I have developed a career that combines my ambitions, skills and interests in design and education to improve the lives of many. Creativity is vital to us all, be it in something designed by someone else, an activity we undertake ourselves or a mindset we maintain. The utility or beauty of an object or space impacts us, bringing functional design, experience and aesthetics to our lives.
Commissions I have undertaken for public spaces including an international airport, hospital and school demonstrate my enthusiasm to engage with diverse audiences and contexts through the surface designs I create. Collaborations with leading manufacturers have resulted in me taking interiors and accessories collections to a global market, gaining international press and stockists.
I have a particular interest in bespoke pattern design to visually communicate brand identity and place. Clients / projects include a bespoke fashion print for Japanese lifestyle brand Stamp and Diary, posters & limited edition prints for Transport for London / London Transport Museum, a retail collection of products for the Barbican Centre London, pattern design for tea-towels for David Mellor Design celebrating their cutlery, and site-specific large-scale surface designs on roofscapes at the QE hospital in Birmingham.
My work is in international collections including Tate, British Library and Yale Centre for British Arts, USA. I make works on paper as unique and limited editions while designing patterns for surfaces including textiles, laminate and beyond. The book form as a site for visual and structural narrative is of particular interest to me. I collaborated with publisher Design for Today, creating a sculptural artists book celebrating Edward Bawden’s love of gardening.
My design practice runs in tandem with my academic career. I am currently Associate Professor of Design and Course Leader of the BA Textile Design course at Norwich University of the Arts, UK, developing future thinking graduates prepared to make a positive difference. I love to learn the specifics of designing for particular applications, production methods or commercial constraints and maintain a two-way dialogue with my industry network to inform my educational interests and responsibilities, while providing opportunity and support.
My academic practice-based research explores the notion of pattern communication as narrative through printed design structures. This combines my interest in traditional pattern making, cultural heritage and contemporary design opportunity. I write and present research at symposiums and conferences, including presenting for the Royal Town Planning Institute on the subject of taste and aesthetics, the Motif Tsunami at Nottingham Trent University on the subject of pattern as motif potential and recent FTC Futurescan conferences.
My most recent project is a design book for Bloomsbury Publishing on the subject of printed pattern for interiors, published in early 2023 and available to buy now.
I have launched collections under my own brand: Plot to Plate (2012), Construct (2015) and Threads (2016), working with manufacturers including Formica, the Window Film Company and Surface View. I also license pattern designs for fashion and interior applications.
I hope you enjoy my posts! Thanks for visiting…
@katefarleyprint
Kate Farley - drawn to design 