Recently I spoke to Holly Lawton, a surface pattern designer who creates some colourful and beautiful designs. I asked Holly a few questions about what inspires her works and what interests her.
How would you best describe the style of your work?
A combination of detailed linear work and strong colour with a crisp finish.
What interests you and influences your work?
I find inspiration in an array of things and I am a great believer in the interest of the everyday. One of my strong influences has been urban architecture, which appeals to my love of linear detail and strong form. I then find myself being drawn towards the organic, flowing forms of flora. The thing is to be open minded, to keep your eyes peeled and respond to what excites you at the time, leads you to create original work and has enough mileage to produce a strong collection.
What is your favorite aspect of surface pattern designing?
The tranformative power of colour. I am constantly surprised and excited by the way colour combinations and ratios can completely change the look of a design. It's an extremely powerful tool and I always enjoy the process of applying colour to my designs.
Which artists/designers works do you admire?
Lucienne Day - such an important figure in the history of British textile design. Her designs are still relevant and contemporary to this day. I love the hand drawn and sketchy elements.Orla Kiely - because she has cleverly built an extremely strong brand around her style in an industry where it is hard to stand out. Her combination of crisp, graphic, 60's influenced designs are deceptively simple.Nigel Peake - I adore his linear aesthetic, which appeals to my love of hand drawing and the vast array of patterns that exist within one image.I could go on and on, but they're the people that sprung to mind.
What products do you like to see your floral and graphic pattern designs on?Anything from paper products to fashion to interior furnishings. I just like my work being out there to be enjoyed.
Who do you see are your target market?
Working through an agent, means that to a certain extent this is taken out of my hands and the buyers make that judgement for me. I receive a brief, mood board and colour palette and create a collection based around these elements and focus more on trends than target market. Personally I think my florals will appeal to women across quite a broad age range. My graphic/geometric designs I like to think will appeal to both men and women 18-30 age range.
