Hello dear friends,
My new artist/designer is Julia Grifol, from Valencia, Spain... She works as a freelance designer and sell patterns to companies in the home and fashion industries.
In her own words,''... I’ve developed children’s fashion collections, textile prints, and graphic projects in the Fashion and Stationery fields, specifically for the children’s market for both Spanish and international brands...'' !!!
Please read more about her in this lovely interview :
How would you describe yourself ?
Well as a woman, I think I am active, very emotional, affectionate, sociable, expressive, nothing to do with a quiet and introverted one. The topic of a Spanish woman, or Mediterranean woman as a passionate one, it suits me! I am a woman with strong character too, I think.
What do you like to do when you are not designing ?
oh, in my free time I like watching fashion magazines, goggling looking for trends, so in some way this is related to work too. I love to be with my family, and my twins who are 12 now. I love watching independent films also and going for walks on the beach in winter and in summer, as we have a nice weather here! Anyway, designing and promoting my work is stealing all my free time nowadays, as it is an addiction for me!
Describe your style?
My style is a little naïve, childish, detailed, and highlighted by the use of cheerful and bright colors. I love outline my icons in black or using coloured strokes. All my patterns are vectors.
What's your favorite color?
In my designs I love using magenta , and I love black on fashion. I wore lot of black clothes when I was younger and now I am feeling like wearing more coloured ones!
Tell us about your first collection and your first show? After finishing my fashion design studies, my project of designing a fun children fashion collection was selected and I received a grant for the Impiva, a Supportive design organization which promoted Spanish young designers. So, this collection was shown in my own stand at the FIMi, international children fashion fair in summer 1990. It was a great time sharing experiences with other selected designers, and to show my designs as clothes.
When did you get the idea that 'designing' was the thing you love?
Since I was a girl at school I felt the necessity of drawing every day. My teachers gave me lots of reprimands as my text books were plenty of fashion sketches. My best marks were always at drawing! I usually played to believe I was a fashion designer who works in New York. I had a strong vocation!
Anything you want to share to your readers about setting up his/her own business?
It is very important to study hard, to have artistic and computer skills but for being a freelance designer is also very important to work your mind, your thoughts. Feeling confident and proud of your work will make you know to sell it best and not to lose opportunities. Thanks to God, I am much confident now than 15 years ago, as I had lots of doubts! Designing can be very stressful when you work for customers or brands as they think you can design everything. It is very important to be a determined person, and I am trying to be like that now!
Who is your dream client?
I designed school rucks collections for years, and I love children product. I would love to license my patterns for a nice and quality fashion children company now. I hope this dreams comes true soon.
Tell us a bit about your biggest challenge in your career, and the way you handled it?
I think my best challenge has been to work as a freelance for about 25 years, designing for several brands adapting to the style required, not having worked in anything else. I only worked for nearly two years as an inside designer for a brand designing patterns for belts and suspenders.
Your greatest inspiration is .... ?
It comes from everywhere, art, nature, travels, fashion, Spanish light, and way of life (we love going out ) inspires me a lot. I can´t stand cold and rainy days, they don´t inspires me at all!
How would you describe your work place..?
It is a small room with Ikea office furniture, and it is a mess. But I feel very comfortable and happy in my own space, having a big table for hand painting and a desk for my computer on the other side! It is great I can see trees and a shiny and blue sky from my big studio window.
Where can people contact you?
I am an active Facebook user, https://www.facebook.com/JuliaGrifolDesigns?ref=hl and I am a blogger also!! You can see my works here too : http://www.juliagrifoldesigns.com
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Thank Julia... Love your bright and beautiful patterns so much...
