Design Tribe Podcast

Originally aired on Harmony Hardin's YouTube Channel.  Check out the video version here.

From Harmony:

Ah, art style. The elusive "thing" we want to be known for as artists. Have you been stuck on that big topic, wondering what to do to find your art style, what all goes into developing an art style, not knowing if you've found yours? Or even where to start? Do you struggle with thinking you need to actively develop a style, or that it should come naturally, but it just isn't happening for you? Are you still copying other artists for practice, but stuck in art block as soon as you try to come up with a style and concept of your own? Uff, it can feel frustrating and confusing, for sure.

On the 15th episode of art business podcast "Harmony & Friends", Terry Runyan, Nina Cvijovic and Lauren Lesley share their personal path to finding their current style, and their insights into how you can get there, too. Join us live if you can! It's lots of fun to hang out with the community in the live chat, and by joining, you have the chance of getting your question displayed during the livestream and answered by the panel.

Share the link with a friend too, the more, the merrier! If you enjoyed this conversation, consider subscribing to the channel, where we have a conversation just like this one approximately every 2 weeks. Though we do not give you step by step art business advice or tutorials, the conversations shed light on 3 different examples, 3 different lives experiences.

You will hear directly from successful artists about a specific income stream or art business topic, and how it works specifically in the businesses they have built. Enjoyed this video? So many more fun & insightful artist chats this-a-way: https://www.youtube.com/@HarmonyHardi... //

ARTISTS:

Terry Runyan Visual Artist & Creative Encourager

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terryrunyan

Website: https://terryrunyan.com

YouTube: @terryrunyan

Nina Cvijovic Illustrator & Pattern Designer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diujdi

Website: https://diujdi.com

Lauren Lesley Textile Designer

YouTube: @laurenlesley

Website: https://laurenlesley.com/sketchbookin...

Harmony Hardin Host & Watercolor Artist

NEW Etsy Shop: https://harmonyhardin.etsy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmony.har...

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HarmonyHardi...

ART STYLE ACADEMY:  https://www.laurenlesley.com/asa-sales-page-35-spots

DM me on Instagram:  @LaurenLesleyStudio

Hey!  How are you?  If we haven’t met before, I’m Lauren.. I’m your host of the Design Tribe podcast, and I’m an artist and textile designer.  In the last episode, I went into pretty great detail about what it was like working as a full-time artist and licensing surface pattern designs.  So if you missed that episode, be sure to check it out.

I know a lot of you are either trying to make it as a surface pattern designer OR you dream of one day being able to leave your day job to license your artwork to companies.

I spent 2 years as an independent artist, and although there were many things I loved about working independently, I ultimately went back to an in-house job as a Senior Textile Designer.  

A lot of these tips I’m about to share with you are things I WISH I did before making the leap to being a full-time artist.  We’ll talk about all the money stuff in the very last tip so be sure to stick around for that juicy topic.

Okay, so my first tip is to…

• Publish a class to Skillshare.

1. 1. 1. This might not be the advice you were expecting, haha!

• Develop your Art Style

1. 1. 1. When you’re working as an in-house designer, it can be really hard to find your own Art Style.  

• Create a Portfolio with a Large Body of Work

1. 1. 1. Once you’ve developed your Art Style, the next area of focus is to build out your portfolio.  It will be sooo much easier to get the ball rolling if you already have a full portfolio to sell.

• Start uploading to ONE On-Demand Site

1. 1. 1. Etsy

• Start Outsourcing

1. 1. 1. Hire an Assistant Designer
         1. Believe it or not, when you become a Full-Time Artist you have also decided to become a Business Owner.  You’ll need to set up an LLC (if you’re in the U.S.) and save at least 30% of your income for paying taxes.

• Figure Out Your Money

1. 1. You really need to get a good handle on both your personal and business expenses BEFORE leaving your day job.

• Publishing a class to Skillshare or another platform like Domestika.

There’s honestly so much more I could say on this topic, but that’s a really good place to start!  Feel free to DM me over on Instagram @LaurenLesleyStudio  if you want to chat more.  I always love hearing from you all!

Have a wonderful day and good luck on all of your amazing art businesses!  Talk soon.

