Firstly, the new prints look amazing! I know you hand illustrated these Hiro + Wolf prints, can you tell us a little bit more about that process?
Thank you! With all of my patterns I start by sketching out a rough idea of what the overall print might look like including all the characters and motifs. For more complex prints like the Happy Howlidays design I will then draw out the main element of the print in lots of detail. Once I am happy with this I will photocopy it enough times to make up my repeat then tape this together and lay the pattern on a light box so I can start filling in the gaps with more pattern. Once I am happy I will colour the design using pens or watercolour, then scan everything into photoshop and check that the pattern repeats. This stage often needs to be repeated several times until I am completely happy with the finished result and there are no gaps in the design. With patterns like the Snowflake design I will draw out multiple individual snowflakes by hand before scanning them into photoshop and colouring and arranging the repeat pattern digitally.
I wanted to create two very different prints. One featuring lots of festive motifs but in a vibrant colour palette and the other inspired by the beautiful intricacy of snowflakes. My colleague, Beatrice, helped by collating lots of research imagery around Christmas which really helped to formulate early ideas before adding a large dose of my own imagination.
Pets are not just for Christmas and neither are our prints. I wanted to stay true to our signature, fresh colour palettes to create something inspired by Winter festivities but that could be enjoyed all year round.
Definitely angelic animals with wings! Animals are all heavenly creatures to me - God is just Dog spelt backwards, right?!
The most challenging aspect with any print is to create something fun and impactful that will work on a 2cm strip of fabric. I try to achieve this by packing as much pattern in as possible so even if you can’t see the whole print you get fun little details on every strip which makes each product unique.
I really love the Bandanas and the Harnesses as they have a larger surface area to showcase the pattern and the detail really gets to shine!
