Tag: Illustration

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5 steps to start selling Illustrated Products

Many years ago I dreamed about having my products out there. The idea of someone going to a store and choosing something I designed was so incredible but so far! I had no idea where to start, and I feel many people might feel the same. Fortunately today there are so many ways to create illustrated products, but it all starts with the right mindset.

1. Create courage!

You need courage to show your artwork in public, to make a lot of mistakes, and to feel ashamed of what you created last year. Courage is like a plant, you need to cultivate and make it grow on you. It’s not something you can buy, or that simply exists. You need to tell yourself: I can do it!

2. Learn all the technical skills

You don’t need to know everything right now, but you need to keep improving. Do you need to improve your drawings, colors and composition? Or maybe you need to learn how to use a software like Photoshop or Illustrator. Maybe you need to improve your product photography or marketing? Whatever it is, book some time in your calendar for study. It’s important to look one year behind and see progress.

3. Explore different ways of making products

Maybe you can produce them yourself, find a reliable supplier and get them to make you some small batches of products. But have you ever thought about printing on demand? There are many services like that where you can easily visualize your product and set up for sale for free. Another amazing option is selling digital illustrated products. Not all illustrated product needs to be physical. There are so many possibilities, try to open your mind!

4. Test your samples

Is the quality of the printing good? Is the product comfortable to use? I like to use my bags and hang my hoops. I also like to get samples even if I trust a print on demand service. It’s your reputation that is out there. Ask your friends and family what they think. Make sure you are happy about the quality before start selling. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being up to yours and the customer expectations.

5. Open your shop

You can add your products in a marketplace like Etsy or Creative Market, or try a print on demand service like Society6. Market places are usually easier to create than a website, and they have some traffic on their own. For your own website or print on demand, you might need to generate some traffic yourself. And don’t forget to try selling in person at local markets and fairs, some people have a great time at those. 

💪 It all starts with courage. Ready for it? Let me know in the comments!

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3 ways I defined my illustration style

Since 2015 I have worked in so many different color schemes, materials and techniques. It took me a long time to find my way, but I believe 3 things had the most impact in my artwork style.

Starting from the top left, follow clockwise to see an evolution of my style in the last 8 years

While experimenting with materials and colours was important for learning (and it still is), I believe changing too much at once made it harder for me to see what I was searching for in terms of style.

If you look at the picture above, starting from the top left and following clockwise, you will see an evolution of my work in the last 8 years.

Today I can see clearly a a depart from realism towards the style I create now, but there were lots of opposite moments. There was:

  • Black and white vs neon explosion;
  • Realism vs cartoon;
  • Line work vs solid shapes
  • Pencil on paper, acrylic on canvas, ceramics, murals, digital art

With so much changing at once it was hard for me to take decisions. If you are trying to “find your style”, sometimes it’s a good idea to “freeze” a few variables. I think this is a good step after you experiment enough.

Color

In 2020 I defined a color palette for my work and I’ve been keeping it since then. No colors outside this palette are allowed. I developed this palette based on some fashion collections I liked and also based on my own work. I might do some very subtle changes in a few years but never again going from extremes that don’t belong here.

Technique

Also in 2020 I decided to make all my drawings digital. I work just in vector and my lines are usually well defined. I had tried digital art before, using Autodesk Sketchbook and also Procreate for iPad, this last one is quite popular with Illustrators. But I was never satisfied with my results, I always found my lines blurry or the resolution lacking. I never really learned well. Somehow I find Adobe Illustrator very easy and intuitive, it’s almost a therapy to draw on it, and I’m always happy about how crispy and clean my designs look.

Material

Fabrics became my main material in 2021. I apply my art to other surfaces, but first I make sure they look good in the fluffy stuff. Printing on fabrics made me learn about certain design choices. Small details usually disappear between the texture of the fibers. The same happens with embroidery, I always think about how my design are going to look when translated to threads. Printing samples and testing embroidery is a must for all my projects.

Finding a style can be challenging but there is no reason to suffer like I did. If you know someone struggling with their art style, share this post with them. And as usual, let me know what you think in the comments!

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Self Love Club!

Yesterday I heard in the radio that only 9% of the people keep their New Year resolution by the end of January. That’s so depressing!

Well, I’m determined to keep mine this year! My main resolution is to do things I love and share more here! This year I want to care more about enjoying the process and be happy about every step. That includes drawing more, having more fun with my illustrations, expressing more my feelings and ideas and experiment more with design and photography. Be more artistic and less shy. Let myself out a bit more! Focus more on creativity and worry less about the hard part of the business.