Art Style Academy:  https://www.laurenlesley.com/asa-sales-page-35-spots

Guest Episode Application:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIGrg1q59yw4c47VniYirOBpp2aoEYjA33N9o9a4eWgYR_tw/viewform?usp=pp_url

Transcript:

Hey, how are you?  I basically disappeared from this podcast for the past 2 years and I owe you an explanation!

If this is your first time listening, hey, I’m Lauren of Lauren Lesley Studio.  I’m an artist and textile designer, and I started The Design Tribe podcast back in 2019 as a way to add some transparency to someone who was just getting started in surface pattern design and the whole licensing world.

In this episode, I’m going to spill the tea on what it’s REALLY like being a full-time artist…. Full disclosure:  it’s not exactly how I thought it would be.

But first, let me explain where I’ve been and what the plan is for the Design Tribe podcast moving forward!

Back in the Fall of 2021, I decided to go back to an in-house job and I found out I was pregnant all in the same month! 

On top of that, my husband and I decided to move houses to have a more suitable neighborhood for our baby to grow up in.  The idea of moving after our daughter was born really stressed me out so we were on an intense timeline trying to find the right place.

The housing market was incredibly competitive when we were moving and it basically took up 150% of my time.

We literally closed on our old house one week before my daughter was born! Then, she came into the world and my full attention was on her.

So, I’m very sorry that I’ve been gone for so long.  That was never exactly the plan, but you know, sometimes life gets in the way of creative pursuits.

So, what is the plan for the Design Tribe podcast moving forward?

During this season of life, I have to be realistic about the fact that I just don’t really have time to conduct a lot of interviews myself.

But, that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.  I personally hate the idea of letting this podcast die just because of my own time constraints.

So, I started thinking outside the box and was wondering what WOULD be feasible for the podcast moving forward.

Sometimes, as artists and designers, we simply don’t have time to create ALLLL of the content all by ourselves.  It’s probably been a year since I’ve even created an Instagram post for my actual feed..  I am way more active in my Stories though!

But, the point is…. I started thinking what if The Design Tribe lived up to its name and became more of a collective effort?  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to hear from different voices and different artists who have different experiences?

SO!  I’m opening up the podcast to publish more guest episodes.

That means, if you are an artist or designer who has conducted your own interviews… either in podcast format or on YouTube… and you’d like to repurpose your episodes for further reach, please get in touch with me!

Especially, if you find yourself unable to keep up with a demanding weekly interview schedule on your own podcast… I’d love to collaborate with you! 

Wouldn’t it be great to slow down and put our content efforts together… and get a bigger bang for your buck?

Imagine if you could relax the pace and schedule out one interview per month.  The Design Tribe is the perfect place to contribute those podcast episodes and reach more people.

If this sounds interesting to you, please look in the show notes for an application.

OKAY, so now let’s get into the good stuff.

Why the heck did I return to an In-House job and what was it REALLY like being a Full-Time Artist?

So, I dreamed about being a full-time artist for as long as I can remember.  Back in college, I was an oil painter so back then I envisioned doing something more along the lines of Fine Art.

But upon graduating, I realized I needed a JOB and a stable income to pay the bills.

So, I got my first job in Graphic Design at a T-shirt company.  While I loved some of the people I worked with, I still longed for something more creative.

That’s when I discovered Textile Design.  I ended up pivoting to a Textile Design job and have honestly really loved working as a Textile Designer.  It’s 10X more fulfilling than Graphic Design ever was, for me.

However, at my first Textile Design job I worked with a lot of licensed artists.  This is where I first got an education about licensing.  And I started thinking, huh… how do I get onto the OTHER side of this licensing thing?

I saw that these artists had their own style, their own brand, and their own name on their designs.  They got to keep the copyright and license their work across multiple products.  And what was really cool is that they were totally independent business owners!

That sounded like something I really wanted to do.

Long story short, I went independent and started my own design business back in 2019.  I worked really hard to develop my own art style, I exhibited at Blueprint Trade Show, and I landed my first licensing deal.

Things were starting to happen!

But, the reality with licensing is that it takes a LONG TIME to get paid.  I kinda already knew this and thought, “Okay… if I get can multiple deals throughout the year then it will start to build up… and I can probably replace my old salary by the end of the year.”

