Living bright and colourful is a way of life for many textile designers. None more so than the delightful Kasey Rainbow. (Yes her surname really is Rainbow.) Kasey oozes colour and fun in her design work exploring the lighter side of design with fun uplifting prints in vibrant colour palettes inspired by food, nature and everyday life. Kasey chatted to us about her process and inspiration.
You are a natural creative exploring drawing, writing and now print design, what lead to the interest in surface design for textiles?
I have always had a love of the term ‘wearable art’. My very first small business venture was hand painted jewellery! But once I got my iPad and began drawing at every chance I got, I knew that fabric design was what I was meant to do.
Your print design work is bold, bright and uplifting, it seems to flow naturally or was it a deliberate choice to become your signature style?
Definitely natural! I am all about living bright and wanted to showcase that through my now ‘signature’ style. Big, bright, bold colours make me happy, and I wanted others to be able to feel that same happiness when wearing my designs.
How do you develop a design, what inspires you and what process do you take for creating the end result of a digital artwork?
I’m inspired by everyday, colourful things! Usually it starts as a sketch or doodle on my iPad and from there, progresses into a more detailed design. Once I’m happy with the elements, I move to Photoshop to create the repeat pattern.
You clearly have a lot of fun with colour palettes, does it take you a long time to decide on colours or are you able to just select and move on?
To be honest, when I started I would just draw and see what happened! Now that I’m working on more ‘collections’ I am trying to be more selective with my color palette before I start, otherwise I would just go crazy! Haha.
Like many surface designers you are self taught, what is some advise you would impart on others wanting to go down this path?
YOUTUBE! Haha. I watched a lot of tutorials whenever I could find a spare 5 minutes. Keep learning, keep drawing, and find your style. Don’t draw what you THINK others want… draw what makes YOU happy.
What does a day in the life of Kasey look like?
Depends what day you catch me on! If it’s a ‘Kasey Day’ as I call them, it involves daycare drop off and then a day of drawing in my office! Oh, and every day involves coffee.
You are an incredibly positive force for mental health and self acceptance, having published books and openly talking about the challenges you have faced. What’s next on your campaign of support and awareness?
I have a little side project that I’ve been working on for awhile, which I am really excited about. I won’t say too much just yet, but stay tuned…
To browse and shop Kasey’s designs go here
To find out more about Kasey check out her website