How about you, how are you keeping your resolutions?

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New arrivals on the way!

Hello and Happy New Year!

Here is just a quick update. In 2023 I’m increasing my range of products, introducing new bag styles, ceramic mugs and new wall décor. Some of these products will be available exclusively here on my website, others will also be on Etsy.

I’m also experimenting a bit with my visual communication, please feel free to send me feedback!

Let me know how are you doing and if you would like to share any goals for the year please leave me a comment!

Cheers! 🥂

jo

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Designing the Winter Wishes Collection

When I thought about Christmas and Winter I always remember happy moments from my childhood. One of those moments were watching Christmas movies. I grew up in Brazil, where Christmas happens during summer. I’ve never seen snow until I moved to Canada, so watching those kids playing in the ice and snow was fascinating for me!

One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was Home Alone. I love movies from the 80s and 90s and I thought that would be the perfect inspiration for my new winter collection.

Choosing the elements

I watched the movies again and did an analysis of some key elements, you can read about it below:

I wanted to design some people but I didn’t want to use the thieves or Kevin’s family. Instead, I focused on characters that barely have a screen time during the movie, like the ice skaters, choir singers and shoppers. I also got inspired by some of the house wallpapers, overall colour palette and ornaments.

  1. Characters: Ice Skaters, Shoppers, Choir Singers, Kevin and Santa Claus
  2. Elements: Wallpapers designs and Santa House
  3. Miscellaneous: Toys, Presents and Christmas ornaments

I designed the elements in my own style and then digitalized using Adobe Illustrator. My goal was not to recreate the movie most famous scenes, instead I tried to illustrate the fun atmosphere of Christmas and winter in the 80s and 90s. I really enjoyed dressing the characters in vintage clothes and vibrant colours.

Slide the picture below to see my original drawings and the digitalized version

Slide and watch the magic!

Creating the Patterns

For this collection I decided to create 5 hero prints,5 secondary prints and 5 blenders.

Hero Prints: the statement ones! Patterns with characters, lots of elements and colours.

Secondary Prints: patterns with smaller elements and medium complexity

Blender Prints: abstract patterns with limited colours

I tried to create patterns that could be used not only for Christmas but also for the whole winter, so colours include not only the basics red, green and golden but also some whites and blues to add a bit of ice and snow to the mix.

Mock-ups

I always like to visualise how the patterns are going to work in products, here are some tests

Printing Fabrics and Licensing

This collection available for purchase in my Spoonflower shop – that means you can shop fabric by the yard and create your own projects.

I ordered a small quilt to make sure colours will look all right, that’s how it’s going to look like:

Producing Embroidered Products

As usual I’m offering some of the designs in an embroidered version. The winter tote bag is a must have, and the hoops are a great idea for decorating your house or for giving as gifts. Visit my Etsy Shop to see what is available.

What did you think about this project? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments!

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Designing The Book Lovers Collection

It’s been more than a year since the last time I drew a surface pattern design collection. Reading is one of my passions and drawing a book collection has always been in my plans. I’m also a big fan of the visuals in the movie You’ve Got Mail, since the main characters are owners of bookstores and there are books everywhere. I’m specifically attracted by the decoration with so many bookshelves and cozy objects, I find it simply brilliant. With a bit of inspiration and lots of imagination, here is a bit of my process creating The Book Lovers Collection.

The Book Lovers Collection

This collection is perfect for book enthusiasts, writers, students, all people who loves vintage vibes of old paper books, typewriters, lots of coffee and a cozy environment. Adding a hint of humor, warm elements and colours, it’s a perfect collection for back to school in the fall or to enjoy the whole year.

Deciding what to draw

I decided I wanted to get most of my inspiration from the movie You’ve Got Mail, so I watched it again. There are so many things to get inspired, like the Shop Around the Corner, or NY in the fall, or even the Fox Books store. But the place I would love to seat and read was actually Kathleen Kelly’s brownstone house. You can read my analysis of her living room here.

I wanted to have a mix of characters, objects and miscellaneous designs. Watching the movie, I tried to focus on the people who visited the house, on objects, patterns and colours that decorate the space. I divided those in 3 categories:

  1. Characters: the people who frequent the house
  2. Elements: The furniture and larger objects
  3. Miscellaneous: Small objects that decorate the place

With that in mind I drew each element by hand in my own style, and later digitalized using Adobe Illustrator. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see a likeness to Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks or Greg Kinnear, that was intentional. I placed these characters in new situations and tried to focus in the book lovers theme. I want my drawings to appeal to all book lovers, not only fans of the movie.

