Kate Usher is a wallpaper and bespoke/freelance surface pattern design,who is based in the North of England. I emailed her with some questions.
What is your specialised area and how long have you been working in this area?
Wallpaper and bespoke/freelance surface pattern design
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The freedom to design whatever I like (when I’m working on the wallpaper collection) and the variety in the different freelance projects I get.
How would you define your style?
I wouldn't! Because it changes all the time. At the moment there’s a focus on well drawn, vintage inspired illustration arranged in a contemporary style with sophisticated colour palettes.
Since you have been a designer what have you found most profitable?
Well up until now, freelance work, but only because I haven’t officially launched and marketed my wallpaper collection yet.
What trade shows do you exhibit your work in?
I have done New Designers One Year On and 100% Design as well as Design Event North East, and am thinking of doing Tent London or Decorex in the near future.
What are the most orders you have had from a trade shows?
I don't know yet as Im still receiving order from my last show, but not many, as I havn't officially launched my collection yet. I did get one or two commission jobs from this though.
What trade shows would you recommend?
It completely depends what you are trying to sell. If your a maker selling products, then the British Craft trade show in Harrogate, Top Drawer or Pulse and the Spring and Autumn Fairs are good shows. If your a freelance designer trying to sell your surface pattern portfolio, then its best to go to Indigo at Premiere Vision in Paris. And if you are selling an interior product like me then I'd recommend 10% Futures within 100% Design or Tent London.
What would you say your top tips are after graduating?
If you are looking for a job then it sounds obvious but just apply apply apply! So many people have the good intention of doing this and then don’t put much effort in, and feel disheartened after a couple of rejections.
Print pattern Blog jobs board, Design Week and Drapers Online are all good places to look, if you want an agent to represent you it’s a good idea to get hold of a programme from Indigo Show which has full contact information for all of the surface design studios, just go through the list applying to each one for a job.
If you want to start your own business like I did then you need to start writing a business plan straight away, I did this with the help of a business advisor, there is a lot of free help like this out there so its always a good start to contact Business Link to see what sort of funding might be available to you.
What inspires you?
Everything!
What artist's / Designers are you inspired by?
Lizzie Allen, Tricia Guild, Hennie Haworth, Lin Olofsdotter
Since you have become a freelance designer what have you learned?
I've learned to 'water down' my designs for the high-street market and how to be more commercial. I've also improved my technical skills and learned how to prepare digital artwork for selling.
Do you have a particular design process?
Usually I do lots of hand drawing on paper, then scan it all in and play around with layouts, pattern repeats and colours on the computer.
Who is your target market?
For my wallpaper collection its very high end customers, basically the sort of people who use interior designers to decorate their homes! So I get a lot of Specifies and Interior Design companies requesting samples. At the moment I’m aiming my collection at sophisticated children's bedrooms.
Do you advertise?
At the moment I'm working on a website and will advertise in the form of email flyers etc once this is ready for launch.
Reflection on Interview
By conducting this interview I have found out about Kate Usher and her inspiration and processes she uses as a designer, I found she experiments with hand drawings which she scans into the computer and plays around with layouts, pattern repeats and colour. I have discovered new trade shows: Top Drawer or Pulse and designers: Lizzie Allen, Tricia Guild, Hennie Haworth, Lin Olofsdotter within the field of design, I was partially influenced by Tricia Guild designs and the ways he uses pattern and colour. However, I was most concerned with how she got her business started, as I would like to set up my own business in the future.
