Paint, Prints, and a Dream Collab
The creative wins I’m celebrating, and a summer full of art and new direction.
I skipped posting June, for some good reasons. It’s July and a new quarter has started.
June was FULL, BUSY. I took some time to reflect on what I have achieved in Q2. I celebrate every win, every goodness that comes my way, big or small.
I will spare you from reading my “accomplishments” because I believe you have better things to spend your time on. And really, my “accomplishments” aren’t that significant by outside standards, but they are sweet and important to me.
One thing I’ll share is that I have landed my dream collab — 10 prints of mine are licensed by Loomwell, a peel-and-stick wallpaper company in the US. I landed this deal through an amazing mentor, Melissa Johnson, and the art call she hosted. I’m part of her mentorship and have learned so much from her! She is kind and caring. Unlike many other memberships I was part of at a point in life, her mentorship is the most engaging and caring one I’ve experienced. If you are a surface pattern designer looking for some hands-on support, check her out!!!
And of course, if you need new wallpaper — or your friends do — check out what I have for you on Loomwell’s website!
I have had some soul-searching about the market direction I want to go in within the vast surface pattern design world. I have narrowed it down to fashion and home. Fun fact: I bought the very first issue of Vogue China when I was a journalism student in uni. Anna Wintour was my role model. I loved her documentary The September Issue. I watched Devil Wears Prada more than 10 times. I used to dream about being an editor at Vogue after uni… I guess all these contributed to my decision to take the fashion print route, which is 99% buyout and 1% licensing, as I learned. So in June, I learned how to make a muse board, a market research brand mood board, and curated my first fashion print lookbook. The missing piece now is pitching, which I have no idea how to do just yet. I’ll share with you once I learn about that — if you are interested!
👆My Summer Muse Board (images via Pinterest)
I also enjoyed a 30+ day floral painting challenge last month! You can see what I painted in my Instagram story highlight. My plan is to do 100 days of floral painting, but I had to leave some time to design a new fabric collection for an art call. However, the 30 days of painting was such a soul- and skill-nourishing experience! Now, I have so much new artwork to scan in and make into prints! I highly recommend you do a similar art challenge this summer!
On a personal note, our family is leaving for Salalah, Oman, for a 10-day holiday. It’s a very green, lush region with mild temperatures. I very much look forward to it — to escape the desert heat of the UAE for a bit.
Before I go make dinner, I want to tell you two of my favorite books on print design: one is Liberty: Design. Pattern. Color, the other one is Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer. Check them out! I think you will love them too!
Thank you for being here, friend! If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to my Substack for future post notifications and amazing freebies in Your Creative Handbag! Send me an email if you have any questions or just want to connect!
Until next time,
Jun
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