Future Editorials

It has been awhile since I published a new interview. I have been very busy on some personal projects and will continue to be so for a while longer. In the meantime, I will re-publish some of the most read articles, interviews, and occasionally will also publish some of my new artwork like the ones shown below.

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful summer!

studio•Alex and Surtex 2014 - A Quality Trade Show

Set-up day at Surtex 2014

We have finally caught up with some of our sleep deficit now that we're back from the show - we had a good one again this year. Actually, I think it was better than last year in that we received really good feedback on my newest art direction (watercolors and florals) from high-quality companies, although the show started off a bit slow.

The traffic at the show seemed to pick up toward the end of the three days, the opposite of last year. So you never know what's going to happen until you do it! We suspect the absolutely glorious weather in New York on Sunday had something to do with it ;)

It was most interesting to me how well our booth design worked out - as you know from earlier posts, artist Ming Platt exhibited with studio•Alex this year. She did wonderful and her collections were well received; it was an excellent debut! Our banners had to be well coordinated to show an overall integrated look - and it appears that we succeeded based on the many positive comments we received. While our styles are different, they are also very well coordinated - I guess great minds think alike!

Alex and Ming - Surtex 2014

Ming and I also collaborated on the booth decor and giveaways - the "Seed from Our Garden" packets were so fun to create and worked out perfectly to go along with our Natural Wonders and Garden theme, a colorful parade of possibilities. In a world of synthetic everything, I am trying to grow an eco-friendly business and encourage a more natural and healthy life for all!

Growing an Eco-Friendly Business Seed Packets - © 2014 Alessandra Colombo

"Seeds from Our Garden" Seed Packets - © 2014 Alessandra Colombo

Sunflower Seed Packets - 2014 Alessandra Colombo

This year I will keep my post short. The article I wrote last year pretty much still stands as written. This is our second show and we tried to improve our marketing and interaction with companies before and after the show, mostly to find out more about what they do and how they license.

2014 studio•Alex Surtex Booth

We also decided on a different type of desk this year, a low one rather than the bistro-height one we used last year. I liked it better. It gave more visibility and provided more visual space around it, plus it seemed more friendly to visitors in my opinion. We also used tablets in addition to our paper tear sheets. They both worked well.

Next year we are planning to just do tablets as the available software has improved and we can track the design preferences of a client as they look over the images. I will still print tear sheets for the newest collections only - I so love the feel of paper!

A Few Brief Insights about the 2014 Show

Although Surtex happens every year towards the end of May, many manufacturers and art directors who attend the show are especially looking for seasonal work, like Christmas. They look for the traditional Santas, snowmen and Christmas colors. Thus, it's good to have a strong presence with winter collections if you are interested in that category of products. It will increase your booth traffic, too.

Hand painted art, specifically watercolors, seems to be growing in demand judging from the comments I got from interested licensees and the art I saw on the floor. The NSS and the ICCF featured hand made and hand painted work as well.

Hedgehogs seem to be trendy - I have been painting them for years and they are finally taking on. They are very European and incredibly adorable, and many years ago I happened to personally save a couple of them from a silly dog during a visit to my family in Italy, so I am more connected to them than owls (I personally don't have any in my collections...there are just too many already flying around out there in the licensing world, so to speak ;)

I also have a popular hedgehog fabric on Spoonflower called Friendly Hedgehog and more to come soon! We actually met with one of the Spoonflower co-founders at the show, it was a great chat and I will post more about this topic later on.

Booth Detail with Welcome Sign and Hedgehog

There seemed to be an increased number of start-up businesses walking the show, mostly POD, who are entering the licensing arena...which also meant a fair amount of helping them understand how licensing works.

My final tip post-show is: don't forget to listen to the upcoming Ask Paul Brent recap of the show, he does a great job each year and has many more insights to share!

~ Summary ~

The follow-ups are going to be fun this time around. I enjoyed talking to manufacturers who are looking for specific hand painted art so it will be a pleasure to continue create new collections in that direction!

To celebrate our successful show adventure I created a special pillow for studio•Alex using a toile pattern from my new Alpine Woodland collection which drew a lot of interest at the show:

© 2014 Alessandra Colombo - studio•Alex Pillow

I will post Part II of the after-Surtex review soon which will feature our awesome, fun and talented booth neighbors and friends, plus the Artist Doodle Board which we had at the show that was graced by many talented artists who stopped by to reconnect. Meantime, a big hello from myself, Ming and Paul - viva studio•Alex!

On our way to set up for the show

On our way to the Javits Center...

Our "Selfie" - Paul, Ming and Alex taking a stroll along the High Line after getting set up!

Hello Surtex! ~ studio•Alex and Surtex 2014

Hello Surtex! 

The show is going to open its doors next week and I am not ready yet...though I often feel that the artist side of me is never ready for a show like this; I still have way too many ideas that I wish I could have more fully developed to show! The irony I find in presenting at a show like Surtex is how much of my time has to be diverted from creating art into the myriad other tasks necessary - from planning, designing, and preparing the booth to sending out ads and preparing marketing materials and setting up appointments and and and...

