Wednesday 31 July 2013

Online portfolio.

I'm still working on some ideas for the "Black and White" theme Tigerprint competition but I thought I would take time out to talk about how brilliant I am finding keeping an online portfolio.

When I first started designing again I felt that as I was making progress I wanted somewhere I could keep my designs as well as getting some exposure. After doing a bit of research I cam across Behance and found it very easy to set up my own page. You can put designs in collections, add descriptions and keep a track on who is looking at your portfolio and profile. I find it really easy to use. It has an app that you can use on your ipad which syncs with your portfolio so you can always carry around an example of your work. Sometimes I find it scary how much technology has advanced!

Anyway if you fancy having a look at my portfolio here's the link,
http://www.behance.net/Slumbermonkey

And to prove I am still working on ideas here's what I added to it yesterday!

 c.Slumbermonkey Designs 2013

Tuesday 30 July 2013

More competition fun!

Here I go again, another day and another competition to focus on. This month's Tigerprint design challenge was launched today and it is based around using black and white. Take a look!

http://designcompetition.tigerprint.uk.com/

I think that this could be really interesting as it eliminates the need to make choices about a colour palette so you can think really carefully about the design elements. I have already worked on a couple of designs in monochrome. I may or may not enter these in the competition. What do you think?



Monday 29 July 2013

I'm a bit late today doing a post as I had to take my lovely dog to the vets because she is poorly. Couldn't resist adding a photo as she has been a constant companion throughout this time.

Anyhow, I wanted to talk about competitions a little more and how they have helped me. When I went back to designing it was very hard to think of self-directed projects. I find that I think better with a brief to work to. The most useful so far have been Tigerprint and Spoonflower, (http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/slumbermonkey), which has a weekly contest. It means that I come up with at least one strong design a week. My votes have been increasing as I get better and more confident. My current entry is for "Highways and Byways" but I have just designed this to enter into the "Fashion" theme. I based these on Dior's "New Look". Look out and vote for this in a couple of weeks time!.


Saturday 27 July 2013

Going Dotty!

As it's a Saturday, I think I will just show you some of my new work rather than continue with my journey so far. This week I have been going dotty (sometimes it has felt that quite literally!). I was playing around some icons that I drew in my new sketchbook that coincidentally were all dots (I love dots and circles) These are the designs that I have come up with so far...





P.S I'm also on Twitter if you want to follow me there: https://twitter.com/buck_lj

Friday 26 July 2013

How did I get started?

As I said yesterday this is a change of direction for me after a long time in another job. I left university in 1992(!) with a degree in printed textile design and although I freelanced for a while, I soon got tied up in other things. Now nearly 22 years later I have decided to go for it again. Things have changed so much. Nobody used computers when I did my degree, the internet didn't exist and everything had to be designed on paper. That's how I sold my first designs. During my research I have found that all these advances seem to have democratized design and widened opportunities. everyone seems to have an equal chance. I signed up for Module 1 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern (http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/pattern/) and began my journey. Through this I have found so many lovely people all doing a similar things and the community is so supportive.

I have also found about lots of online design competitions that companies run and have tried to enter as many as possible. I will show more of this later but these are some of my entries for latest Tigerprint competition, "Love and Marriage".




Thursday 25 July 2013

A new beginning.

Wow, I had over 70 page views yesterday which was amazing. Am still playing around with the layout and design of my blog so you might see changes everyday at the moment!

As I said yesterday this is very new to me. I have just left a very stable career after ten years to pursue my passion for Surface Pattern. I wasn't very well, was at home and kept thinking, "I wish I could do what I love for the rest of my life" and I found this:

http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/

I found this inspirational and it gave me hope that I could indeed find a better way and go back to designing and embrace my love of all things colour and pattern.

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Hello world!

Hello and welcome to my first post. This is a brave new venture from me and I hope that you will follow me on this adventure! I am a Freelance Surface Pattern Designer with a love of all things colour and pattern. I aim to share with you my work, influences and anything that I find inspiring. You can view my work in Behance, http://www.behance.net/Slumbermonkey and Spoonflower, http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/slumbermonkey. Meanwhile here is a little taster of my current work.