Yellow, grey & a little textile

Loving the colour & textile print combination! I'd love to do a project with this much print, & you know I can't go past grey either!  

What do you think?

Elle x

Image via houzz

Funky Wombat Textiles

For a while now I have been following "Funky Wombat Textiles" on Facebook and thoroughly enjoying what I have been seeing. I went to look at their website and gather a little more information on the designer and her background and came across this article by Jen Bishops at Interior Addicts. Enjoy the read... I did!

As an aspiring textiles designer myself (amongst too many other aspirations) I always enjoy reading other designers' stories on how they managed to get to where they are now. I really enjoyed the 'behind the scenes' work Tamara Schneider puts on her facebook page every now and again. Here is just one of them... 

Screen printing is an artistic process we learnt at uni quite early on, and although it takes lots of patience it is clearly worth the effort.

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Meet Textile designer Tamara Schneider of Funky Wombat Textiles

I first came across textile designer Tamara Schneider when one of her lampshades caught my eye online. It was so beautiful I couldn’t stop looking at it. Seriously. Gorgeous.

She owns the amusingly named Funky Wombat Textiles and her designs are far more sophisticated, beautiful and grown up than the name might perhaps suggest.

Tamara started off studying fashion in the nineties. But as much as she loved Westwood and McQueen, it was the textile designs and processes that really excited her. When she moved to Melbourne in 2006, she finally enrolled in a textile design course at RMIT and so it began.

Through one of her lecturers she met Paul Simmons, one half of legendary Scottish design studioTimorous Beasties. “He was out here doing a trade show and we got invited to meet him for coffee. It was truly one of those geek groupie moments, especially for me as I had known about Timorous Beasties for so long. Eventually I got over the giggling schoolgirl thing and had a really nice chat.” A year later, when she was looking for a work project to finish her diploma, Tamara booked a ticket to Glasgow.

“I could try to downplay it a bit and be cool or something but the truth is it was brilliant. The energy that Paul and Alistair [McAuley] bring to the design process is amazing. It really helped me focus the things I had learned at school and gave me a bucket load of confidence as a designer. It really opened my mind to the many ways of combining old and new technology.”

She got back to Australia in August last year and soon started up Funky Wombat Textiles. “Now I’m doing my own designs for my own label with my own customers, so yeah, pretty much living the dream. Was it always my ambition? I’m really not sure, but I know that I’m enjoying working in my own business far more than any job I’ve ever had.”

There’s a lot of Aussie flora and fauna in her designs and this wasn’t intentional, although she admits to loving “wildlife and all associated bush junk,” adding: “My dad is a mad bushwalker who used to drag us out every chance he got when we were kids, so I was constantly exposed to the beauty of the Australian bush. I guess wildlife seemed a natural place to start when I began designing.”

Being environmentally friendly is important to Tamara. “I’m constantly looking at ways to improve the sustainability of not just us, but of all the other parts of our supply chain. To that end the majority of our production is digitally printed. It’s kind of counter-intuitive but it turns out that the machines are better environmentally as they can actually do things far more efficiently than we can with hand-printing so there’s much less waste. Also all of our inks are water-based so no harsh chemicals and we are always watching for new innovations that might help reduce our carbon footprint further.”

Funky Wombat Textiles turns one next month and it has grown steadily. “We recently started to work with some interior designers but the majority of the business is still with people looking for something to lift a room or a nice gift. The custom side has been the real surprise, not so much for what the jobs are but rather where the clients have come from. We recently completed a wallpaper job for an office in London, and have just been contracted to design more wallpaper for an apartment in Stockholm. One of the best things I did was integrating the supply chain early in the piece so we can be really responsive to our customers’ needs and turn most of the custom orders around in a couple of weeks.”

Tamara says it’s increasingly hard to predict interiors trends and she doesn’t care to. “There are no longer two or three oracles of wisdom for trends, there’s probably 3000, and while I find it good to get ideas I find it really hard to say that this year ‘polka dot flamingos with flaming red beaks carrying orange shoulder bags’ will be the trend. When I want to see what is happening now I’m more likely to come to a blog like Interiors Addict, where I feel some sort of connection with the author because I liked the things I’ve seen there, rather than try to make any kind of sense of the other 3000 articles out there.

“I’m not so much into trends but rather assisting people to create a style that they can relate to and want to live with. To me that’s what interiors is all about.”

Sneaky Saturday

So, I don't normally post on a weekend but I simply cannot help it! Spring is in the air and I always feel like there is fresh inspiration all around as the seasons change.

One company I believe always gets is perfectly correct with floral textile prints is Zimmerman.

It is so easy to walk into their shop and be consumed by their prints. It's like you are instantly transported to their floral fantasy world. More than that, I feel their textile prints can be transferred easily from fashion into home wares. Their designs would look great as a cushion, a throw or even a wallpaper. 

Here are images from their latest catalogue, let's not even discuss the models... horrible, I know! ;)

Here are some images I took while in the Blue Mountains. They just scream spring time!

White Forest Home - WFH

An overview of the beloved White Forest Home.
WFH is a boutique homewares company that designs limited edition prints. Each wall print focuses on the beautiful qualities of colour, design principles, painted textures and typography - all my great loves.

The team at WFH began the journey with the intention of capturing the current industry trends that inspire us all. Their design intention was to bring smiles and light to our day, at an affordable price.

The team at WFH has a special place in their hearts for colour, "colour is our world and we can't wait to share our colourful vision".

One may ask how a company is always up to date with the latest trends, colour and themes. Each week they review the latest and greatest trends to capture a collection of prints that work for their current palettes whilst providing a timeless appeal. 

We are all to blame of falling in love with an artwork or even a pair of shoes one week and questioning the purchase the following season. This is the reason WFH prides themselves on providing timeless appeal through colour, trends and prints.

WFH is designed and printed in Melbourne. They print on a soft and subtle marked textured fabric, which is acid free and therefore lasts a lifetime and will not fade.

What is new on their blog?

The latest news from WFH is their most recent feature in Home Beautiful Magazine, September 12 Issue. "It is a feature about the geometric/Aztec theme which is so hot right now". Their Geo Tri prints (pictured below) have been very successful for WFH. "The colours are different and lovely and show a unique take on this trend." They describe the prints as "simplified shapes and repetitions" - with a POW of colour.

My very own fabrics!

I have been designing fabrics since 2009, my second year at university and have used a process to transfer prints onto fabric by hand. Although this process does provide you with your print on a material it is very time consuming and not always never perfect. I began searching in Sydney for a company that was willing to print my designs on small rolls of fabric, without the large price tag - of course, no where was willing to do so.
Finally, I stumbled across a company in the US who is able to print onto almost any type of fabric for a very reasonable price, at any fabric amount!
Four weeks after placing my order, no only are my fabrics are now sitting in my hot little hands, they are also listed on the web for sale and can be made into any product possible. Let's think lamp shades, cushions, chair covers, bed spreads, curtains, book covers... the possibilities are literally endless.

 Below are images of the test swatches I had printed of 6 very basic prints.
I focused my attention towards basic designs as I was apprehensive about the printing process. However, now that I can see how fantastic the results are I cannot wait to display some of my more complex and interesting designs.

Please spread the word about the prints, show the pictures to anyone that may be interested in designs of any sorts. Feedback and requests are always welcome! Don't hesitate to send me an email at ellenjoannepollak@gmail.com

Watch this space for more exciting moments from Design, Form, Function in the coming days and a new Facebook group to make posting my blogs and inspirational images easier!

Big steps, it's time to start believing!
 

  

Melbourne Design Adventure

This weekend we are heading to Melbourne for the MASSIVE design weekend.

Below are the 3 exhibitions we are heading to! I am really looking forward to seeing what is on display this year. It is a great combination of well established designers and the enthusiastic up and comers.

 

 

Here is a quick review from the Harvest Textile's blog from Design Made Trade: 2011.

":After four big days spent launching our new range at the 2011 Design:Made:Trade it really feels like a whole new set of friends have been made.
What a pleasure to share our stand with local potter-extraordinaire Shelley Panton (one day soon I hope to be turfing all of my mismatched crockery from Savers and swapping it for a dinner set made by Ms Panton) and ceramic jeweller Yumi Ando whose charming pieces beckoned every time I peeped at them. Be sure to visit Shelley's store/studio in Middle Park - it is an old butcher shop that is jam packed with her own work and that of a whole lot of local makers.
Thanks to all who dropped by to say hello and a super big thank you to Craft Victoria for hosting us under their banner - you guys rock.
We look forward to officially photographing the range and making it look pretty for our online store. We've got cushions, totes, fabric by the metre and a whole lot of DIY kits. Stay tuned."