And friend, let me just tell you that is NOT what happened.

I quickly realized how difficult the licensing world is in terms of making a full-time income.  I even signed with an agent, but it didn’t prove to be very fruitful.  I wasn’t getting a lot of deals through my agent and I became really frustrated since I had no control over the process, and when I did get a deal, I had to split my income basically 50%.

I thought that the agent was going to get me enough deals to make their cut worth it, but that’s not what actually happened.

Now, I realize that some artists are able to build 6, or even 7, figure businesses from licensing, but the truth is that licensing income can fluctuate A LOT!

I learned that most artists are supplementing their licensing income with multiple streams of income, and I can guarantee that the majority of those 6, or 7, figure art businesses are doing the same.

I made a lot of friends in the surface pattern world, and I’m so grateful for their transparency and kindness, and willingness to talk to me.

Most artists supplement their income either with freelance work, a YouTube channel, teaching, coaching, selling books, or some other means of reliable income.

This is just the reality of licensing for 99% of artists!

I basically tried all of the things, which took a LOT of time.  Sometimes, I felt like a chicken with its head cut off running around trying to make this independent artist thing work.

I always felt spread too thin, and maybe if I had concentrated on only 1or 2 alternate streams of income, I could have had more success earlier on.

But the truth is, without some experimentation you just don’t really know what you enjoy doing or what’s going to work for you.

I realized that I absolutely hated doing freelance work, but I really enjoyed making YouTube videos and teaching classes.

The funny thing is… I always thought I would love freelance work!  I fantasized about working from home, making my own schedule, being able to travel and take my laptop on the go, and choosing the clients I worked with.

And hey, some designers do really love working with their freelance clients!  I think if you can nail down really good clients who repeatedly come back to you with a reliable stream of work, it can be a lot better.

I had so many people contact me who gave me a design brief, said they wanted to hire me, and then… crickets.  They would ghost me completely.

For the freelance gigs I did have, I felt nickel and dime-d to the point where I dreaded working on their projects.

I know, I know.  Lauren, you need to charge more.

I really feel like I tried to charge an appropriate amount, but I felt resentful that so many people wasted so much of my time.  A lot of that time spent emailing and sending quotes and, of course, I never got paid for that time.

I understand that you need to charge more to account for this if you really want to make it as a freelance designer, but that just wasn’t the reality I was experiencing. 

I kept thinking that all I ever really wanted to do was license my artwork and see my name on my own art.  I wanted to see it exist out in the world.

Of course, I wanted to earn a living from it, but that could take a lot of years of build up and I didn’t have that much time to spend on my portfolio alone. 

I kept thinking that if I need to do THIS MUCH WORK to supplement my licensing, wouldn’t it just be easier to supplement it with an in-house job?

You see, a lot of the ways artists supplement their income ALSO take a long time to create.  It can take at least a year to write a book or create a class.  With teaching online, there’s all of the planning, writing, filming, editing, uploading, and designing the pages.  Then after that, there’s all of the MARKETING you have to do to make sure people know about your class.

And yes, I enjoyed creating classes (and plan on doing more in the future!)… but I also felt like it was taking a lot of time away from actually creating art.  Which is WHY I wanted to be a full-time artist in the first place!

I spent so much time and energy trying to supplement my income that I was probably only spending about 10% of my time actually making art.

There were definitely a lot of things I enjoyed while being a full-time artist, but ultimately, I was really stressed out about not being able to replace my old salary from my Textile Design job.

So, lo and behold, a new position opened up at my old company for a Senior Designer.  I was extremely interested in the category and re-joined!  And in the same month, found out I was pregnant, haha.

So, needless to say, the past 2 years have been a whirlwind.

And, I don’t say any of this to complain or kill your dreams.  I think it’s important to discuss the reality around licensing, because it’s easy to get the impression that it’s going to be this amazing passive income stream that will make you rich.

All that being said, licensing is still my favorite thing to do!  It’s a little odd, because the money isn’t amazing, but it’s so rewarding to see your own prints on products and to know that you keep the copyright.  At this point, it feels like a fun bonus every time I get a licensing check in the mail!

