We are excited to share a designer interview with the very lovely and talented Jill O Connor today who graduated from The Ultimate Portfolio Builder earlier this year.
- When did your interest in design first start and how did that come about?
Well, having been brought up in a very musical and academic family art really wasn’t on my radar for a long time. I was always creative but perhaps a bit too creative with my own life rather than with pens and pencils. I travelled to India in 2008 and was so inspired by the colours and patterns and had a realisation that to be a creative human on the planet is the most exciting thing. I returned to the UK and studied horticulture but it wasn’t until 2013 that I started messing around on Illustrator and entering the Spoonflower contests but my designs were always such a disappointment, they just didn’t match my vision of what I had in my head.
So in January 2015 I enrolled for ABSPB module 1 and picked up a pen to draw with for the first time and just drew my flowers.
Slowly over the following eighteen months my patterns have become what they are now with persistence, enthusiasm and vision (together with the dishes stacked up in the kitchen sink and the bindweed climbing up my obelisks) I just had to draw, to design, to get better.
- What steps did you take to get to where you are now as a designer?
After completing the Make it in Design Module 1, I continued onto Module 2 in April 2015, Module 3 in September 2015 and The Ultimate Portfolio Builder earlier this year. I also did the MATS courses last year. Although I’ve never considered myself an artist (and there are some seriously talented artists on the MATS courses) and I’ve had to deal with that and accept where I am with all this and to be inspired by them on a daily basis is just incredible.
- How would you describe your style?
My style is hand-drawn using pen and ink to create movement and flow through the pattern, combined with vibrant colour palettes for a fresh take on florals.
- What kind of designer do you want to be known as?
I love to create beautiful florals from what I’ve grown in the garden and in truth florals are the only thing I’m really interested in because of my horticultural knowledge and quite simply I’m a plant nut. I love to observe the patterns and structures of the plants, then to create interesting movement and flow which is fast becoming my signature style.
- What are you working on currently?
I am starting to work on my first range of products and to think about exhibiting at the big shows.
- What advice would you give emerging designers wanting to build their portfolios?
Draw a lot. I would definitely do the Make it in Design UPB course as this really does push you out of your comfort zone to draw all sorts of things and in all different sorts of ways. Experimenting with different mediums is so important (and to make a mess of course).
- What would be your dream design gig?
To work with a clothing manufacturer to launch my own clothing and accessories line (you did say in my dreams right?)
- Looking ahead what are your major goals for the next couple of years?
To keep working on my designs exploring the use of original techniques (linocut, inks, watercolour etc) and work with them to bring the essence of traditional designs into the digital world.
- If you were a pattern what kind of a pattern would you be and why?
This is a tricky one because in truth I am a ditsy swirly floral but I’m not sure that really does me any favours. I am like a whirlwind of ideas on a daily basis and my ideas are bigger than time itself.
The Ultimate Portfolio Builder
- What was the most important lesson you took away from UPB?
It is so important to draw and paint and doodle and play and with all of the subjects known to man! This is where you’ll find out what you’re good at, what flows and what needs more work. Eventually your true style emerges and that is something that just can’t be forced or learned it is something that comes with a lot of hard work and a lot of time.
- What difference did it make to have a supportive community of fellow students and how important do you think that will be going forward?
The supportive community is golden with these courses and it’s important to keep connected as it’s on social media that you’ll end up interacting the most. Seeing other artists and designers flourish and develop and succeed is so inspirational.
- Please tell us about your experience of the live briefs and student work reviews.
The live briefs were excellent. In fact I only did a few because I had signed up to a MATS class during the deadline period (I told you my ideas were bigger than time itself) so I had to just pick the most important one. I might even do the course again in time as it was so good and I can get to do the briefs properly. The student work reviews were excellent and gave you ideas how to improve your designs just with a few tweaks can take a design from good to amazing. And finally this year after doing all the courses I really truly love my designs.
Inspired by nature and my own garden in the Cotswolds I hand-draw many of my own flowers. I am a self-taught late-comer with a wealth of creative art experience – music, performing arts, horticulture (RHS trained) and photography. Surface pattern design allows me to bring together all my various experiences and influences.
I love to observe the patterns and structures within nature and to explore how these can be translated into pattern design; to explore the use of original techniques and work with them to bring the essence of traditional designs into the digital world.
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Amazed by what you see above from our talented students? Join our next class of The Ultimate Portfolio Builder which starts TOMORROW! September 5, 2016.
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