Designer Feature: Nandita Singh

Nandita Singh, one of my fellow coursemates from The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, is bringing us some of her lovely designs today.  She started her career as a design blogger which helped satisfy her need to design beautiful motifs and patterns and to give her readers plenty of inspiration.  After doing this for a few months her husband motivated her to do something real and pursue a creative career, so she went for it!  Before jumping into a specific career she decided to do some research around the term ‘design’, she wanted to know the ins and outs, about trends, where to find inspiration and what people love.  The biggest turning point in her career was taking The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design.  I completely agree, anyone thinking of diving into this industry should look into take these courses.  They are absolutely jam packed with helpful information to kick start you in the world of Surface Pattern.

So Nandita what made you want to become a Surface Pattern Designer?

I don’t know myself what attracted me towards pattern designing.  Yes I can say that I always used to be in search of good and eye-catching designs and patterns whenever I shopped for my home and family, but that’s common, everyone does that!  When choosing a career I can say that I never gave a second thought to what I wanted to be called – A surface pattern designer!  I love that term, it’s amazing to see how the simplest of patterns can change the look of a product.

How about patterns, what do you like about designing patterns?

I always wanted to see my motifs and patterns on actual products, I used to dream of people using my products in their day to day lives.  I actually have a dream of having a home store someday!  And now I can proudly say that my dreams are slowly coming into reality, when people buy and use my products it gives me a good feeling.

How do you describe your style and what’s your favourite medium to work with?

I used to love drawing very intricate motifs with lots of details in my art work, but now I have started experimenting with some new ways.  Doodling, loose florals and abstract motifs, sometimes I just use vague mark making!  My favourite medium is pencil and pen.

I love to work in just pen sometimes too, line work is very important as that is where all of my designs begin.  It’s good to experiment and mix up the way you work to keep your designing fresh and unique.  What inspires your work and where do you find your inspiration?

I was always inspired by Indian Mughal art and architecture and the paintings and carvings done in Indian temples.  I think inspiration can come from anywhere though, from kitchen utensils to the road side to an old rusty bicycle!  Don’t end up flipping through your favourite magazine to find inspiration, look out of your window, go for a walk!  You’ll definitely find what you are searching for (that rusty old bike!!!) haa…haa…

Varying where you find your inspiration is a great idea, if you are only looking through magazines and the internet then it can be difficult to get truly unique designs.  There is always the risk of being too close to another designers work.  Getting out and taking your own pictures is a brilliant way of having fresh images to work from!

You can also find Nandita on Twitter and Pinterest

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