Today our designer interview is with Bristol based surface and graphic designer Isabelle Deakin who graduated from the May class of The Ultimate Portfolio Builder. Isabelle has a passion for stunning design and a love for detail and imaginative colour. Her individual style is beautiful, fun, handrawn, organic design, inspired by cities, nature and travel.
When did your interest in design first start and how did that come about?
When I was studying an art foundation course at Filton college in Bristol. I had an amazing tutor who introduced me to many new ways of creating art work and i had an introduction to photoshop, I had no experience of it before. I went to a very traditional school where art classes didn’t venture too far away from painting and drawing still life and at 6th form I specialised in ceramics. Interestingly though when I was at pre school I had a school report which said all I wanted to do was draw and colour in, it was hard to get me to do much else apart from nature studies so I guess thats where it all really began.
What steps did you take to get to where you are now as a designer?
I graduated from U.W.E in Bristol with a BA(Hons) in graphic design, after graduating I worked as a web assistant for a publishing company and learnt to program and design for websites. From there I worked for a media company on various web and graphic design projects as well as being a project manager. I started freelancing in 2008 and put many hours into learning Adobe photoshop, illustrator and indesign from books and online tutorials. I then worked for various companies creating online and offline design work. I was pregnant 2 years ago and have been painting, drawing and printing ever since, spending some days in front of the computer and others in front of my sketchbook which I find the perfect balance.
How would you describe your style?
Beautiful, fun, detailed, handrawn, organic design and I love a bit of symmetry.
What kind of designer do you want to be known as?
A good one! A designer who is easy going and flexible to work with, a designer who has their own style and individuality with artistic flair but fun and approachable.
What are you working on currently?
Working on building up a social media presence, setting up online shops and working on my branding. I would like to collate my artwork into a portfolio which I am happy with to start approaching agents and recolour any artwork that needs it….. the list goes on!
What advice would you give emerging designers wanting to build their portfolios?
Take your time, make sure your style and love is in that portfolio so you can really love showing it to clients. Make sure the pieces work together as a theme through colour or style. Know who you are aiming your portfolio at so that you think every piece in there could work for your dream client.
What would be your dream design gig?
Having my designs licensed by Anthropologie or Liberty.
Looking ahead what are your major goals for the next couple of years?
Work full time as a pattern designer both freelance and licensing. I would love to sell my own designs on home décor and fashion products in stores but only once I have put my designs out there and tested them in the market. Thats the dream.
If you were a pattern what kind of a pattern would you be and why?
Ooh tough one! It would have to be a floral as I am constantly drawing flowers and foliage. A lovely, beautiful, hand drawn floral pattern in a gorgeous colour palette with lots of lovely movement and detail so your never bored of looking at it and you notice something new when you look at it again.
What was the most important lesson you took away from UPB?
Work out what your dream market is and design for them.
What difference did it make to have a supportive community of fellow students and how important do you think that will be going forward?
It would have been difficult to progress without them. Having comments on your work, advice about any problems or questions you have and to feel like your in a classroom environment rather than designing in a void have all been vital in my progression throughout the course. I really hope that we will stay in contact to encourage each other as we develop our careers and continue to show each other our designs.
Please tell us about your experience of the live briefs and student work reviews.
The live briefs were great, I loved the challenge and focus of having a deadline. I worked really hard to complete them all and now I have many more designs for my portfolio. They were a good insight on what to expect while working in the surface pattern industry because they came from real companies and from some of the markets I hope to work in. All feedback is good so the feedback from the briefs was useful and I it sticks in my mind, it was hard to know what they really thought of your individual work though as it was generic and we are all quite different.
I was really pleased to have the student work reviews, it really helped to get individual feedback on my work and to know what a successful designer thinks. The information about where you might fit in the industry, how your designs could be improved and which ones were favoured over others was invaluable, the comments are always in the back of my mind as I design now.
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Isabelle is a surface and graphic designer based in Bristol, UK with a passion for stunning design and a love for detail and imaginative colour. Her individual style is beautiful, fun, handrawn, organic design, inspired by cities, nature and travel. She loves to experiment with different techniques and tools, her patterns are a mixture of pencil and pen line work, paintings, printing and digital work, possessing a strong flair for detail. She graduated from the University of the West of England in 2003, with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design. Since graduating she has gained industry experience and technical knowledgeworking for various companies specialising in web and graphic design, she has freelanced since 2008. At the age of 3 her passions were painting, colouring and drawing and it is still true today.
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