Behind the scenes - Hand Drawn Designs

I think one of the reasons why my love of stationery has developed over time is the association I have with it for relaxation, calm and mindfulness. Ever since I was a child, I loved to colour; crayons, felt tips, paints, whatever I could get my hands on. I mastered the art of doodling whilst listening to University lectures. My revision notes always came with a margin full of flowers, patterns and cats. As an adult I tried my hand at hand lettering classes, taking pride in your handwriting is a classic primary school teacher trait, right? Even now, I need to write/doodle whenever I take a course or have to listen in a meeting. It is definitely my favourite way to unwind and attempt to clear the many many voices in my head.

My husband bought me an apple pencil for my birthday a couple of years ago and the joy at playing with digital doodles and colouring was immense. I am definitely no artist but the ability to erase minor issues over and over again til they were right, layer up the different elements, change colours and pen styles in an instant opened up a new world. I spent many hours in front of the tv playing around with procreate, or colouring a page from a digital mindfulness book. Although now it seems to be a constant battle with the kids on who finds the iPad first (usually not charged!).

My style is definitely bold colours and black outlines. I tend to sketch my ideas in pencil first, either in procreate or I've been playing a bit with Adobe Fresco recently. Playing with colours to see which works best. It's then easy to transfer into illustrator or inDesign to include into the planner or notepad that I'm designing. It always feels special to print something that includes one of my hand drawn images and feels like I'm including a bit of my personality into each product.

If you’ve ever wanted to try drawing your own stationery designs, have a play!  Start with simple doodles, experiment with digital tools, and most importantly—have fun with the process.

Want to see my latest illustrated stationery designs? Check out my shop and let me know which ones are your favourite!