Module 1 Showcase – Part 5

To round up a fabulous week of great design & wonderful patterns we have the last of our Module 1 students from the e-course! We couldn’t be more proud of all they have achieved in 5 weeks & we wish everyone luck! To those joining us for Module 2: Creating Your Professional Identity, see you soon!


Shapes & lines in ‘Urban Aztec’ by Ashmi Shah
The most powerful element of the course has been that it has inspired me to be more creative and experimental through designing, and my love for hand-drawing has increased, which has helped me develop as a designer. Through the course, I have also had more insight into designing co-ordinating pieces and preparing presentation sheets which has been extremely helpful in preparing my portfolio.

I am excited and looking forward to starting the next module in August 🙂

Bold & bright ‘Red Safety Pins’ by Annelies Brown

This course has taken me right back to basics and I am looking again at everything with a designer’s eye. It has given me back my confidence and shown me a new direction. Thank you Rachael and Beth for this opportunity.

Graphic ‘Lemon Tree’ by Catherine Worsley

This course has been life-changing, it has taught me that inspiration can literally be found anywhere! The loosening up exercises were vital for me and have really helped me develop my style, also the community aspect has been amazing and has really helped my confidence.


Cute ‘Garden Mischief’ by Catherine Young

The Course has taught me to explore outside the box but to follow what you love as an individual.  It has been a fabulously inspirational course with great photoshop tricks and has opened my eyes to the potential for my illustrations.  I look forward to Module 2.

Floral tiles in ‘Foxgloves’ by Emma Burnett

Rachael Taylor’s surface pattern design course has been truly fabulous.  The course is well designed, thorough and efficient with a spirit of warm generosity.  It has pushed my capabilities and introduced me to the inside world of other designers and the whole business of selling art.


Rich ‘Regal Damask’ by Gillian Lees
Module 1 of the ABSPD course has given me the confidence to push my designs and experiment with different elements from my hand drawing and mark making. It has also been good connecting with and receiving advice from fellow designers through the module’s facebook group.



Character illustration in ‘Happy Cat, Sleepy Cat’ by Gina Maldonado

I think one of the most important things in the course was the way in wich each topic was explained in an easy and friendly way. Because of this, the amount of information wasn’t overwhelming and it made sense. I liked the weekly assignments which pushed me to apply what I learnt to my projects. The support of the community was also a very special element of the course because of all the encouragement and feedback that we got.

Layered ‘Blooming’ by Karen Claverie

I have enjoyed learning to look at the everything around me and the possibility of turning it into a design and getting my creative juices going. I have also enjoyed the challenge of learning Photoshop and transforming my designs.

‘Red Riding Storybook’ by Kate Mason

Rachael & Beths course has been an incredible experience & given me so many more technical tools & inspiration than I ever expected. I’m giddy with excitement about the possibilities of launching my own designs using a combination of my mixed media artwork along with my digital scribbles & new found love for making patterns.


Bold layers in ‘Simple Splash’ by Lindsay Buck

This design really embodies how I progressed as a designer during Module 1. Every challenge was so inspiring but those that focused on developing your own style were invaluable. They empowered me to combine influences, technical knowledge, ideas on colour to a more professional level. I believe that it has enabled me to identify a strong starting point, with room to grow, improve and learn, as I progress onto Module 2 and 3.


Hand-drawn ‘Scribble Flower’ by Nina Khaled

I have been on an amazing journey on this course, i have learnt so much and have really enjoyed all the practical tasks. i have learnt to loosen up and let the designs flow. Finding my style was a breakthrough and having the support of fellow students on the facebook group has been amazing.


Bright ‘Rhino with Flowers’ by Ruth Waterhouse

I have really enjoyed the course. You have shown me a new way to express my creativity.  The encouragement to use hand drawn elements in my designs has given me confidence to  experiment when making patterns. The exercises have led me into aspects of Adobe Illustrator I had not used before. I am looking forward to the next module.


‘Dogrose’ by Tatyana Severianova

This course has given me a lot friends, a great design community, it changed my overview of design and brought me back to my hands. Now I am happy to hand create my designs. Thank you very much!!!
If you are interested in ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course)’ we are thrilled to announce we are running a new series (starting on August 19th 2013). Register here. Also, don’t miss out on our next run of Module 2 ‘Creating Your Professional identity’ which is running 19th August 2013! The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design featuring Rachael Taylor Module 1: Designing your way Module 2: Creating your professional identity Module 3: Monetising your designs [email protected] … brought to you by Rachael Taylor and Beth Nicholls Rachael on Twitter: @rachtdesign Beth on Twitter: @DoWhatYouLoveXx