Textile Designer: Cathy Hunt Featured on Pattern Observer

I am very excited to be featured on the Pattern Observer blog, where I share a few snippets of what inspired me on my last three collections. 

I am often asked where I get my inspiration for my work. It seems like the answer is different for each collection. But three things I always keep in mind:

• What product or category is in mind?

• Who will be buying it (target audience)?

• How can I make it unique and marketable?  

You can read the full article here. 

Pattern Observer offers wonderful workshops and courses through their online community, The Textile Lab, and I highly recommend them to textile and surface print designers of all levels.

Cathy Hunt Designs Available at OfficeMax

I am doing a little dance in my office right now. On the shelf at OfficeMax you can find file folders with Cathy Hunt designs printed on them—twelve designs, to be exact. This is a bit of a milestone for me. One of my goals this year was to be "on the shelf" so I am pretty excited to be in a national retailer like OfficeMax. Now I need to get some filing done...

View more of my work at cathyhuntstudio.net

from the Garden Gate Collection

from the Wellington Court Collection

In a Waverly World...

Well, if I had my way I would live in a Waverly World. This campaign has been around for a while but each new ad always makes me chuckle. Every inch of the world should be so beautiful. Thanks, Waverly, for the inspiration.

What inspires you?

What inspires me? Re-branding, typography and pattern design all in one ad is kind of hard for me to resist. This ad in Fast Company actually splits the magazine in half, turning the orientation upside down in either direction. (Well, you have to see it to know what I mean, but it is a cool media buy if you like that kind of stuff, which I do!) The advertiser: Lincoln Motor Company. (Hmm, sounds familiar, do I know them?)

Happy Valentine's Day

Hip Hop Flip Flop Collection

 

So I have been submitting surface designs to various manufacturers. This collection was created specifically for Sandalista, makers of fine flip flops. They did give me some positive feedback but needed to see more before they would be interested in committing. So then I took a few of those designs (above) and submitted them to Tigerprint (a division of Hallmark Cards) for a gift wrap product competition. Again, I heard thanks— but no thanks! I have to say I really do not mind rejection. Well, I know it's only been a few times, so far, but I am just getting my feet wet in this industry. And the more I move forward the more I learn. So every time someone says no, I see an opportunity to take a look at what they DID like and what rises to the top. I know I have a lot to learn, but I am OK with that. That is the fun part for me. See the entire collection in the studio here.

Window Shopping: Trina Turk

Banana Republic's window really caught my eye, featuring the Trina Turk Collection. Lovely, luscious color and free-spirited patterns.  

Remember Ceramics Class?

Even when I am on vacation, or maybe especially when I am on vacation I am distracted by beautiful things that I need to capture and share. My niece, Maddy, age 17, created these coasters in ceramics class for the family beach house. I am so charmed by the patterns she created.

Easter Eggs

My favorite

I love coloring Easter eggs. I grabbed one of those gold pens and doodled some designs over the colors. Playtime on a Saturday night. : )

More about Oberlin

There were a lot of cool shops and gallery-type places in Oberlin. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was kind of busy browsing. But I snapped a few at this one shop that had the most gorgeous textiles. It seemed like most of the items were African, masks and such, but I was mostly focused on these fabrics. A lot of batiks and absolutely beautiful patterns and colors.

Tangerine Tango, my new best friend. Pantone 2012 Color of the Year.

I think I just like saying that name, Tangerine Tango. Pantone 2012 Color of the Year is Tangerine Tango. Love the color. Love the name.
By the way, the color is Pantone 17-1463 and you can find the color data here. And if your swatch books are as outdated as mine, Pantone has a palette for Adobe applications that you can download here. Thanks, Pantone!

Above, is a style board, playing with some Venice-inspired surface designs using the color of the year, Tangerine Tango! Here's a peek at some more color tests:

Watercolor exploration with orange.

with violet...

maybe with brown...

more color exploration...

You can view more of my work at cathyhuntstudio.net

Random sightings of beauty

Shooting on location is one of the best parts of my job. I have been lucky enough to travel to some wonderful places. And work with some talented photographers. But even unglamorous locations offer moments of inspiration and beauty. These are just a few things that caught my eye last week. I am no photographer, but I can't resist capturing things that inspire me, including yet another concrete floor.

Chinet goes beyond basic with Comfort Cup

I love it when a little beauty shows up when I least expect it. And in this case, from an unexpected source, Chinet, a brand that has always stood for strength and quality.

Bringing a little style to it's line-up attracts me, makes me feel differently about this brand. Even the packaging is unique. I'll be interested to see if Comfort Cup is just the beginning of a new Chinet. Will they become "the Target of paper goods"?

Everything I hope for in a cup of coffee.

"Warning: You may encounter unadulterated strong coffee, spontaneous enlightenment and/or unfettered optimism while drinking this beverage."

I was completed entertained for the first ten minutes of my flight the other day, studying this to-go cup from Phoenix Coffee. I love the illustration and colors, the coffee itself. And the words pretty much sum up what I hope to get out of a cup of coffee.

http://phoenixcoffee.com/