If you’ve ever tried to find the right surface pattern or textile designer, you know the feeling.
You scroll for hours. You save a hundred portfolios. You find someone whose work is objectively good, and still feel unsure.
That’s because a great collaboration isn’t just about talent. It’s about the match.
The best creative partnerships happen when a designer’s point of view clicks with your product, your customer, your timelines, and your team’s way of working. When it’s right, the work looks effortless (even though it never is). When it’s wrong, you get endless revisions, awkward handoffs, and art that never quite lands.
This is a guide for buyers, brands, and agents who want to source design with more confidence and a little more ease.
What you’re really hiring (or licensing)
A designer isn’t a vending machine for pretty patterns. You’re choosing a creative partner who will help you translate a business goal into visual language.
That translation requires taste, yes. But it also requires the ability to design for a specific customer, not just for other designers. A point of view that’s consistent and flexible. Professionalism: communication, deadlines, file prep, follow-through. An understanding of how artwork actually behaves in the real world: scale, color, substrate, print method.
When you find someone who brings all of that? You don’t just get artwork. You get momentum.
Six questions to ask before you commit
Whether you’re hiring for custom work, building a freelance bench, or licensing a collection—these are the questions that surface the real fit.
What are we making, and who is it for?
This is where most mismatches start. A pattern that’s perfect for a premium bedding line may fall flat on a value-driven kids’ capsule. A quilting customer reads detail differently than an athleisure customer.
Your designer should be able to talk about the end customer, not just the artwork. Ask them: Who’s the customer, what’s the price point, and where will this live?
What’s the role of the artwork?
Is the pattern the hero? A supporting player? A texture? A coordinate?
Strong designers can work across a system—hero prints, secondaries, coordinates, solids, placements—so your assortment feels intentional. Know what you need before you brief.
Does their style have both points of view and range?
You’re looking for two things at once: a clear signature (so the work feels cohesive) and enough flexibility to adapt to your category and brand style.
If everything in a portfolio looks like a different person made it, you may struggle with consistency. If everything looks identical, you may struggle with variety. Ask which projects feel like their “home base”—and which show their range.
Can they design for production?
This is the unglamorous part that makes everything else possible.
Production-ready means they understand scale, repeat construction, color limitations, file formats, and how artwork translates across substrates. Ask about file delivery, color handling (Pantone, CMYK, limited palettes), and whether they’ve designed for your specific print method before.
How do they collaborate?
Some designers thrive with lots of feedback and iteration. Others do best with a clear brief and room to run. Neither is wrong, but you want alignment. Ask what their process looks like from brief to final files, and how they prefer to receive feedback.
What does success look like for both of you?
This is where you avoid the quiet disappointments.
Define success in practical terms: timeline, number of concepts, revision rounds, exclusivity, usage rights, and what happens if priorities shift. Ask what would make this project feel like a win for them and what they need from you to get there.
Where to find fresh designs (without starting from scratch)
The hardest part of connecting with designers isn’t knowing what style you are looking for; it’s finding the right people to design in that style.
That’s why we built the Pattern Observer Directory: a curated collection of up-and-coming surface pattern and textile designers you can browse when you need fresh talent. Explore portfolios, get a feel for each designer’s point of view, and reach out directly.
A few designers to check out
To make this concrete, here are a few designers I’d point you toward. Each brings a distinct voice and the kind of professional polish that makes collaborations smoother.
Shamsha Hirani: Twenty years in apparel and graphic design—including work for Augusta National’s Masters private label—gives her a commercial sensibility that’s hard to teach. Vibrant repeats and placements, especially strong in kids and apparel. Currently open to licensing across home, textiles, packaging, and stationery.
Monica Kapur / Art By Monica Kapur: Painterly digital patterns with the warmth of watercolor and gouache—but built for production. Her layered PSD files make color customization effortless, which buyers love. Strong across wallpaper, home decor, textiles, and tableware.
Megan Cabrera / Flourish Nest Studio: Timeless, heartfelt work rooted in nature and everyday Midwest life. Her architectural background gives her designs a structural clarity that translates beautifully across home, stationery, and textiles—versatile without losing warmth.
Cynthia Jacquette: Whimsical illustration with a traveler’s eye—map designs and travel themes are a specialty. She blends traditional media (gouache, watercolor, pencil) with digital tools for work that feels hand-touched but production-ready. Especially well-suited for greeting cards, stationery, and gift.
Leili / Leila Mohammadi: Persian heritage meets contemporary pattern design—her “Floriental” collection fuses traditional Eastern motifs with fresh, vibrant florals. Rich color, distinctive point of view, and a warmth that feels both rooted and modern. A standout choice for brands wanting something beyond the expected.
The real secret: clarity makes the match
Here’s what I’ve seen again and again: the best sourcing outcomes come from clarity.
When you can articulate your customer, your category, your constraints, and your creative direction, you don’t just find “a designer.” You find your designer.
And when that match clicks, everything gets easier. The brief gets sharper. The concepts get stronger. The final artwork feels inevitable.
If you’re sourcing right now or building a list of designers to work with in the year ahead, browse the Directory here.
And if you’d like a few pointed recommendations, just tell me what category you’re sourcing and what aesthetic you’re after. I’m happy to help.
