Flamingo Bay: behind the scenes

The Flamingo Bay range is the newest creation from Åsa, one of our designers. We caught up with her to ask her a few questions about flamingos, designing, and how her ideas come to life.

How did you get into design?

I held arts and crafts workshops with children aged 6-11 when I was a teaching assistant in Sweden. Staff and parents as well as students used to ask me why I wasn't making books, prints, and t-shirts with my drawings. I always liked to create and draw although had never considered it a profession, but I decided to pack up my life in Sweden, move to London and go to art school. I was 27 years old and felt slightly insane, I had waited to get a degree as I wanted to make sure I invested in something sensible and here I was off to art school! I graduated 7 years ago and freelanced for various companies before I found my home here at dotcomgiftshop.

Any designers who inspire you?

There are so many brilliant designers out there that I wouldn't know where to begin! I really like Marimekko and as a Scandinavian I have to confess that clean and simple Scandinavian designs always appealed to me. I am also a big fan of modern contemporary illustration and 50's and 60's design and street art.

How do you approach a new design?

Here at dotcomgiftshop we have a lot of artistic freedom to pitch new collections and designs. It’s really inspiring and the reason why we have a really eclectic collection of prints. All my designs start with loose pencil sketches on paper, then I scan my drawings and start re-working them digitally.

What is the best bit about being a designer?

That you actually have fun at work, and everyday is different with various challenges and projects. It's very exciting to develop new designs and collections, twist and turn products inside out and to make sure we make them as good as possible.

What inspired Flamingo Bay?

For this flamingo print I was inspired by old wallpaper designs. I wanted to make a flamingo print with a wallpaper feel, using illustrations done in a modern contemporary style.

Check out Åsa’s latest children’s designs - Monsters of the World and Elvis the Elephant