Designer Feature: Laura Escalante

Laura Escalante is a Colombian designer graduated from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá) with a degree in product and graphic design. Since about a year ago, she has focused her career in Surface Pattern Design and has complemented her studies with some fabulous online courses, such as The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, The Ultimate Guide to Repeats and other Textile Design Essentials and Reign Repeats: Create Perfect Repeats in Adobe Illustrator.

Now a days, Laura spends her days drawing and designing patterns inspired by the stunning flora and fauna of her country. She currently finds herself beginning her own surface pattern design business, focusing her work in wallpaper design, and has licensing deals with Kekacase and Kess InHouse. In addition, she was shortlisted as one of the Top 5 Finalists of the Ideal Home Show Wallpaper design contest of 2013 held in company of Wallpapered.com and Laurence Llewellyn Bowen, who chose her design to be in the top 5. 

A huge congratulations on your successes already and I'm sure there will be many more in the future, so why did you wanted to be a designer and what do you like about patterns?

I remember as a child being surrounded by markers, crayons, colors and paints all over my room, and since then I have had a fascination for hand drawing and colored pencil illustrations and a passion for design. I like the way patterns bring color and life to places, outfits and a wide variety of products, and I believe even the simplest patterns manage to do this. With this in mind, I have loved colorful patterns, especially patterns in stationery, swimwear fabrics, wallpapers, tableware and kitchen textiles. I think I have always been particularly obsessed with colorful pattern scarfs and feel they are a great way to decorate my outfit and bring life and happiness to my everyday life.

How would you describe your style and what is your favorite medium to work in?

I would describe my style to be based on delightfully detailed and delicate hand drawn motifs inspired by nature, which are layered and interwoven with simple graphic elements in gentle and soft calming colors. The color palettes I frequently use are soft pastel colors and bright bold colors; but definitely, pink in a wide variety of tints and shades, is a must on my designs.

I don’t have a favorite medium to work in, but I certainly include in hmy designs colored pencils, fine liner pens, Photoshop and Illustrator.

Laura's motifs are beautifully delicate which you can see below but lastly what inspires you and where do you find your inspiration?

I am inspired and amazed by a lot of things in my everyday life, such as packaging designs, stationery, giftwraps, colorful scarves prints, wallpapers, swimwear fabrics, tableware and kitchen textiles. But most importantly, the beautiful flora and fauna of my country inspire my work.

I am not a huge follower of trends, but eventually my work is influenced and inspired by retailer showcases, products people are using, design blogs, designers’ webpages and networks like Pinterest. Though I believe trends are important, I prefer staying true to my style and instinct.