Month: August 2016

Oriental Breeze

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories #100PrintsByStephanieIp, 2018, Fashion + Soft Goods, Graphics, IllustrationsTags , Leave a comment on Oriental Breeze

Ever since I was a little girl, I have found the Japanese culture interesting and unique. It was not until my Mom told me that I hold 1/16 of Japanese blood in me, then I realized my appreciation of Japanese art and culture makes perfect sense.

My recent trip to Okinawa in Japan was a memorable trip I took with my Dad. It was especially exciting to explore the different types of food and snacks in the convenient stores. The beautiful and graphical package designs make everything look tempting.

Our first stop was at this local convenience store that sold all kinds of stuff you would normally find at a 7-Eleven in the U.S.

Of course, ice cream was our first pick!
(Left) Match green tea ice cream sandwich with pancake
(Right) Sweet purple yam, which is Okinawa’s specialty crop, in ice cream form. 

There are endless options of soft drinks, cold and hot. My favorite was the Royal brand milk tea.

My travel buddy, Almond, with yet another milk tea drink by Ti-Ha.

This McDonald’s salt and pepper packaging was especially smart looking, I thought.

Through the sketching and design process, I have noticed how my appreciation of Japanese art and culture has somewhat of an influence on the outcome of the prints. The first batch of 5 prints was a total exploration of my Chinese heritage. What do you think?

Medium: Ink
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator

Products: Clock, framed art print, leggings, cushion, tote
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Products: iPhone case, leggings, rectangular pillow, zipper pouch set

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for the continuing story of my exploration process! Feel free to let me know your thoughts, would love to hear all of them. ☺

You can now shop for these prints and printed products on my Society6 shop. Click here to get to my shop.

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

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A Design Challenge to Myself

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories #100PrintsByStephanieIp, 2018Tags Leave a comment on A Design Challenge to Myself

After several months of exploring and experimenting, I have decided I need a challenge to help myself dig deeper into my artistic soul. Why? As a designer, I have been struggling to identify my style and aesthetic through my work. I guess in some ways, I can see my style in some of my work, but for some reason, I feel that it’s not strong enough and needs improvement. Ever since I had decided to turn my freelancing into a full time business, I started to read more about other successful creative designers’ blogs, biographies, books, and following their social media. It helped me to understand how important it is to have a style that I can call my signature.

So what is this challenge about? In the course of 4-6 months, I will be creating a series of print pattern designs that will showcase my artistic talent and skills. Below is a rough draft of how I plan to approach the challenge:

Total no. of prints: 100
Themes: 4 themes (Underground, on ground, in the sky, outer space!)
Number of prints per theme: 25 
Types of print: Floral, tropical, ditsy floral, abstract, geometric, conversational, stripes, checks, paisleys, texture, skin, tribal, boarder, patchwork 

I thought, while I am at it, maybe I should incorporate some elements that speak about my heritage as Chinese. Being raised in Hong Kong, I have so much to draw from – mostly food. Haha! I don’t have much memory about the details of architecture, so looking into it now is going to help me discover the history of Hong Kong.

This is the place where I grew up and had a lot of fond childhood memories – Hong Kong, The Peak.

These are typical celeberation banners people would put out to celebrate the new year, or some kind of major events or happenings in Hong Kong.

I am so excited to take on this journey of self exploration!
If you are interested to see the work I have been working on recently, visit my Instagram page @SIPbyStephanieIp!

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

More Posts | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

More Posts | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn