Our Creative Process
The process
It all starts with an idea! Whether something I see out in the world, online or a random thought, inspiration can come at the most unsuspecting times. If it’s an illustrated piece (for a card, art print or sticker) I do a rough sketch before letting my creative flow take over. I experiment with different brushes and colour palettes until I find what works... sometimes the finished product is nothing like the original sketch, and sometimes the finished product never makes it out of my draft folder!
The tools
Using mostly digital tools (aside from a good pencil/paper sketch from time to time), I illustrate all of my art using:
- An iPad Pro
- Apple Pencil
- Procreate (app)
- Photoshop & Illustrator (for card templates & printing).
- Epson eco-tank printer
The prep
A lot of time, care and research goes into everything that enters my shop. Each new product category can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to prepare. I’m especially picky with production partners and product brands as I want to ensure my products are top quality and meet my brand values (especially sustainability). I spent approximately 2 months testing various types of card stock and papers to find just the right one! (And with that said I’m always down to chat about paper brands and sources - I wish I had someone to talk about this with when just starting!). Read more about our commitment to sustainability.
The process in action
One of my favourite cards that I’ve designed is my Welcome Home card - having just moved myself at the time, I wanted to design a modern and colourful way to share a celebratory message with new homeowners/renters.
After sketching and doing the first colour pass, I wasn’t loving the background colour. I usually design a few variations and print them to get a feel for what they will look like on card stock. In this case after doing a test print I still knew the background just wasn’t working, so I took some time away, experimented a little, and this was the final result!