My in-house job is also rewarding!  Next year, I will see my textile designs on products in Target, Home Goods, and Walmart.  This is very exciting and extremely satisfying!  I will be able to walk through the stores and say, “Hey, I did that!”

I think sometimes the narrative out there is that working an in-house job means you are some kind of failure, but I want to reject that.  The fact that big box stores are buying my designs from my in-house job means I’m a pretty good designer!

And sure, I admit I wish my name was going to be on the products, but it won’t be, and that’s perfectly okay.  I have the internal satisfaction of knowing my designs are selling out in the world, and honestly, that’s enough.

I also find that I can be more creative when I’m more relaxed and not so stressed about money.  Having a reliable paycheck every month and a 401K allows me to pay my bills and feel financially secure.  When I can be more relaxed about money, I can allow myself to play, experiment, and build up my portfolio without an insane amount of pressure.

I’m actually in a better place to work on my licensing portfolio, because I’m not scrambling for new freelance jobs, replying to art directors who are going to ghost me, or haggling my prices.

With a reliable income, I’m also able to take more courses and level up my business needs.

I also feel good about being able to provide for my daughter! 

I know it shouldn’t be about this, but when I worked independently I realized a lot of my self-worth was tied to the amount of income I was able to bring in.

Mental health was a real struggle, because I felt like if my art wasn’t raking in the dollars then it was no good.  And that’s simply not true!

I definitely felt like I grew a TON by having the experience of being an independent artist.  I certainly learned way faster about the surface pattern industry by being immersed in it than I would have otherwise.  I made a ton of friends and was bolder about reaching out to other designers… probably because I was spending most of my days alone.

I wouldn’t trade the experience at all! 

But, at least for now, I feel a lot more stable and relaxed by working an in-house job as a Senior Textile Designer. 

I say all of this so that you don’t feel bad if you are still working an in-house job as well.  Being a full-time artist isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be!

Unless you have a partner to support you, or about 5 years worth of savings, or some fantastic freelance contacts…

I would actually recommend keeping your side hustle as your side hustle!  At least until your side hustle is earning enough to support you and you feel really secure making that leap to going independent.

So, what are some of the side hustles you should work on in the meantime?

If you want to be independent one day, I’d first recommend working on developing your art style.  I teach an entire program on developing your Art Style, and it’s the same process that worked for me when I exhibited at my first trade show.

I SO wish I’d been able to take a course like this before I made the jump to being a full-time artist.  I would have been able to hit the ground running.

The course is called Art Style Academy and it uses my Triad Method of 3 stages to fully develop your own art style.

Check out the link in the show notes if you’re interested .. or you can always visit my website to find out more at LaurenLesley.com… and Lesley is spelled with an E-Y.

Thanks so much for listening!  I’ll hopefully be back soon with some guest episodes.  Bye!

In this episode of the Design Tribe podcast, I'm chatting with Jenna Rainey and Julie Turkel about how to get your art in retail stores + so much more! Jenna Rainey is a successful licensed artist with an incredible YouTube channel with over 120K subscribers. She provides tutorials for illustrators, calligraphers, and watercolor artists. Jenna has collaborated with brands like Papyrus, Anchor Brewing Company, and Target!

Website: https://jennarainey.com/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqWj...

Julie Turkel is a licensing agent who started at Nickelodeon, building the brand collab business from the inside out. Julie left Nickelodeon to then go on to represent Jonathan Adler, Nate Berkus, Dabney Lee and Jenna (among a few others). After 25 years in the business, her expertise is in brand licensing and she and Jenna have a unique experience working together on fun projects like a calendar line in Staples, a collection with Toki Mats for baby mats and more!

During the livestream, we discussed:

• - How to get your foot in the door and products on the shelves of retail stores

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TRANSCRIPT:

Speaker 2 (00:06):

Hey, what's up. Y'all I'm here in beautiful Atlanta. And today I wanted to talk to you about trends. I'm currently in a deep dive of trend research for 2022 and wanted to let you know that I've got several pre-order discounts going on for my 2022 trend guide, plus a live workshop for those of you who sign up early, just head over to my [email protected] and click on trend. Leslie is spelled with an E Y and join my email list to get the next discount. All right, thanks for listening to the design drive. Let's start the episode.

