What are some of your considerations when working on these design commissions?
"I occasionally have to reign in the amount of colours I use. Sometimes if i'm working with similar colours the design team and I end up stripping away some and see whether the design can work with a more limited palette. This is obviously cheaper and more convenient to print.
But if the design is a particularly large scale pattern then production restrictions naturally allow less colours to be used. At Marimekko though we think more about the possibilities than the restrictions so as designers we are encouraged to create our original visions rather than be too swamped down by technical issues. The artwork studio has a fantastic team and can usually make anything happen or then certainly come up with very good alternative solutions to any problems!
We are also very guided by the emotion of colours for each collection and how they correlate with the time of year. So Christmas time we usually have reds and other warm colours within the collection as a traditional nod to that time of year but we always challenge ourselves to bring twists and experiment with colours to create new and exciting outcomes. Colour is a key part of how successful a collection is.
One other consideration when designing a collection is to vary the scales of the patterns. Marimekko produce lots of small textile homeware products made directly from the fabric (oven gloves, aprons, pot stands etc) so generally a smaller scale pattern would form part of the collection to cater for these smaller items. A large print used on an oven mitten for instance might look really boring as you don't get to see much of the pattern. This would affect the popularity of the item.
So when designing it's always a good idea to visualise what patterns will work best for each product category.
Ultimately our aim is to create beautiful products that have a longevity to them."
Sanna Annukka talks about the application of her designs and the restriction that can be imposed when working on certain briefs. It sounds like she is given quite a lot of freedom in her work in terms of colour but still has to take into account a number of things when designing for specific products. Because she works on products that often have seasonal themes her work has to fit the theme and colour scheme of the that specific season. I need to apply the same thinking to my book, instead of seasons I need to look at colour schemes that suit the narrative and tone of the story I am illustrating. Sanna's work is often used on homewares of various sizes and needs to find the scale and layout of the items effectively, these is not point making a large intricate design if the details are lost when scaled down or only a small section of the illustration is used on the product. I need to take into account the dimensions of the book and what the illustration is being used for, what is it trying to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment