I have just had a wonderful week in London working for Tracy Kendall Wallpaper. Tracy Kendall is a wallpaper designer originating from a fine art background. The wallpapers were really inspiring. I learnt that fashion has a faster turn around than interior design, it is important to choose colour schemes that tend to stay on trend. Many of Tracy's designs were developed through photocopying simple objects and exposing the photocopied item onto a screen before printing; this technique was used for the cutlery, airhead and open feather graphics.
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Cutlery
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| Airhead |
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| Open Feather |
It's important to get the original design right because it can be used over and over again. There are several designs Tracy has been using for years. She may repeat them differently or change the colour scheme but the basic design will stay the same and this is because these are signature designs that make the company money. When designing wallpaper it is important to remember each strip is repeated across a wall therefore the design needs to match up at each edge. This is applicable when hanging repeats, for example Tracy Kendall's Three Witches repeat.
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| Three Witches |
Despite the varied types of fonts, Tracy has made sure the distance from the bottom of each row of text measures the same distance to the bottom of the next row of text. Tracy helped me to develop my printing technique and I spent the whole week asking a variety of questions. Amongst all the different things I learned such as 'try to refer to pantone colours', I learned how important it is to keep the work space clean when printing. Always mix your paints in a certain area and not on the print table. Lift the screen as quickly a possible for a clean finish and wash the screen immediately after use to prevent it for clogging up. I spent two days gunning puzzle pieces onto wallpaper and it was very satisfying when each piece was completed and such a unique idea, creating texture through the use of discarded puzzle pieces. You can do anything texturally to wallpaper so long as you can roll it up otherwise it can't be delivered to clients!
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| Puzzle Pieces |