Speaker 3 (00:44):

Okay. So why are trans important? I think this is the first question we should start out with because there are designers out there who really hate trends and they don't think trends are important. They have no interest in following them. They maybe see trends as being cheap and too commercial or, you know, kind of like it kind of like you lose yourself as a designer. If you're chasing trends all the time, you don't really have sort of this aesthetic that defines your own brand. But to me, I really see trends as art. Especially when you are looking at runway shows and some of the, you know, beginning stages of where these trends are developing. And I mean, it really is art. And I know that these things have a commercial use and that the trends are going to kind of push sales for a lot of products.

Speaker 3 (01:41):

Right. And, you know, I understand why people will see that as you know, oh, it's a gimmick or it's a sales tactic, but the thing is of that transit sell for a reason. And it's because they're inspiring. And I don't think that these two concepts are mutually exclusive, right? Like I don't think that just because something sells well, it's automatically not art or it's automatically cheap, right. Just because it's commercial, it doesn't mean that it's not a really amazing and deep and valuable. And so I think that, you know, when you really start to dive into the beginning stages of how these concepts come about from the designer's imagination, right. And the experimentation, and, you know, putting together kind of insane materials. And in ways that, you know, to the current mainstream would seem crazy. Like if you look at a lot of runway trends, they seem kind of nuts and it's because they are exaggerated it's because it is a place where, you know, clothes and apparel and design ideas can be whatever they want because they aren't actually going to be selling in this form.

Speaker 3 (02:52):

Right. The life cycle of a trend is that it starts out on something like their runway and it's really wild and really crazy. And then retailers kind of tend to the Trinity retailers tend to be the first ones to jump on that trend, but they water it down a bit. Right. It's not like you're going into a trendy store and seeing the exact same thing that you would have seen in runway fashion. So it's watered down a little bit and it's made more digestible for the average consumer. And then you have, you know, stores and retail brands that are, you know, kinda in the middle there, they're not super Trinity, but you know, they, they see these Trinity stores and they see that, oh you know, proof of concept, right. That people are actually buying these things. So, all right, maybe we'll dabble.

Speaker 3 (03:42):

Maybe we'll stick our toe in the water and we'll try this trend. It's a little scary, but we'll try it. And then, you know, those stores, they start selling and, you know, people love it and more and more people jump on the trend. And when more people see that other people are wearing X, Y, Z, or have this kind of trend in their home with its home decor, you know, whatever the category is, then they're like, oh, well, if these people can, can pull it off, then I can pull it off. I think I can pull it off now because I've seen it enough times. Right. And then the mass market stores are like, oh, everyone's behind this trend. So we need to sell it. And then that's when the Walmarts and the Sam's clubs and sort of middle America adopts the trend. And then the market gets really saturated, right?

Speaker 3 (04:30):

It, it gets kind of overwhelmed by this trend and then it's not special anymore. Once the market is oversaturated, then it's not special anymore. And that's when the trend, you know, it can coast for a few years. Sometimes it depends on the trend. Every trend will have its own life cycle. We can't say a trend lasts for exactly one season or it lasts for exactly three years. Like some trends last longer than others. But once we see the market gets saturated and sales start to dip, then we kind of know it's not special anymore. It's not fashion forward. It's not exciting. It's not holy crap. Like only, only something you would see people wearing in New York city. Right. And so that's when we see the trend to start to die off. And it kind of just becomes this, this mountain curve where it starts out slow.

Speaker 3 (05:22):

Only the trendiest stores are, are willing to put it in and try it out. And then when it really gets into the mass market stores and starts to saturate the market, that's the peak, right. And we don't know how long that peak is going to last. It can again, coast for awhile, but after that, it starts to decline and dipped out. And that's when you start to see it and like clearance stores and things like that. And so that's sort of the life cycle as a trend. But going back to the question are trends important. I think trends are so important. And I think that when people see trans as only being a means to sell or they own, they only see trends as, you know, cheap or commercial or not really worth paying attention to, I think they're kind of missing the point because trans really define our time.

Speaker 3 (06:13):

Right. I mean, imagine if you couldn't tell the difference between 70 1970s fashion and 1920s fashion, what if it all looked the same, which is kind of like the way things looked, you know, throughout the 17 hundreds or throughout the 18 hundreds, like trends happened, but very, very, very slowly. And once we hit the 20th century, that's when things get a lot more interesting and we're able to, you know, really separate the decades by fashion and by trend. And so trends are important because they define you. They define where you are in this life, in this decade. And we all get to decide that, and I want to share a little quote from Matthew Smith that says either embrace trends or define them, but never complain about them. And I think that's so true because trends are what they are. And they're kind of magical trends really are defining the present era that we're all living in.

Speaker 3 (07:16):

And that's what will kind of put us in the history. But so it's kind of what we'll be remembered for, you know, other than, you know, major historical events. But that's how, you know, our look, our fascia and that's how we'll be kind of looked on in an historic way. And they allow us to define ourselves and kind of to eternalize ourselves in this recognizable aesthetic. And what's really cool about that is that as designers, we get to be a part of that. So I would say we should all appreciate trends. Right? another thing that designers are sometimes concerned about is that they'll lose their individuality. If they focus on trans, you know, they're worried that this brand that they've built for themselves or, you know, the thing that they're known for is going to disappear if they chase every trend.

Speaker 3 (08:04):

And I think that that is true and also false. And so let me explain that for a second. I think that you have to know as a designer, when to be discerning and when a trend is not for you and not every trend is going to be for you and that's okay. However, some trends will fall into your brand. They will fall into the industry that you're targeting, right. If elephants are really trendy in baby decor this season that might not really apply to me if I'm designing rugs, especially if they are area rugs that are not for children, right. That's not going to help me very much. And so you obviously have to focus on the industry, make sure that it's relevant to the audience and the consumers that you're targeting with your designs. And with that being said, I think that if you've developed your own art style, then you don't have to deviate from that in order to follow a trend.

Speaker 3 (09:05):

Right? So back when I got my very first in-house job in textile design, I was the licensing coordinator and designer for our license or a Candace Olson. And if you're familiar with home decor, she was a big name, one of the first big, big shows on HDTV. And yeah, she was really big and she had a very established brand in a very established aesthetic. And this was back in 2012 when Chevron was all the rage, Chevron was starting to pick up, it was everywhere. It was selling really big. And she was a designer who was kind of like, eh, like Chevron's not really my look, you know, like she didn't do geometrics. She was very transitional, had various soft color palettes and this and that. However, she decided because it was selling so much and it was such a big trend to do her own version of Chevron.

Speaker 3 (09:59):

That was kind of this soft Chevron, right. It wasn't too, it wasn't a two color, hard-lined a pointy Chevron. It was a very kind of organic Chevron with multicolors and soft colors that kind of blended together and used sort of this blended yarn. And she just, she made it her own. And so if you do have a very established art style and an established brand, I'm not saying to deviate from that, I am saying that you can jump on a trend early and you can stand to make a lot of money if you're going to ride that wave. Right. Remember the mountain graphic we kind of talked about and how it starts out just at this small incline. And then it starts to really take off and sales just increase and increase and increase until you hit that peak. But if you wait until the trend hits the peak, then you're going to be kind of out of luck, you know, unless it's a trend that just goes on and on and on and on and on, and we can't get rid of it, which does happen with some trends, but it's better to get on the trend really, really early.

Speaker 3 (11:04):

Because if you catch the trend early, then you can really ride that wave and your designs are going to be already done. They're going to be done and ready to sell by the time the wave really crests right and hits its peak. And so my point in saying all of this is that you don't have to lose your individuality by focusing on trends. Oftentimes I like to think of trends as a particular subject matter. So if let's say butterflies are trending in print and pattern design, then how am I going to draw butterflies in a way that's in my style in a way that's different from other artists or from what I've seen already, how can I interpret this butterfly trend? Maybe I look at the pattern that's in the wing of the butterfly and I recreate that pattern and I'm actually drawing individual butterflies, or maybe I'm drawing butterflies in pen and ink in a way that's, you know, stylistically relevant to me or relevant to my industry. And so there isn't any need to be afraid of trends in terms of losing your individuality. I think it's a way to express your individuality through a certain subject matter.

Speaker 3 (12:20):

Yeah. I just wanted to take a quick break to let you know that I'm currently taking pre-orders for the 2022 trend guide. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in head over to Lauren leslie.com. Remember Leslie is spelled with an E Y and click on trend to sign up for my email list and get the next discount. All right. That's it. Let's dive back in. I know some of you are probably wondering, well, what are the transfer 2022. So let's talk about some of them. Okay. So one of the first things I'm really noticing is that we're moving away from cool neutrals, especially grays and, and especially in home decor. So in apparel, you know, it's not really so predominant, but in home decor, people love their neutrals because you're making a bigger investment. It's going to be something you're going to have around for a long time.

Speaker 3 (13:14):

Generally speaking, if you're investing in a sofa or an area rug or wall color, you know, it's not something you necessarily want to change out every year. And so trends in home decor tend to last a little bit longer, especially the neutrals. And back in 2012, when I got my first in-house job as a textile designer, it's like the Browns were out right. And gray was all the rage. It was fresh. It was cool. It was, it was just hot, you know, it was trendy. And then the market got saturated with grays and it's coasted for a while because it is a neutral, it's not too upsetting. It's not anything that's going to rock the boat too much. Right. But I'm starting to see now a shift back to warmer neutrals. And I don't think we're quite at the chocolates yet, but I think the tans, the beiges the sort of the sort of white desert type of looks are coming in.

Speaker 3 (14:12):

And I love it. I'm I'm ready for it. Right. Because we've had a gray for a while now, we've had a lot of gray. And so I don't know that home decor is quite there yet. Again, home decor tends to follow fashion and apparel. So we're going to see brand new trends come out and fashion and apparel first, and then home decor generally follows that. And so I'm seeing a lot of warmer neutrals and I'm personally really excited about it. Back in 2020 when I was buying sweatpants, I was like, Hmm, I think I'm going to go for these beige sweatpants. That looks kind of fresh. Haven't seen that in a while. And so, you know, it's starting to happen. I'm also seeing a lot of pastels and pastels are not something that's brand new to this trend season. However, I do want to discuss how trends kind of evolve and the evolution of trends.

Speaker 3 (15:06):

And so I remember several years ago when millennial pink kind of first made its appearance and especially working in home decor, my, my managers, my bosses were like, no, we're not doing millennial pink. Right? Like they just, they remembered when pink was really big in the eighties and then it was out for so, so, so long that they were like, I don't trust this. This is a fad instead of a trend it's gonna, it's gonna sell quick and short and no, one's, it's not going to catch on. And holy crap, a few years later, my art director was like, you know, I really thought millennial pink was going to be short-lived and it's still here. And that was a few years ago. And I make that point because pink is still, it's still relevant, you know, and, and certain industries are going to have different interpretations of millennial pink home decor is going to be more muted and more dulled down, especially if it's, you know, a wall color, you know, a throw pillow can get away with being a little more exciting, but in home decor things have to be livable, right?

Speaker 3 (16:11):

In fashion, we can be wild and in a throw pillow or something small, that's easy to change out. We can be a little bit more fun and wild, but millennial pink, this is a good example of how a trend has evolved, because now I'm starting to see more lavender come out and more combinations of sort of this millennial pink that shifted into sort of these pinkish purples. And I love seeing that. And, and we've also seen it kind of become its own neutral in terms of it's dulled down enough, it's a little bit orangy. It's almost this bisque pink or a pink that you would see in an actual blush in makeup or paired in kind of some of these desert types of looks. And so we've seen the millennial pink evolve and shift, and it's really exciting to see it change. I'm also noticing in terms of color, some sort of ice cream colors that are again, kind of in that same, you know, playground of pastels, but they're a little bit darker and they're a little bit duller and that's really fun to see as well.

Speaker 3 (17:16):

It's again, just something you would kind of see in an ice cream or in, in the outside of buildings that are maybe interpreted as a little bit out ish. It's sort of this powdered or chalky pastel color. Again, that's a little bit darker, a little bit less Eastery, if you will. I'm also seeing a lot of plaids and I've created one mood board in my trend guide called a picnic party. And so you'll have to actually buy the trend guide to be able to see what I'm talking about, but picnic plaids are another trend that I'm seeing quite a lot. Mushrooms is another one, and I'm seeing mushrooms everywhere. I'm seeing mushrooms, not just in fashion, but also in like health articles, like just the topic of mushrooms and how they benefit your health. And, you know, whether some cultures are kind of pro mushroom cultures or pro fungus fungi cultures, I guess, and you know, how kind of the us and some of the Western countries are sort of anti mushroom or antifungal guy cultures.

