream Designs post to brighten up my day and yours!  
Sylvia Tay based in Singapore is my guest today, a graphic designer with a passion for surface pattern design. I am very flattered that she has created a 'custom' design especially for this blog feature so it is her most current and favourite picece of work. Below Sylvia has explained why she has chosen to share this pattern with us and what her 'dream' product would be.

"I am a big fan of mid century modern designs and I think this influences my creations quite a bit. I tend to be graphical and illustrative in my works… things with clean lines, graphical textures and contrast appeal to me. I have created this pattern experimenting with simple circles and stripes, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. My dream is to have a fabric collection under my name someday and I can see this pattern being applied on dresses or even Cheongsam (we call it 旗袍 "qipao" in Chinese). I imagine that on wallpaper or homewares, this pattern would also be suitable." 

At first Sylvia's patterns seem quite delicate and simple but underneath they are full of layers, shapes and movement. If you take a closer look there is a wealth of visual impact waiting to come out. She uses a mixed style of graphic and illustrative, combined with a lovely use of line work and abstract shapes. I think her colour palettes have a slightly retro feel and these colours give the designs a very dainty and elegant aspect. I can see her work fitting in perfectly with the Homeware sector and I wish her all the best in her 'dream' to have her own fabric label! You can see more of her work on her lovely blog or catch up with more of her fabric designs in her Spoonflower shop here.

I apologize to Sylvia on keeping her waiting so long for this post, she has been very patient and I hope she enjoys the final outcome. Your designs are super Sylvia...Thanks!

A Month in The Life of - ME!

On Sam Osborne's blog you will find many a designer and pattern maker who are sharing a month of their life with words and pictures. It is a feature that she will be posting in the first week of every month and if you are a slightly nosey person (or just curious) you have a great excuse to get a small insight into the everyday life of other creatives.
A couple of days ago it was my turn and this is what I came up with.

 

“So here is my month in numbers… 7 days skiing, 5 Saturdays working in a gift shop, and, 16 days working long hours freelancing in a studio in Turin. That left me a whole 3 days to do exactly what I wanted (although of course skiing is counted as holiday time so I can’t really complain)! So this ‘hectic’ month has come to an end and do you know what? I enjoyed myself. Looking back I managed to make and post 4 Efuto envelopes to various worldwide destinations, visited the cinema twice, and made lunchtime trips to Ikea and a fabulous exhibition. I uncovered a great 70′s tablecloth at my mother-in-law’s (in mint condition), met up with a long lost friend who I hadn’t seen for 14 years, and won 100 euros on the lottery, BIG SMILES. On the work front I had an interview for a new ‘surface pattern’ related job and received my first ever contract to license some of my designs. My month was positive, pleasant and interesting. Not quite enough pattern time for my liking but I passed many a doodle evening with my sketchbook and am looking forward to the near future when I can develop all my new ideas into colourful patterns.”

My March highlights...

• 5. Happy to finish my handmade Mother’s Day card, as I live away from home it is a very special day for us both.
• 9. In the gift shop where I work on Saturdays we had been waiting for all the 50′s related gifts to arrive. It is always fun to see new products and have new things to sell.
• 12. My time spent freelancing in Turin is made extra special by this wonderful dog who is part of the team. Not very good at using Photoshop but is excellent at sleeping.
• 21. I was so inspired by this exhibition by Gianini and Luzzati, fabulous animations made using collage and cut and paste stuff, SUPER!
• 22. This is not exclusive to March but my favourite bread shop which I visit a couple of times a week, definitely worth a mention.
• 23. Is it sad to say that I was so happy to win 100 euros on the lottery, well it doesn’t happen every day does it?
• 25. I met up with a friend and her family who I hadn’t seen for 14 years, so nice to realise that you just pick up where you left off.
• 27. Nice find at my mother-in-law’s, a vintage tablecloth in super condition.
• 28. A week late but FINALLY spring arrived in my garden!

It was a very interesting process to do, choose a photo for everyday of the month and pick out 9 highlights. I had imagined my months to be all the same and just full of rushing about. However this makes me realise how interesting time can be... everyday has a moment of happiness or inspiration and it sure is worth focusing your time on the positive moments... it is an exercise I should do more often.
Thanks Sam!

You can catch up on the whole series of A Month in the Life of... HERE!

April - 2013 Designer Calendar Project

It is time for me to remind you all to download another month of the 2013 Designer Calendar Project! The Freebie Designer Calendar Project is an idea by Maria Jose Bautista V and is totally curated and overseen by her.

This month is designed by Onneke van Waardenburg and has clearly been inspired by April Showers. Her design is very sweet and typical of her clean and fresh style. Simple and playful, April will look great on your wall or desk.

The idea - 12 surface pattern designers each to create a month using their unique style, the only guidelines being the format and the colour palette! The result is a very different calendar full of fun designs and patterns. You can check out all the details and download the month of April on Majo's blog. There is also a feature about the designer Onneke.

April is availbale as a free download. You can get your copy to print and keep HERE.