Anna Glover: BA(Hons) Textile Design graduate



How did you get to where you are?


The Circleline team saw my work at the New Designers exhibition and took my business card. I was asked to go for an interview a couple of weeks later (I think they saw about ten students). Two of us were asked to come in for a two-week trial and demonstrate that we could do very different work to what was in our portfolio. I started work a month after that and had an initial trial period of three months before I was fully taken on board.


Please describe what you do



I design printed textiles for the fashion industry.

The studio specialises in printed textile design and all our designs are digitally printed from photoshop files. Often we start with hand drawn/painted/printed imagery which is scanned in and manipulated on the computer. However variety is very important in the collection so we also draw on the wacom tablets and take photographs a lot as well.

As a studio we send the files away to our printers every few weeks and then when we receive them they are cut up and mounted, numbered and added to the collection.

What do you do in an average day?



I design between one and six prints a day. Each design belongs to a group of three, which are linked by the technique they are drawn in. It is important that every group we do looks very different so we are always trying to come up with new design methods. As far as the imagery goes we have a lot of creative freedom. However, it is very important that the overall studio collection has a good balance of florals, conversationals, geometrics, ornamentals, photographics etc.



What are the essential qualities needed for what you do?



• Freedom of creativity and imagination

• Confidence and speed at decision making

• Ability to work in a large number of styles

• Good eye for composition/colour/line/form/tone/texture

• Being able to give and take constructive criticism

• Good people skills for dealing with clients and sales appointments
• Good drawing and painting skills
• Good IT skills (Adobe Photoshop)

How creative is your role?



The role is highly creative and although other designers within the studio will give advice and guidance, our work is chiefly self directed.

It is important for us to try and work in front of current trends. A lot of studios copycat ideas but as a rule we try and create what might come next. However, saying all this, it is still important to be aware of what is going on currently in order to get a good understanding of what people are after.

We do the print forecast section in the View magazine twice a year. This is a highly creative project in which we get to come up with the print themes, experiment with new techniques, create the props and design the sets for the photographs. This year I project managed the Summer 2012/13 trend prediction which is in the current View magazine. It is the only time in the year the whole studio collaborates together.

Who do you work with?



The company is very small. I work alongside six other designers (one of which is our boss) and two sales people who take the collection to appointments around the world.


We also work directly with clients. We sell to a really wide audience from high end to high street all around the world. Our biggest clients are the Italian silk manufacturers and often we don't know who they sell the designs on to. I guess the most exciting I've seen so far was a Circleline print on the Armani catwalk. We also sell to companies such as Anthropologie, Warehouse, Ted Baker and M&S (most of the rest I had never heard of).

What is the most rewarding thing about what you do?



The freedom of creativity


.

And the most challenging?



Continuously coming up with new idea after new idea. There is no other task so this can sometimes be really difficult when you are having an off day.




What did you take from your degree?



So much it's hard to write it all down...... Obviously lots of practical production and creative skills but the subtler things which are really relevant now are: patience, learning to make decisions with confidence, ability to work alongside other people and to give and take advice, and how to deal with creative black holes (obviously I still do get them). 

There is so much more, I hope this is enough for starters though....




Did you do a placement?



I did a placement at Eley Kishimoto during the summer before 3rd year. This had a huge impact on the direction I took in my final year and was what made me fall in love with screen printing. After university I also worked for three weeks at Liberty Art Fabrics. I learnt a huge amount there even though my role was very basic.




What's the best piece of advice you've been given?



It is easier to tone your work down to make it more commercial than to make something really run of the mill exciting. (Simon Clarke)




What advice would you give to current students?



Exactly what Simon said to me above. People are looking for originality and confidence in your work. University is the perfect opportunity to create a body of work that shows off what you've got. Create something that will stand out a mile rather than trying to blend in.