Speaker 3 (18:22):

And it's true. I mean, growing up, I hated my shoes. I hated the texture. I still don't really love the texture to be honest. I like the flavor, but you know, some, some cultures are just more more inclined to be a mushroom culture, I guess, in their foods. And so fashion has sort of latched on to that as well. And I'm seeing, you know, types of mushroom prints. I'm seeing mushrooms being illustrated. I'm seeing sort of the textures and mushrooms being replicated as well. So mushrooms is another really big trend for 2022 and that's one to pay attention to. So another trend that I've seen evolve quite a bit has been this tropical trend, or sometimes sort of also a jungle type of trend. And we've seen this trend kind of expand and explode and evolve into sort of different branches off of coming off of this trend, if you will.

Speaker 3 (19:18):

And so in the past, we've seen a lot of big cats. I think big cats are going to continue to sell, but you know, it's not a brand new trend anymore. So I think that this trend is continuing to evolve. And I think that we're going to see the focus shift onto some other kind of jungle safari type of animals. And I'm not going to say which ones, because I want you to buy the trend guide. I've done a ton of work and I've put a ton of hours into doing all this research for you so that you can save time. And so that you don't have to. And of course you can do your own trend research if you like. There's no pressure, but if you're interested in trends, I hope that you will at least take a look and join my email list to get a good discount.

Speaker 3 (20:05):

Hey, I hope you learned so much from this discussion on trans today. Be sure to follow me over on Instagram at Lauren Leslie studio. And don't forget to check out the show notes to get the link to my 2022 trend guide. If for some reason you can't find it, just shoot me an email [email protected]. Make sure to leave a rating and review. And if you're willing to give this episode just a little extra love, take a screenshot on your phone and share the episode over on your Instagram stories. It would literally mean the world to me. And you can tag me at Lauren Leslie studio. I love you so much. And I hope this episode gave you a tons of insights for how to use trends to maximize your profits in 2020. You too.

Speaker 1 (20:47):

All right guys. See you next time. Bye.

How do you sell on Patternbank successfully?  What do successful pattern designers do differently?  Neil Elliott from Patternbank gives us tons of tips for Patternbank success!

➡️  FREE TRAINING in Textile Design:

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Questions asked:

1. Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little of Patternbank’s history?

1. (A lot of designers had questions about their file submissions, things like that.)

1. Which categories are considered classic and always sell well? Florals, textured prints, etc?

1. It would be amazing for artists to be able to see new keywords clients are searching for.

1. Other artists may wonder if they could ever sell an illustration that included several supporting or blender patterns on Patternbank to accommodate different markets?

1. The down side for artists is that they remain somewhat anonymous on the site. In a traditional licensing contract, an artist can negotiate to have their name or brand on any product using their art. Companies like Anthropologie or Target will often do an artist spotlight with an entire collection of products with the artist’s work.

How do you sell on Patternbank successfully?  What do successful pattern designers do differently?  Neil Elliott from Patternbank gives us tons of tips for Patternbank success!

➡️  FREE TRAINING in Textile Design:

• 🎧  Subscribe

➡️  FREE Art Style Secrets mini course:

• 🎧. Subscribe

Questions asked:

1. Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little of Patternbank’s history?

Skillshare vs Teachable (or Thinkific): which online platform is better to host your online courses and classes? If you're thinking of teaching online courses, especially as an artist or designer, this video is for you!

There are certainly pro's and con's to which platform is best! Skillshare is an awesome platform to get started on especially if you don't have a large social media following, Instagram presence, or email list. But it has it's downsides such as only sharing 30% - 50% of the revenue.

Hosting your own masterclass can potentially earn much more revenue, but sites like Teachable and Thinkific can be expensive. Listen in as Jen Lezan and I discuss workarounds and how to host your own online course on your own website like Squarespace or Wix.

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