Welcome to ‘10 QUESTIONS for…’ a series of 10 interviews with 10 designers from around the globe, where I get to share with you their answers to 10 important and interesting questions related to their artistic career in the Surface Pattern Design industry. I hope you find these interviews informative, fun, creative and inspiring.
This week’s ‘10 Questions for…’ interview is with Jules of @thepatternsocial
It’s time to grab your favourite cuppa, sit back and enjoy the read. This is the sixth interview in this series of ‘10 Questions for…’ Surface Pattern Designer interviews.
Jules McKeown is a British Textile Designer and Senior Lecturer of Textile Design at Leeds Arts University.
Jules under the brand name The Pattern Social, is all about pattern, colour and print. We met briefly when Jules was exhibiting in New York at Surtex - the International tradeshow for the textile and surface design industry and I’ve continued to follow her on Instagram because she is 100% creative and has so much knowledge to share.
Jules work is bursting with an abundance of bold colour and striking patterns that clash in the most cohesive way. Pattern clashing is a thing – look it up!
Jules is dedicated to her craft and the teaching of this amazing industry to aspiring designers. I love the little postcard challenges she organises on Instagram for free! She gives so much of her knowledge by sharing process images of her collections of print designs, often made with marker pens, highlighters, sharpies or cut paper collage. It’s very inspiring to see her work so please check out her Instagram feed here. It’s amazing!
All the prints and patterns! Image and artwork copyright Jules McKeown
Q1. How long have you been working in art/design/art licensing?
Jules: 25 years!
Q2. How did you start?
Jules: I love pattern, colour and often getting my hands dirty with a paintbrush or even better, a squeegee in the print room! My textile journey began (1992) at the amazing Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, Scotland where I studied Printed Textile design. Following that - a Masters of Textile Design at Winchester School of Art specialising in Fashion print allowed me to pursue my dream as working as a print designer in London and New York.
After a number of years working in industry I decided it was time to do my own thing and set up as a freelance textile designer. Many years on, I am still lucky enough to be doing this and had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients across many product sectors from fashion, home, stationery, greetings to book illustration and exhibit my work at international textile design events - Surtex in New York and Premier Vision, Paris.
Overall, I have been working in the industry for 25 years.
Image copyright: Jules McKeown
Q3. What are your favourite tools to create with?
Jules: The artwork starts off hand generated in a sketchbook or postcard combining various methodologies from collage, mark making to simply drawing with marker pens. These are often developed digitally depending on the outcome using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or Procreate. I don’t have one specific design style - there are too many exciting ways of working for me to focus on one. I love to play creatively and see what happens.
Q4. What are some time saving tips you use in your workflow when designing?
Jules: Plan, plan, plan! I break my day into hourly slot and allocated blocks of time to complete tasks. I like working to tight deadlines. Having previously worked as a fashion print designer in a very hectic London design studio it taught me how to make design decisions very quickly and not faff!
Q5. Who are you inspired by in the Surface Design Industry/creative industry right now?
Jules: My work encapsulates my love of bold colour and clashing pattern that mixes different eclectic styles and influences; from mid-century Retro, slick Memphsis graphics to Liberty print florals. Huge fan of a number of designers from Dries Van Noten, Christian Vijnants and Mary Katranzou.
Image copyright: Jules McKeown
Q6. Who are your dream clients that you’d absolutely love to work with and why?
Jules: All of the above. I love how they all push the boundaries with fashion print.
Q7. What advice would you give to a new designer (or any designer for that matter) to help them get their first licensing deal?
Jules: Continue to develop and expand your portfolio. I am a part time Senior Lecturer in Textile Design and this is something I encourage my students to do. Find a textile agent that has experience in licensing and selling designs. This gives you an understanding if your work is appropriate and also good enough. It is difficult to just go out and sell/license designs. You need to find the contacts. Often the best way to do this is to get represented or represent yourself at a trade show.
Doing it yourself is not a cheap solution.
Image copyright: Jules McKeown
Q8. What’s your proudest design achievement in your career to-date?
Jules: Over the years I have been lucky enough to work with a number of lovely clients. I have done a number of projects with Fisher Price which I am super proud of. They were great to work with. I also did a collection of prints for Harrods of London (most prestigious department store in London). The prints went on a huge range of products and there was a big display of it within the store.
Q9. How important is knowing what your design style and aesthetic is and also believing in yourself and your skills when you approach clients to work with?
Jules: I actually don’t have a design style. I have a broad range of styles from loose watercolour painting, character work through to very stylized geometrics. This diversity in handwriting has kept me in the industry. I have had to adapt and evolve to suit what the client wants.
Gorgeous floral print copyright Jules McKeown
Q10. Do you ever have creative blocks and if so, how do you deal with them?
Jules: Every creative person gets to the point where they don’t know what to do or lack the motivation to do it. I do something creative everyday, even if it’s just a few colourful marks on a postcard. Unfortunately, you can’t wait around for creativity to motivate you – you just have to do it! I see my creative process like a muscle that requires daily exercise. Turn up and don’t get up!
Bonus Question. Has your work ever been copied and what did you do about it?
Jules: No, thank goodness!
You can find out more about Jules and follow her here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepatternsocial/
Thanks for your time answering the ‘10 Questions for…’ Jules. I totally understand your response to Question 9. I agree, and also feel that it is beneficial to the working designer to be flexible with their design style. I know there are a lot of designers who dream of their own ‘brand’, and designing only ‘in their own style’, and perhaps stating this here may strike up a heated debate…. :) However, I feel it’s good to be able to answer the creative brief and work in different styles for the client. Plus, I don’t know about you, I get bored if I do the same thing all the time!
Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Next week we’re heading to Brisbane to be amazed by an artist whose painted artwork is a riot of colour! Any guesses who?