I think I tried a gazillion different colour combos for this one. All I knew is I liked the colour of the blue background and that I wanted some neutral-y colours too. I tried to use the Japan moodboards I had created last week (see my earlier post!), but it just didn't work for me! So here is a brand new colour palette for this one! And I guess it was influenced by 2 trips I took recently: one to London where I saw all the dressed mannequins in a show of 1930's fashion at the Textile & Fashion Museum and my summer trip to Japan! Let me know what you think of the colour palette AND whether you think it is a little "weird" looking! I also included a couple photos of the mannequins too.

Check out my previous post for the brand new colour palettes I developed in the Colour Gang for this month's "Cultural Influences" theme, including one I am calling "Neon Nights". Here is the first re-colour of one of the two designs I originally created to submit to the Uppercase Magazine cover contest (it didn't get printed in the magazine, but my other submission did!) The first image is the original design, as submitted to Uppercase. The second one shows how the re-colour based on my "Neon Nights" colour palette really changes it! I love both, but would be very curious to know which you prefer?! As a designer, it is always hard to decide between going bright or more subtle, or a combo of both. Oh, and I think "Flower Burst" would be a great name for this one!

Ohhh, I'm going to like this month's theme in the Colour Gang--Cultural Influences! I love to travel, and was fortunate this summer to visit Japan, so I'm going with Japan for the first January Colour Challenge. Step 1: create a colour palette inspired by Japan! Using photos from our trip, I created two, deciding to forgo the more "traditional" images of Japan (kimonos, temples, gardens, etc.) and focusing on the less traditional. The first moodboard, "Neon Nights, is all about the "wacky" side of Tokyo/Osaka...neon lights, Robot Restaurant, Kawaii Monster Cafe (google it!) The second one, called "Warm Fantasy" has scenes from Tokyo DisneySea which my kids (and I) thought was beautiful, particularly the Arabian Coast area and Magellan's Restaurant (with Ariel's Playground in there too). Colours are amazing in Japan! Next step: some new pattern designs!

I just received Issue #40 of Uppercase Magazine in the mail and am happy to see my submission for the cover contest was included on page 37! Have a look at this wonderful magazine (one of my favourites) and all the wonderful submissions. Thanks to Janine Vangool for including it!
Oh and BTW: due to many inquiries, I decided to turn this cover illustration into a really fun repeat pattern which you can now purchase on all kinds of fun products, including totes, t-shirts, furniture and more. Check it out in my Society 6 shop!

Kew Gardens in London was wonderfully inspiring for me. I took so many photos and managed to make some of the "specimens" I saw into this repeat pattern design (part of a new tropical-themed pattern design collection!) I've also included a few photos that inspired this pattern!
One of Kew's purposes is plant conservation, and it is thought-provoking and alarming that some of the plants in the Palm and Temperate Houses here are the last of their kind and now extinct in the wild; in one case, there are two plants of a specific species growing at Kew and all specimens of this species that now exist in the world are clones of the two plants here.

Although I did buy some London souvenirs for various family members and friends back home, especially since I arrived back from London only a week before Christmas, when it came to buying keepsakes for me, I couldn't resist these pattern design books which I picked up at the Tate Modern and Textile & Fashion Museum gift shops!

I went to see “Night and Day: 1930’s Fashion and Photographs” at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. With only a couple of exceptions, what struck me is that any of the evening gowns could be hanging in our stores today and the pattern designs seemed completely contemporary! Here are a few shots from the exhibit...

Back in the 90’s, I completed my Diploma in Textile Design at Capilano University in Vancouver where I focused on weaving, tapestry, basketry, hand-printing and dyeing techniques. Although I now focus on surface pattern design I still love all these processes, so I was completely excited to find out that there was going to be an Anni Albers exhibition at the Tate Modern while I was in London! She was a ground-breaking weaver at the Bauhaus, later teaching in the States with her husband the influential artist and teacher Josef Albers. The exhibit has many of her experimental woven pieces and I was fascinated by them when I looked at the weaves and colours up close. So I took a lot of closeups to show you! Look closely! Hope you like them too!

Happily, I was able to meet up with my fellow pattern designer Claire Elsworth while in London! We first met online when we were doing the pattern design courses offered by Make It In Design and then met in person this past May in NYC while both showing at Blueprint. We stayed in touch and decided to meet in London while I was there...OF COURSE, we had to go to Liberty London where we had afternoon tea and spent hours just looking. Then we met up with another fellow Make It In Design alumna Claire Eden for dinner and had such a fantastic time talking all things pattern design! It was wonderful to meet up with you both!