Today I'm happy to feature Kristy Kate, winner of the final week of the Surface Pattern Design Community challenge. For week 9, Kristy took the arrow concept and thought up a really creative way to use the shape in fun, playful pattern.

Read below to learn about Kristy's journey and how she is embracing play in her work.

Hi Kristy! Please tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into surface pattern design.

Hello! I'm Kristy Kate, a Melbourne-based illustrator. I create cute and playful designs that connect kids and adults with the joy of childhood. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember.

I am mostly self-taught, though I did study at Swinburne University and graduated with a Bachelor of Multimedia Design back in 2008. I have created designs and illustrations for games, apps, gift products, print and children's animation (TV).

Surface design entered my life while I was busy pursuing another dream. The dream was to work as a concept artist at a top feature animation studio. I devoted myself to making this dream a reality, but could never quite get it to work. I became overly hard on myself and began to experience what I would describe as performance anxiety. It clearly wasn't the best headspace to be in while pursuing my dream job.

That's when, in my spare time, I started playing around with surface design. I started drawing cute animal designs and selling them on items at local pop-culture conventions. I had the best time sharing my work and interacting with customers and my fellow artists. After awhile I decided to upload these designs onto POD websites and saw some success, including a product feature on Redbubble.

It wasn't until I spent some time traveling and living overseas as a digital nomad, that I started to reassess what I wanted in life. Pursuing the dream job was breaking my heart, while in surface design my heart danced with joy.I wrestled with what path to take – it was hard to let go of a dream I had identified with for so long – but it was clear where my skills, ideas and creative happiness would flourish.

In mid-2017 I made the decision to pursue surface design professionally. It's amazing to see how much my world has changed since that day!I couldn't be happier or more at peace. My creativity is flowing again. My work feels natural. I'm even finding joy in the challenges. I found my home and I'm so excited to be here. ♥

How would you describe your style? What makes your work unique?

Overall, I would describe my style as a celebration of play. My designs primarily feature cute animals and motifs inspired by childhood. love to explore this style by playing with simple, fun shapes and happy colour palettes in Adobe Illustrator.

What makes my work unique is that it's a reflection of my own lived experiences and personality. I care deeply about honoring that spark, the little inner child that lives in all of us. I aim to imbue my work with the hope, wonder and joy of being a child, a feeling we often set aside as adults.

I take great joy in crafting playful patterns that are bright, optimistic and delight the viewer – and perhaps hide a few surprises to discover along the way!

How did you approach the arrows design challenge?

When approaching the challenge I immediately wanted to avoid going down the obvious route of drawing the arrow symbol, or bows & arrows. So, I started to brainstorm what other arrow-like shapes I've seen out in the world. This led me to memories of watching flocks of birds in the sky flying in a v (arrow) formation.

After some visual research, I was drawn to the formations of Canadian geese migrating from their winter homes to find warmer weather. With the weather growing increasingly cold here in Melbourne, I thought it'd be a great seasonal concept to explore!

In designing the pattern, I started off with a few quick sketches in Photoshop of geese flying and transferred them to Illustrator for vectoring. The geese took a few tries to get right. I initially wanted the flock to have their wings in alternating positions, but this complicated the design. I finally settled on each flock having their wings in one position, which helped to simplify the design. It also has a lovely connection with the imagery of ceramic ducks hanging in family homes.

From there I repeated the arrow motif through the trees and mountains, and started exploring colour options. The pale pink colour palette was selected to represent snowy weather (minus the chill) and tie the design together as a cute pattern for children.

What are your goals for the future?

Being very much in the early stages of my surface design career, I am eager to build a portfolio and learn as much as possible. I'm actively exploring what avenues will best fit my vision of a long-term, successful career in design, be it, print-on-demand, selling my own products, licensing, working with an agent, or a combination of the above.

Ultimately, my goal is to create designs that connect us with the joy of our childhood. The opportunity to create something that not just inspires play and happiness, but becomes a cherished part of someone's own life story, is a huge inspiration and calling to my creative spirit.

There's so much to consider and develop at this stage, it can get a bit overwhelming, but I'm just so excited to dive right in and do whatever it takes to get there!

What would you like your colleagues and the design world to know about you and your work?

Celebrate Play.

It's been a year now since I battled performance anxiety on a daily basis. For anyone who has experienced it, or is going through it right now, you know how crippling it can be. It suppresses your creativity, your voice and makes you work from a place of insecurity and self-doubt.

My way out was through self-compassion and learning to celebrate play again.

Play can take many forms; it's different for each of us. The intent though, is the same – to play, to work in a carefree manner, to experiment, to imagine, to dream, to invent, to create. All of this should and can come from a place of kindness and freedom within ourselves. It's tapping into the joyful energy of the inner child that's in all of us and giving something a go, regardless of our self-doubts and insecurities.

When I started to play, I noticed a big shift. I opened myself up to the world, and the world responded in kind. I am so humbled and in awe of the many wonderful people I have met and all the experiences and opportunities that have come my way by simply learning to play again.

My personal journey is a big motivator behind my work. I love creating designs that uplift and bring joy to others, both young and old. I truly believe we all deserve to live the best life we dream for ourselves, and hope that my work can inspire the playfulness that will make this happen. The world is open and waiting for all of us. :)

I'm excited to meet and work with more people who believe this too – if you're reading this now, I'd love to hear from you!

Can you tell us a few fun facts about you?

From a young age I knew I wanted to pursue a career in art. I knew it from the moment I started obsessively drawing and creating my own Pokémon.
I owe much of my creative style and development to my parents. My Dad inspired a sense of adventure and discovery by introducing me to computers and taking our family on travels into the great outdoors. My Mum inspired a love of celebration, gift-giving and kindness through the beautifully themed parties and family gatherings she would host, paying special attention to every detail and everyone's needs. To me, they are Celebration and Play combined and that clearly informs my design (and life) approach today. (Thank you, Mum & Dad! ♥)
Along with design, I'm also a proud self-help, productivity and organization junkie. I love calendars, to-do lists, schedules, flow-charts, systems, journals, sweeping, decluttering... all of it! It's my Zen. Add my love of animation, animals, games and cute designs from Japan, I'm basically a big (but very responsible) kid. ;)

Want to see more of Kristy's work? You can find her: