How to Hire a Surface Pattern Designer Who Elevates Your Brand.
Distinctive artistic style elevates your products and creates REAL connection to your brand.
Here are 5 tips to find the right artist to make your brand SHINE!
Customers today are looking for products that feel real, thoughtful and unique. In an AI saturated world of design, artists can help brands build trust, connection and a distinctive product line. Remember- customers a buying how a product makes them feel.
But not all designers work the same way. Choosing the right surface pattern designer is important for your brand’s success! Here are some tips to find the right fit for your brand:
Stalk. You heard me right.
You need to know if they are the right fit for your brand and the best way to do that is to check out their Insta, Facey, Website... all the things!
Do you enjoy looking at their feed? Do you get excited to see the next thing they post? Are you drooling over their website? These are all GREAT signs! Checking out their socials is also a great way to see their process work. This is important so that you can get an idea of their process and most importantly- know if their work is original, created from scratch and authentic. If their work seems to be AI generated and generic, keep moving!
The right fit. Now you might like what you see, but does it fit with your brand? I like cats. I tolerate cats. Would I choose to work with an artist who only paints cats? No. Because although I might love their designs, I know they wouldn’t fit with my brand. It won’t just be your styles that align, but a lot of your values will as well. The artist needs to have a clear style, and that style needs to resonate with you and match your brand.
Is this person going to be your cheerleader? When the art makes its way out into the world on your beautiful products, will the artist be your biggest fan or sit on the sidelines? You want to work with an artist who gets as excited about your brand as you do! A great artist will be so proud of what they work on for you that they will also be creating content for you and helping you out with the marketing by sharing their process work and advertising the story behind the product.
Visualise. So you love their pattern designs. You love their vibe. You love that they will handle your dreams with care. Can you visualise their art on their products? Some artists may even be able to provide you with a ‘mock up’ to help you better visualise how the end product will look. A skilled designer can adapt patterns for a variety of products to suit your brand. This can allow you to expand your product line while keeping a cohesive brand aesthetic.
Ask! If you have a question, just ask. Don’t just assume that a pattern they have for sale can’t be changed to the colour palette you prefer. Having a chat will help you to really get a feel for their style, values, process, if they are approachable and if you will work well together to create something AMAZING! It’s also important to be clear on the licensing terms, pricing etc. If a design is insanely cheap you can be sure that the beautiful, authentic work that makes a design unique hasn’t happened. An original pattern designed from scratch takes a lot of time and care to produce.
Looking for artist-designed patterns for your products? I create original surface pattern designs for product-based businesses, including ready-to-license desigs in my pattern library as well as custom design collaborations.
Explore the pattern library or join my mailing list to hear about new collections!
CLIENT REVIEW