But since this is my second year exhibiting solo, I feel a bit less anxious as I know more than before and also know that regardless of how "underprepared" I might feel, that it'll still be great to be there and meet up with everyone!

studio•Alex will exhibit at Booth 337 this time around. It's my pleasure to introduce a new and very talented artist who will show with our studio, Ming Platt! We are both very excited to work together, it's going to be so fun and memorable!

This will be my last post until the show is over. I will publish as usual a post-Surtex article to summarize the experience and share as much as possible with all of you who have been following my chronicles from when I first started a few years ago.

I hope everyone who is exhibiting has a fantastic show. If you are a new artist come by our booth if you have a chance and make a doodle on our board. It will be permanently published here with your name and website, so be sure you sign in on our Guest Book and also sign your doodle! Please note that if we are with clients it's not a good time to chat, but you can come back later.

Surtex 2014 studio•Alex Postcard

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My inspiration for this collection ~ Wild roses from my garden:

Photo courtesy of Paul Stout

Photo courtesy of Paul Stout

See you at the show!

Nature as Inspiration ~ Artist Kiran Ravilious

It has been a very busy week in preparation for Surtex in May, which is really just around the corner. At this time of the year I wish I had already completed more work although I have some 10-15 new collections to show. So many ideas, so little time...!

One of my pleasures when attending a trade show is to promote my design work through magazine ads, emails, postcards, blog articles, press releases, and most recently YouTube videos! This year my theme is mostly focused on nature, with florals and Alpine woodland paintings on the main stage. My postcard image below illustrates one of my collections called Wild Roses.

© 2014 Alessandra Colombo

Nature is a source of inspiration for many artists who create their own unique style of work. Recently I came across an artist who is similarly inspired by all things natural and whose work itself is also inspiring to me.

Artist Kiran, her dog Daisy and her design work in the background

I invited designer and printmaker Kiran to tell us more about her design and print making process. Her style is defined as naïve and she creates lovely yet bold botanical prints.

Kiran is from Leicester, England, where she lives with her husband Ben, their two daughters, and their dog Daisy. She says, "I carve my designs on lino and handprint them directly onto fabrics. I started printing about 4 years ago and my work has since grown to include single hand printed cushions, bags etc. and in 2013, I produced a range of printed fabrics and wallpapers."

© Kiran

Kiran's creative work starts with a design being transformed from a sketch to being transferred to a block, to carving it, then inking it and printing it and finally, for her fabrics and wallpapers, transferring it to the computer and manipulating the image.

"My main source of inspiration is nature but strong bold graphics are also very inspiring to me along with interesting colour combinations."

She is currently working on a very exciting project that includes a new set of designs. "I'm not sure if they'll come to anything but it's fun trying something new and different to what I normally do."

© Kiran

Kiran uses Twitter and Facebook to interact with other creatives and to find out what is going on in the industry. She adds, "There are journalists and stylists on Twitter whom I've followed who have gone on to feature me on their blogs and so on. I also love using Pinterest for inspiration and it's also a great way for people to discover my work.

My work has been featured in a few magazines lately. I have never approached any magazine due to a lack of confidence more than anything else and thinking everything needs to be perfect before I even think of approaching them. I think perhaps they like the idea of 'discovering' someone new but I know sending them an email with an introduction and a few photos or a link to your website can be useful." So true!

© Kiran

An important tip she shares with us is to keep it at. "Try and work on something new as often as you can. Sometimes being an all-in-one person where you have to do almost everything can be very draining but it takes a few years before people start taking your work seriously. If you're good at what you do and if you believe in yourself, then so will others!"

"I hope to be able to continue doing what I'm doing and to expand my product range!" - Kiran concludes.

Find out more about Kiran:

www.kiranravilious.com

www.facebook.com/kiranraviliousprints

http://blog.kiranravilious.com

And be sure to check out her video of her printmaking process, where she also shows some of her designs...as well as introduces us to her dog Daisy!

Visit Kiran's studio and see her at work!

Surtex and the Art & Design Licensing Source Book 2014

The Surtex show is coming up in May and many artists have started to work on their booth designs and marketing campaigns. Every year much excitement builds up around this particular art licensing show where beautiful artwork is shown to busy clients; long lasting friendships are also made among the participants. As part of this evolution other businesses also thrive, like art magazines and similar publications since many artists like to reach out to potential clients through colorful and catchy ads and promotional pieces.

Published in advance of Surtex and mailed to a circulation of nearly 20,000 art licensees and retail contacts, the Art & Design Licensing Source Book features artists and agencies on a global scale. In addition to the printed copies - which are distributed at key events around the globe, the magazine also has a digital reach all year round. You can view the 2013 edition here.

They are working on the 2014 issue now, so if you're interested in making your name or brand known before the show, it's advisable to talk to them about being included in the next publication that will be distributed at Surtex this upcoming May.

This is my own promotional ad for Surtex 2014 that will appear in this magazine; it features the theme of one of my newest collections, called Natural Wonders:

Available from this collection as a free download are a high quality paper print and digital wallpaper starting April 1st through the end of the month. An archival print will also be available soon through Etsy for those who don't have a means to print their own. Go to www.ghostkitten.com/lovelyink and sign up for your free art today!