Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, looked amazing in her Mimi Hammill X Colour Elements "EARTH" element silk scarf on not one, but TWO public engagements last week. The first on her visit to Dublin, and secondly in the Scottish parliament. I'm so delighted that a lady who must have no shortage of wardrobe options chose to wear my design. Twice! Doesn't she looks fab?
(Photos: Twitter & BBC News)
Product photograph by Daniel McAvoy
We've been delighted to license two fabric collections with Print & Press London - a brand new digital printing house based in Greenwich.
The Mimi Hammill FALL FLORALS and MODERNISTS collections are available to purchase by the metre on a selection of fabrics to suit all your craft, dressmaking and upholstery needs. It's been so rewarding to see the wonderful creations that customers have made.
This month I've been delighted to work on a fantastic collaborative project. COLOUR ELEMENTS commissioned four scarf designs in the Mimi Hammill signature print in four key colour palettes. Launched at Stylist Live 2016, these scarves are available to order from Colour Elements. They are 64cm squares of lustrous silk satin and are entirely manufactured in Scotland.
COLOUR ELEMENTS is an Edinburgh-based colour styling service aiming to help people wear more and waste less. Pioneers of digital personal colour, they empower customers to know their colours, shop quickly and shop successfully. CE strives to transform your look, your sense-of-self and your shopping habits. How does it work? You tag @colourelementsglobal in a selfie on Instagram, or email a selfie to colourid@colourelements.com, and they will reveal your element. Then download their free app and unlock the colours tailored to you. You can also sign up to receive weekly Instant Outfit emails with outfits in your element and links to all retailers.
We were delighted to be featured in The National's fashion pages last month. A crisply designed double page spread displayed Susan Castillo's magical photography beautifully. Many thanks to Shannon Earaker for putting together such a lovely piece. You can read the article in full HERE.
We're delighted that LUSTRE scarves are now stocked in Curated Stories, Aberdeen.
We're delighted that LUSTRE scarves are now stocked in the Dovecot Shop in Edinburgh.
As I put the finishing touches to my LUSTRE collection, it's been tonnes of fun to do some dream shopping based around the collection. Here's my perfect capsule wardrobe!
Clockwise from top left: Chinti & Parker, ARTPOP by Mimi Hammill, Iolla, Paulin Watches
Clockwise from top left: TOAST, Oliver Bonas, FOLD by Mimi Hammill, Craie Boutique
Clockwise from top left: JCrew, GLITCH by Mimi Hammill, Fjallraven, Saltwater Sandals
Clockwise from top left: GRID by Mimi Hammill, Boden, Gilly Langton, Boden
Clockwise from top left: ASOS, KEY by Mimi Hammill, By Marieke Jacobs, Rose Rankin
I'm delighted to be taking part in the middle weekend of The Barbican Christmas Market in The City of London; December 11-13th 2015.
The Barbican describes it as follows: "For the third year running, the Barbican will welcome an eclectic mix of design-led traders and makers in to our foyer spaces for three weekends of festive trading. Offering an alternative to the high street, and a more refined assortment than traditional Christmas Markets, we are looking for small scale designers, quirky manufacturers and artisans who specialise in design-led gifts to bring something exciting and unique to our market."
I'd love to meet you there, where I'll be selling silk scarves, pocket squares, handkerchiefs, and stationery from my Modernist collection. Happy Christmas!
Rachael Taylor and her Make it in Design colleagues set a global pattern challenge this Summer; to (digitally) patternbomb landmarks around the world, filling the globe with patterns.
It involved Photoshop.
Photoshop and I are not friends, despite many tutorials and demonstrations. So I couldn't see that this challenge was going to be my cup of tea. But there was a tutorial alongside the challenge, and somehow, for the first time (where many have failed before) the process appeared to make sense. And once I had started, there was no stopping (I highly recommend you try this - it's bizarrely addictive).
Along the way, some Make It In Design school students said they'd be interested to see the pattern on its own, or indeed the photograph before the pattern was applied, so I thought I'd put together a few images showing all the component parts. I'm certainly curious about a lot of the wonderful patternbombs that other students were creating.
It was a really fun project for the Summer holidays, during which I had so little time to sit down and focus on "serious" projects. I've learned a lot about how to use Photoshop better, and had lots of ideas about how to present patterns in fun way in the future.
The Make It In Design team were gracious enough to award me an "honorary mention" for my efforts during the patternbombing challenge! So look out for a feature on their website some time soon. In the meantime, here's the breakdown.
There's just one problem with Copenhagen's Little Mermaid: not enough NEON!
This is the ruin of the Queenstown/Queensway cinema and bowling alley in Singapore. I absolutely loved this ruin, and used to spend hours wandering around it taking photos. It was the inspiration behind several of my designs, including the one that I've patternbombed it with! It makes me sad that they knocked it down recently.
Patternbombing gives my ego a good excuse to wrap one of my scarves around a local landmark, so that's always good :-) Here's my Queenstown/Queensway pattern (also inspired by the old bowling alley in the picture above), patternbombing the Chanonry Point lighthouse, Black Isle, Scotland.
Inspired by the white peacocks that wander around Tivoli Gardens, and that lovely blue roof!
Blink and you'll miss it as the colours are quite similar to the original sandstone. But the texture of this carpet-like pattern makes this lovely Glasgow tenement even prettier.
The Municipal Casino San Pellegrino is a bit plain, a bit minimal and understated don't you think? Needs a bit more pattern...
This leaded plain glass coffee shop window in Bergamo Alta funicular railway station, Italy, was really pretty. Adding an Art Deco-inspired scarf pattern behind it turned it into a stained glass window.
A sari shop window in Serangoon Road, Singapore. I love the cracked texture of the original wall, and it shows through the pattern so beautifully.
Here in Aberdeenshire we're lucky to be surrounded by fairytale castles. Many are pink and most are said to be haunted. So I thought this picture of Fyvie Castle, taken last Christmas, could use a rowan tree pattern bomb (to keep any witches at bay!).
As news of the first Nepal earthquake began to unfold, I was sitting at my desk following the news websites. I read two articles in quick succession: the first said that the cost of the failed England World Cup bid was £5 million higher than previously thought (apparently £21 million in total). The second outlined how our government had just pledged £5 million to the relief effort in Nepal. I was incensed. I couldn’t quite grasp how that could be okay – where was our collective sense of perspective? (Credit where it is due though, the UK government increased its pledge as the scale of the disaster became clear.)
But what could I do? The people of Nepal didn’t need what I could make; pretty fabrics and business cards. So I wondered if a collaborative creative effort might raise more money than an individual like myself could donate.
I contacted a number of suppliers, proposing the idea of making a Nepal Appeal silk scarf, with all profits going to help those in need. The amazing teams at BeFabBeCreative Ltd, Kalopsia Collective and Susan Castillo Photography “got it” immediately. They took the idea and ran with it, roping in illustrator Matt Blease and designer Rosie Cook along the way.
I am indebted to the hard work and generosity of all of these wonderful collaborators, and hope that together we can raise lots and lots of money for the people having a desperate time in Nepal. Some of them have lost everything.
So please, if you can, buy one of our scarves HERE and together #letsmakeadifference.
Holi by Mimi Hammill. Photography by Susan Castillo.
Holi by Mimi Hammill. Photography by Susan Castillo.
Holi by Mimi Hammill. Photography by Susan Castillo.
Click here to read a wee interview I did with the lovely Jen from Inky Collective.
Inky Collective brings people together from different creative industries to share stories and gather advice for designers, makers and general daydreamers.
Sometimes, one piece works REALLY hard for you. You never really know which piece it's going to be, and you certainly won't know where it's going to take you, but with hindsight, you'll be powerfully grateful to that single piece. I want to share one such pattern with you.
Back in the Summer of 2014, Spoonflower announced their annual Robert Kaufman collaborative project called Fabric8. The theme was "Cosmic Voyage" and the rewards sounded like Kind Of A Big Deal. You can learn a little about it here. I had just read an article about Sam Kerr's amazing patterns, and really wanted to give tessellation a go.
Scrappy sketches of various space-themed objects followed, and a Pinterest board to nail down a colour palette. But the tessellation wasn't happening. The shapes were too complex for a novice like me.
Preliminary ideas and Pinterest mood board
Eventually I figured out that I had to start simpler: much, much simpler. So, inspired by the cosmic theme, I chose a quarter circle line as my tessellating shape, because I figured I could do something moon-like with it. After playing around a little I realised this arc could also create waves... BINGO! This could encompass the "voyage" element of the brief too.
Eureka! Creating patterns from one single arc shape
Cosmic Voyager, available to buy from Spoonflower
Well, ultimately, the pattern - not a true tesselation - made it to the long list of 100, but sadly was not shortlisted in the final group of eight (I think it came thirty something). However it was (and continues to be) far and away the most popular design I've ever uploaded to Spoonflower, so that felt like a result in itself. I ordered a faux-suede swatch, and was pleased to see that it printed out beautifully.
End of story.
Well, not quite.
Six months later, a friend sent me the link to the Print & Pattern scholarship for the Make It In Design e-course. I was aware of the deadline but, I'll be honest, I was a bit slopey-shouldered about it. I'd been longing to do the courses, and had applied for the scholarship unsuccessfully in the past. But also I knew I would be moving house during the first module, and I'd had a few minor confidence setbacks that week already, and the baby hadn't been sleeping, and... [insert excuse of your choice here]. Basically, it never gets easier to put yourself out there and risk a big fat fail. Again. And again. And again.
But I was so touched that this long-distant friend had been thoughtful enough to send me the scholarship information. So I figured: what harm could there be in spending an hour preparing the application? And I've got that pattern that did relatively well at Fabric8 that I could submit...
So yes, you guessed it, the Cosmic Voyager pattern won me the scholarship! And yes, I had to move house during the first module, and yes, there are still setbacks in confidence on a regular basis (though mercifully the baby did start sleeping a bit better). Module 1 has now come to an end and I can honestly say it's been a wonderful, inspiring, enlightening and most importantly, fun, five weeks. I can only imagine what a joy Modules 2 and 3 are going to be.
See? It's amazing where one pattern can take you.
Further pattern developments for the Cosmic Voyager collection:
Recently I've been working on a collection of silk scarves inspired by Modernism. The collection will be exhibited as part of the ‘Scarf Creative’ exhibition by Kalopsia Collective at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh from July 5th to the 31st. (www.kalopsiacollective.co.uk)
The scarves will be auctioned during the opening event on Saturday 5th, 6-8pm, in aid of the marvellous MacMillan Cancer Support.
All four designs are digitally printed on to beautifully draping silk crepe de chine and measure approximately 50cm x 50cm.
artpop
queenstown
ronchamp
heyday
A super cool lady asked me to design an infographic poster as a gift for her husband's fortieth birthday. Despite our never having met in person, the information she pulled together gave me an ideal insight into their style. Rarely does a concept form with such immediate clarity - the colour palette, the typefaces, the icons - we were on the same page from day one. It's been a real pleasure working with her on this personal project that's so full of affection.
During February I had the pleasure to work with Claire Jessiman in creating a corporate identity for her business, Foodie Quine.
The brief was to develop a cohesive brand to tie together Foodie Quine's stationery and various online presences. A food writer, demonstrator, and events organiser, Claire wanted a brand that evoked modernity, femininity, creativity, and passion. Everything Claire does is characterised by a love of good food, great ingredients and the best company.
We're both delighted with the result, and to have worked together on such a fun collaboration is a real joy. Sage words along the way from the amazing Melanie Burk and my peers at Nicole's Classes also helped to elevate this project from good to great - their advice is always worth its weight in gold.
If, like me, you're over the pink and red hearts, these colourful Valentine's alternatives are now available from Society6.com, with **FREE** worldwide shipping until Sunday 26th January.
(The designs are also available as stretched canvases, framed prints and device cases - not my intention, but it's the default setup!)
http://society6.com/MimiHammill
http://society6.com/MimiHammill
mimihammill.com :: now available on Bloglovin'
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Snowlace II for the FRS Graphic Lace design project.
My Nihon Deco design, winner of the Betafashion.com Art Deco competition, is now available to buy through their website for just £35. I'm pleased to say my illustration lends itself really well to being printed on silk (phew!). All in all it's the perfect Christmas present (...to myself!)
Nihon Deco by Mimi Hammill, available at betafashion.com
Nihon Deco by Mimi Hammill, available at betafashion.com
Only until 11th November 2013, some of my designs are available on beautiful cushions at ohhdeer.com, as part of the Pillow Fight II design project. Click on the images below to purchase yours!
Blue canary in the outlet
Butterfly dream
Fashion headache
Here's a lovely little feature on my progress by the ladies who taught me everything I know about Illustrator and illustrating. Click on the picture below to read the full article. What a great start to the weekend!
