Textile Designer: Amanda Prouten

In our final alumni feature leading up to our Mastering Your Market e-course (starting Monday the 5th!) we are delighted to share two of the three collections Amanda Prouten created during the 6-week course.

Gardens of delight collection2_300 First off is Amanda’s “Garden of Delights” collection which was geared toward the quilting market.

“I had in mind a child’s quilt or a beautiful outfit for a nature-loving little girl. I loved bumblebees as a child and was the kooky kid in the hood with a hospital for exhausted and damaged bumblebees in her parents’ garage! I started my bee conservation work at about 6 years old! This design is a nod to my own bumblebee and minibug obsession. I like children’s textiles to be quite narrative and absorbing. I got some really constructive professional feedback regarding the scale, shape and pattern rhythm of quilting themes and have incorporated it into the revamped and extended collection seen above.”

Jungleismcollection300dpiAmanda’s “Jungleism” collection was created with the home textiles market in mind.

“I was doing this MYM project with one eye on The Sellable Sketch and rather liked the idea of looking at our design heroes work and what we liked about them. I love Josef Frank’s huge, bold, almost fantasy plant prints and set to work doodling weird leaves and flowers in my sketchbook. I was aiming this collection at a professional couple with an uber-cool modern house with lots of mid-century modern accents. This is the largest Photoshop file I’ve ever worked with and working on it digitally was horrendously slow. When I finished it, it still needed a bit more oomph, and I drew inspiration from a flock of parakeets making a racket outside in my garden. The expert from the home decor market very kindly offered professional feedback, which I have taken onboard for this reworked print collection.”

“MYM really made me focus on what the client and company would want and also introduced me to Stylesight and the concept of trend forecasting resources. And what an amazing opportunity to have working design professionals actually give a critique of the work! It was such an invaluable resource for my portfolio.”

Be sure to stop by Amanda’s website to view more of her beautiful work!

Mastering Your Market begins Monday, May 5th, and is available in three different versions: DIY, Pro, and Master. You can read all about the differences between the versions and register for your spot here. We look forward to working with you and helping you thrive in the textile design market!

At Pattern Observer we strive to help you grow your textile design business through our informative articles, interviews, tutorials, workshops and our private design community, The Textile Design Lab.

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