Museum shop interlude

Yesterday whilst waiting for an office to open in the centre of Turin I had the bright idea to go into the museum shop at the GAM (Galleria di Arte Moderna) and have a nosey around. Why do I love these places so much? I only had about 20 minutes to spare but managed to run up a mental wish list of books which came to over 150 euros! Due to lack of time my credit card escaped a good bashing and I contented myself with these beautiful postcards by Lora Lamm dipicting lovely examples of mid-century graphic design. I have a complimentary pass for the Paolo di Maria exhibition currently running in the museum so with a smile on my face I said to the shop assistant 'see you next week'... I think my credit card is already hiding away trembling in a dark corner of my bag. Next time I have a bright idea like this I think I'll try the Museum cafe!
In the meantime enjoy these postcards, I will be uploading them to Pinterest too.

Lora Lamm. 1958
Summer and fashion, la Rinascente.

Lora Lamm. 1961
Linen fair, IR, colour from America.

Lora Lamm. 1959-1963
Pirelli hot water bottles.

Pinterest... a new game to play!

Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organising things you love. No matter what you are interested in, you will find it on Pinterest. A place where millions of images including photographs, illustrations and of course patterns, are there to be seen and captured by you. The game is to create your own personal boards and 'pin' all your favourite images on them. You can create various themes about anything you like, the list is endless. It is also possible to follow other Pinterest users and you will find people following your boards too. A Pinterest champion is Jo Cho who has 12 million followers! 
Although I have been a member of Pinterest for about a year I have only recently realised that I may have been bitten by the bug and I can feel a slight addiction coming on. It is fabulous to have so many inspiring images at the click of a mouse!

http://pinterest.com/niceandfancy/cats/

http://pinterest.com/niceandfancy/words/

http://pinterest.com/niceandfancy/patterns/

Here are a few of the images I have fallen in love with and they all have links back to my theme boards. Or it is possible to see all my boards directly here. So please come along and have a nose and of course... follow me!

A New Identity - Sneaky peek

Hi all.

A few changes are going to happen around here. I know I have'nt been around much lately but I am so busy trying desperately to organise my "Surface Pattern life". This does'nt exclude normal life which carries on simultaneously, and, quite honestly speaking gets in the way a bit! Some snippets of good news are in the pipeline but I can't share until all the details are sorted and secure.

One bit of news I can share is that I have changed my Logo, it is the beginning of a few identity changes which I know will help me promote my work and create a more professional base for me to launch new projects. 
So here it is...

It could be considered a bit of a corporate logo, well that just shows off my background of 20 years working in graphic design! I also know this logo is not particularly quirky or original but it is what I have had in mind for a while. I have created a symbol which includes my initials and a pattern, as simple as that! It's not advisable for me to have a complicated identity which may compete with the viewing of my patterns as obviously they are more important! The pattern will come in handy as a watermark and DC can be cut down as small and as insignificant as it may need to be in some situations. Below you will find a couple of examples of how my identity will adapt to cover different needs. Obviously colours and such might change a little but the base of the identity is here. Please let me know what you think? ... any comments are welcome.

 

 
My new website (coming soon I hope!) will be www.dawnclarkson.com, and my whole identity will revolve around my name or initials. I'm afraid cute names like 'nice and fancy' might be getting the boot... but thats another story.
To complete the identity change my business Facebook page is now Dawn Clarkson - Surface Pattern Design and not Nice and Fancy as before... please feel free to like my page :)

August - 2013 Designer Calendar Project

August has arrived and it's again time to download another month from the 2013 Designer Calendar Project. The Freebie Designer Calendar Project is an idea by Maria Jose Bautista V. Back in December 2012 she asked 12 surface pattern designers to each create a month using their unique style. The result is a very different calendar for 2013 full of fun designs and patterns. 
This months beautiful design is by Kathryn Pledger an Australian born Graphic Designer who now lives in London with her family. I know it is her birthday tomorrow so... Happy Birthday Kathryn!

The month of August is available for download here on Majo's blog where you can also read all about Kathryn and her work.