Ideas and Inspirations: Personal Style

 

Folk Art Daisy Brooch - made by lolly

Do you think your personal style affects your work?

Do the clothes you wear, the books you read and the music you listen to influence your work?

Does how you decorate your house and the things you surround yourself with make a difference to how you design?

Hmmm...
Let me tell you, I wasn't so sure that it did. My usual designing style is less of a structured research and development job and more of a result of 'playing' with the felt colours and shapes I have in front of me until I find something I like. From this point I begin creating more things that co-ordinate with that first sample item, until before you know it, I have a colour scheme and a range of designs!

But this season, I have tried to be a bit more deliberate in my choices, and rather than settling with the first colour combination or design I liked, try to keep pushing myself to find the best colour combination and design!

As you know, in the end I decided that my new Autumn/Winter range would feature pink, red, grey, black and cream in various co-ordinating or clashing combinations. I was inspired by the repeating patterns and strong colours found in folk art (see my inspiration board here) and I developed new designs including the 'Sweetheart' and 'Sunburst' pin brooches, as well as my personal favourite, the Folk Art Daisy

But what had drawn me to those colours and ideas in the first place?

After the initial excitement of designing a brand new collection had died down, I had time to look around me... at my red cord sofa, my black and white cushions, the red and white spotty tins in the kitchen, the vintage nick naks and the lino cut and letterpress art that I've been collecting over the last few years...

Including work by Inkmeup and Ryan Hannigan

All items with strong clear outlines, repeating patterns and bold colours -

heavily featuring red, black and cream!

Hmmm... so maybe our personal style does have an influence on the things we design?

What do you think?

Please feel free to comment below, I'd love to know your thoughts!

You may also be interested in my other Ideas and Inspirations posts:
Ideas and Inspirations
Ideas and Inspiration: Pinterest