Tea Towel Kickstarter; What's it all about?

I'm glad you asked.

I've been getting crazy into surface pattern design. Like, I am addicted to it. But me being me, it's not enough to create these designs; I want to see them on things, I want them to be used, to come to life. 

I've been creating a tonne of surface pattern designs while on maternity leave this year, some featuring animals, some not, but all are bright and bold and full of colour.

The patterns for the tea towels came together after a massive binge of Stranger Things and Glow, and then falling into a google hole of what were those crazy 90s patterns even called? Memphis Milano, as it turns out. The Memphis group were an architecture and design company in the 80s that designed post modernist homewares and furniture. They also designed textiles, and were known for being bright, brash and taking influence from Art Deco to Pop Art. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, this stuff was everywhere, particularly on TV. I didn't realise how ingrained my eye for this style of pattern was until I started researching it. And it didn't take long before what started as a casual bit of research led to doodles on my drawing app. Which led to pattern creating on Photoshop.

I LOVED these patterns. I shouted about them all over Instagram and Twitter. I put them on greeting cards and wrapping paper (which you all seem to love as much as I do!) but I wanted even more, I thought these designs were so great I didn't want to limit myself. 

I was feeling pretty frustrated about what to do with this ambition, not to mention completely broke after buying new stock, when a couple of good mates suggested these would look great on tea towels. I wrote this off as way too granny, but then a few more people suggested it and it really got me thinking; these would make AMAZING tea towels. They're bright, different, covered in mad patterns that should be great at disguising stains. Why not add some colour and ridiculousness to even the most unloved corner of your kitchen?!

So, I took my idea to the Indie Roller Facebook group and with their encouragement and advice, I set up a Kickstarter campaign; my first EVER.

It's scary and exciting, and I'm really proud of what I've done. It's all happened a bit faster than I'd have liked; a lot of the advice for crowdfunding is that you should hype up your idea or product months before you actually launch, and I've maybe managed a month? But I really wanted to get things going so that people could get these in time for Christmas, and I just thought fuck it, I have to get a move on. I was worried it would take me ages to write the campaign pitch and everything, but honestly, this project and this product is so me that it just all came together very very quickly!

I hope you'll have a look at the campaign, and maybe even support it if it's your kind of thing. You can take a look here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/468198286/774981753?ref=8txs07&token=7f36ce4e