Slide the picture below to see my original drawings and the digitalized version

Slide and watch the magic!

Creating a Pattern Collection

For this collection I decided to create 4 hero prints, 6 secondary prints and 6 blenders.

  • Hero Prints: the ones with more colours, more elements and higher complexity. All the characters are in the hero prints.
  • Secondary Prints: patterns with medium complexity, moderate use of colours, medium contrast and no characters
  • Blender Prints: simple patterns with limited colours and no complex elements, low contrast

When choosing colours I always try to imagine if the patterns were transmitting that cozy, cute and fun atmosphere. My goal was to create an attractive universe for book lovers, with patterns that work well in different applications.

Trying a few mock-ups

It’s always great to visualise how the patterns are going to work in products, so I always make a few mock ups to test.

Printing Fabrics and Licensing

I decided to make this collection available for purchase at Spoonflower – that means you can shop fabric by the yard and create your own projects.

In order to sell on their website we need to print prof the designs and make sure all colours are fine. I ordered a sample of each fabric on a cheater’s quilt (an amazing option available on their website, you can make one for yourself!). Here is how mine is going to look like, in case you need some inspiration. (If you would like to shop these fabrics visit my shop ).

Producing Embroidered Products

And of course I wouldn’t miss the opportunity of offering some of these designs in an embroidered version. So hoops and tote bags are available featuring some of the icons from the collection. Visit my Etsy Shop to purchase them.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about my process. I find it amazing and surprising to see how much we are able to create with few pieces of inspiration. As the times passes I’ll have even more items to grow this collection so keep in touch! And please let me know what do you think in the comments!

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The Happiness of Designing a New Collection

Hello and welcome back!

This year started with great productivity for me. When we are happy at our work, everything flows better, isn’t right? Since I started creating illustrated embroidery designs I’ve been more relaxed and stable in my process as never before.

One part of me was able to lower my expectations and focus on simple things. I guess on the surface it might look like as I’m not pushing hard or not trying to do anything complex or new. But it’s really interesting how our mind works. As I create a lot of simple designs, I’m having a lot of ideas and I guess you will see some very original projects here if you keep in touch.

You can’t have new ideas if you are not creating. At least that’s how it works for me. I need to do constant research and produce tons of things to start merging all the ideas in my mind. I have way more concepts than I have time to explore them, but I’m not anxious. It’s such a pleasure to create and I’m glad I have a huge list of subjects, I can just pick one and go.

This week I’m launching some floral designs for Valentine’s day and they are inspired by Botanical Illustration. This is a subject I’ve been always thinking about exploring and it’s a constant presence in the interior decorations I’m attracted to. I’m going to add more designs to this first launch but if you enjoy them you can shop the hoops on my shop.

I hope you are having a great start of the year! Keep in touch! Cheers!

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Embroidery and the cute life

I got an embroidery machine. A beautiful, amazing machine and I’m enjoying every minute!

Did I ever tell you I worked with custom embroidered products from when I was 15 until my 20s? When I was teenager, my parents opened an embroidery shop and I worked with them for a long while. We used to make mostly hats and t-shirts. Themes were more casual and we didn’t focus on home decoration.

Working in my family business, 1997. I’m the one on the phone.

A few weeks ago I went to Brazil to visit my parents, and they still have the same shop. While I was explaining my project for illustrated products, my mom insisted that I should buy an embroidery machine. That thought actually crossed my mind a few times but I was not thinking seriously about it. But she was confident I should get a machine now, and I should start creating embroidered illustration.

Well, I got myself some courage, cave in a bit of my savings and here it is. A lovely Brother Innovis NQ1700e.

Her name is Fofina

The machine come with many designs but of course I’m not so interested in using other peoples designs. I want to create my own illustrations and convert them in stiches. For that I use the same program my parents have been using for the last 20 years, a Brazilian software called Bordarte.

Bordarte and I, a partnership of more than 20 years

I’m amazed at how beautiful anything looks as you transform them in thread and stitches. I decided to start as simple as possible so I’m creating just embroidery hoops. Some are ready to shop, and others are custom designs. After that, my next step is to get back to the tote bags, but this time, embroidered.

Check some of my first creations:

A custom name embroidered flower hoop
Some sparkling Christmas designs with golden tread details
A monochromatic hoop to decorate the studio

It’s been a lovely experience. I really enjoy the texture and the cozy feeling of these pieces and I’m thinking in more ways to explore the machine and software possibilities.

This is just the beginning! I hope you enjoyed my big news and keep in touch to see lots of new cute embroidery designs coming in.

