Designer interview: Rosalind Maroney

Today on the blog, we have an interview with Rosalind Maroney, who shares with us her creative process, how she became a freelance Illustrator / Textile & Product Designer and also some of her adorable designs, which cater to the Nursery market.

Do you remember the first piece of work you ever sold? What was it and who did you sell it to? How did you feel?

Because of the nature of my work, I don’t sell pieces as such but always work to a clients brief. I remember being really excited when my first products appeared on the shelves, some furniture and cot ranges for my first employer Mamas and Papas. And the first time my name was listed as the designer on a product was a bit of a lovely moment too, a button repeat printed fabric for 2 rocking horses for Little Bird Told Me. Oh and when I was featured in the Print & Pattern Kids book, that was pretty amazing too, to be in a book amongst all of these wonderful designers!

Can you describe the evolution of your business?

I studied Product Design at Central Saint Martins and my first couple of jobs were working within in-house Product Design teams for large retailers, this gave me invaluable insight into the whole design process from consumer research, trends, concept generation, design development and the creation of specification documents for manufacturers. We would work on most aspects of creating a product and I became more and more interested and involved in textile design and the illustrations / graphics that were put onto the product. I had the idea that I would love the challenge of being a freelancer, to have the chance to work with big and small retailers on really varied projects but knew I would need to hone my illustration skills. For 6 months I took on as many freebie projects as my evenings allowed, until I felt confident enough to start taking on paid work, still in the evenings for another 6 months until I had made enough contacts to start freelancing full time. Now a lot of my projects involve both product design and illustration which suits me perfectly!

What has been the most important lesson you have learnt along the way?

I think the main thing I always do is to be honest with myself and my clients, If a brief is pushing the boundaries of my knowledge, for safety standards for example, if I can’t fit the work in timewise, or if the illustrative style is so far away from what I am used to creating I will let the client know straight away. I’ve never lost a project this way, though I have turned a few down if I don’t think I can achieve what is being asked for. I think people appreciate you being straight up with them.

We’d love to hear a bit about your process. Where do your designs begin, and how to you develop them through to the finished product?

In an ideal world I would have a project brief a few days before I need to start working on it so that I can mull it over in my head, forming ideas before I put pen to paper. I was given a black edding 55 0.3mm pen years ago and now I always have a box full in the drawer and rarely sketch with anything else! Once I’ve filled a page or 5 with sketches I scan them in and either Live-trace or draw over them myself in Adobe Illustrator, where I tweak, colour and finalise all of my designs.

At each major growth point of your business how do you make yourself take the big leap?
I guess so far I’ve only taken one leap, from being a full-time employee to being a freelancer. I knew it would really suit my style of working, I love working to deadlines, being challenged on projects and working with different people trying to design to suit their customers and to capture the required ‘look’. I also love mostly working from home which doesn’t suit everyone. I felt I knew enough about the industry to be able to give it a good go and I knew I would have regretted not trying it out. It never felt that scary, but rather a natural progression of my work which thankfully so far has worked out!

Please share a little about how your brand look and feel has developed over time?

Because I work for clients brands rather than my own I am always designing for their customer base. There’s always a balance between trying to push the boundaries of a brief to make a product that I think would really stand out in the market to one that the client feels safe with. I specialise in the Nursery industry so my work develops alongside nursery trends but there is more often than not a soft naïve illustrative style, particularly for characters that is timeless for little humans to enjoy.

What kind of team do you have around you to support you and your business?

I mostly work alone which I love but there is pretty much always support and conversation with the clients I work with and of course my partner Tim. Because of confidentiality I can’t discuss most of the projects I’m working on but I have a network of freelancing friends that I communicate with lots too!

How has the industry changed since you started?

I’ve not noticed much change in the industry since I started freelancing, I’m always happy to see new and enthusiastic small businesses coming into the Nursery world, I guess this has been made so much easier nowadays with the digital world allowing them to be seen and compete with the large international retailers which makes for an interesting landscape for consumers to dive into.

What makes you excited about your business now?

I’m generally just feel very lucky and excited every day to be able to do what I love for a living. I returned from maternity leave last July after having our beautiful son in 2013 so now squeeze everything into 3 days a week + some evenings and weekends and that has made me appreciate being freelance even more.

What is your creative space like?

Our studio (I share with my partner, freelance Furniture Designer Tim Gadd) is at the top of our house, with the desk positioned so we can look out of the window over the houses and sea when we have a moment to reflect! We’re currently in the middle of renovating so it’s more like a building site than a dream studio space but we have exciting plans afoot!

Which of your products is your favourite?

It’s hard for me to answer this, one of the things I love most about being freelance is the variety of products types I get to work on. I was super excited to be asked to design wallpaper for the first time last year for Hibou Home 3 of which have just been launched. I have been collaborating with the inspiring team at Trend Bible creating prints for their Childrens Seasonal Trend Books, we are about to start work on prints for SS17! And I’m also really looking forward to seeing my ranges for The Great Little Trading Company when they are launched in September 2015 as they were such great fun to work on and are so different to their current own-brand offerings.

What advice would you give to an emerging designer looking to follow a similar path to you?
I think the main things would be to find an area of design that you feel really passionate about and develop your skillset to match your chosen area. Work hard and believe in yourself, if you don’t believe in yourself you can’t expect anyone else to. Just keep going until you fulfill your dreams!

What is the big dream for you as a designer and your business?

I would love to have my own product range one day as soon as time allows, it’s already created somewhere in my head, I just need to get it on paper at some point in the future! For now I feel pretty lucky to just be doing what I’m doing!