What excites me about Sean Martorana’s patterns are how striking, powerful, and awe-inspiring they are. Impactful pattern designs such as these are possible because of their bold motifs and striking color palettes. Sean’s work is a beautiful exploration of shape and layout.
It’s always great to learn a bit of perspective from people’s backgrounds in our creative industry. Sean shared this with us: “I’ve been an artist my whole life. I had my first business when I was around 9 years old where I designed “baseball cards” for members of my swim team. Early on in my art/design career, without much help or direction, I studied Graphic Design. Almost immediately after school was done, I started my own design company where I fell in love with identity systems. This led to exciting work where I designed full brands for small to midsize companies like architects, fashion brands, and restaurants. Despite the excitement, there was still something missing—individuals!
“I decided to exit that and dove into fine art and full-time design. Since doing so, I’ve worked in fashion, designed jewelry, and produced many exhibitions and experiences. Large interactive projection installations, fine dining experiences pairing courses with paintings, and small exhibitions for solo and group shows with hundreds of artists, are a few of the experiences I have enjoyed in making impactful pattern designs. All this has been done while continuing to develop my work, profession, and direction.”
That is an exciting background. It led to the next logical question. Where have all these experiences taken you to this day? Sean had this to say: “All of this experience is now coming together with a focus on interior decor and the accessories within. Modular designs that can be customized in color, size, and application to fit any project. Wallpaper to knitted textiles, it’s all possible. By dissecting and taking elements from custom artwork and creating patterns or separate pieces with them allows a full conversation throughout a space.” It is easy to admire Sean’s keen eye and insight!
With so much passion for creating such impactful pattern designs, I wanted to learn a belief from Sean that we could all take with us. Sean shared: “I’m obsessed with the power that art and design can have on people and their everyday lives. I genuinely believe it can help people move throughout their lives in more positive directions.”
Here’s how Sean explains his design process and inspiration: “When developing my style in art and my language in design I wanted to create something that could transcend mediums or applications. That is what you see in the images I have shared, and it includes: hand-painted murals to embellished hats; handmade leather accessories to gold details on an Eames Shell Chair. Elements can be simple or detailed as well as collaged together to create artwork that speaks to other items. I’m super excited to be working with interior designers and collaborating with brands to take these designs to various mediums to create spaces where the elements inside can speak to each other.”
One last question for Sean had to do with future goals. This is what was shared: “One goal I have is to find representation to help build collections and products in collaboration with brand partnerships.” We can’t wait to see what happens, Sean!
You can see more of Sean’s amazing portfolio here.