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Creating my first pattern collection

Drawing patterns is an old dream and I did my first course on the subject in 2018 (with the lovely Elizabeth Olwen on Skillshare).

I got way too busy with other things, time passed and I forgot the little I learned.

This year I said: the time has come!

I enrolled in a course by Ana Sanfelippo at Domestika and it is exactly about what I wanted to learn: tell stories with patterns.

1. Chose the theme

NBC Universal

I was inspired by a short scene in the movie Gosford Park. I love the bedroom furniture and ladies style.

If you want to read my full analysis of this bedroom click here.

2. Define what to draw

My drawings were divided in 3 categories:

Characters: the ladies who socialize in the bedroom
Elements: the furniture and window
Miscellaneous: small objects of the room and wallpaper details

3. Decide where to use the patterns

Early on I decided I wanted to apply the patterns mostly for decoration. Fabrics, wallpapers and art prints are my main goal.

4. Search for references

I always like to get extra references for my projects, so they feel very unique.

For this project I also got inspired by:

  • Chinese scrolls and vases
  • French Toile de Jouy fabric and wallpapers
Images: British Museum and Pattern Observer

5. Draw the elements

This part took forever but it’s so important! I drew all elements by hand in my personal style, then digitalized all elements on Illustrator. It was a very long and exhausting process but now that I’m done I understand how important it is to draw each element very carefully.

Slide to see before and after!

Before and after

6. Pattern creation

For this collection I drew 10 patterns, but in this first moment, I’m publishing just 3:

  • Micro elements
  • Vertical Stripes
  • Brick / Toile inspired

7. Have fun with mockups!

I can’t finish an illustration without testing on a mockup. That’s how I adjust colors, proportion and other small details. When I worked as an architect, I couldn’t live without 3D models and mood boards.

I guess my brain still works the same, I need to see it in the real world!

8. Print fabrics and licensing!

Ok I’m not there yet! I’m still waiting for my fabric samples to arrive, but we will get there and I’ll be here updating you ASAP!

In the mean time check this super cute video I did for my my Instagram, speaking about my pattern process.

Gosford Park Scene: NBC Universal / Video Music: Spring @iksonmusic

If you love it and would like to see more, please check my portfolio page:

Thank you so much for reading! Tell me what do you think about it in the comments!

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Getting frustrated about your work is actually great

When you look at other Illustration accounts, do you often feel you are so behind and have so much to learn? Do you know how to stop feeling overwhelmed and take action? Check these 8 points!

1. You can’t get the result you want

We all have been there.

You have an amazing idea for an illustration, you sit to draw and all you see is:

  • lack of proportion
  • weird colors
  • an overall feeling that something is off

You erase a thousand times, start again.

But you still can’t get the result you want.

2. Things work in your mind, but not on paper

When you have an idea, it looks like you can do something great!

You feel confident!

But as soon as you start drawing you can see clearly it doesn’t work.

You close your eyes and try to remember how it worked in your mind.

But things are blurred now.

You can’t connect imagination with reality.

3. Your work is not as good as the other artists

You decide to search for more references.

The work of other artists look so much better than yours.

So. Much. Better.

You can’t even explain why it’s better. You just feel humiliated and feel you want to give up.

4. You just can’t do it, it’s so frustrating

You feel so small and distant from your goal.

It seems easier to just give up of everything.

When there is so much to improve, the whole challenge seems impossible.

5. What you want to do is different from what you can do

You want to do more and better than what you are doing now.

That means:

you can see potential in yourself for growing.

You can see there are lot of possibilities to improve.

You are just not able yet.

6. This lack of satisfaction is actually great!

It’s easy to focus just on the moment and forget the big picture.

Looking at the present, all you can see is that you can’t have the result you want.

Actually what you found was an opportunity to grow and now you can make a choice.

You can choose to improve!

7. Acknowledging your standards are higher than your skills is the first step to success

When you are 100% satisfied with your work, there is no need to improve.

You are comfortable and your work is on a plateau. There is nothing wrong with that!

But if you feel your work is behind, that’s because your mind is ahead!

So congratulations, you are on the way for progress!

8. Choose just one skill to focus at a time

What makes you overwhelmed is the feeling that everything needs improvement.

Focus on one thing.

There are many areas to improve:

  • colors
  • composition
  • linework
  • proportion
  • texture
  • storytelling

Choose just one!

On the next posts I’m going to speak more about how to chose one skill to improve, what to consider and how to measure your progress. Follow me for more tips!

Thank you so much for reading! All photography courtesy of @rf._.studio