Andrew Pavitt contact

I contacted Andrew Pavitt in November last year, I had liked his work since he came in to give a guest lecture in the second year. He was really helpful and gave me advice on other designers to look at. My emails are in grey and his responses are black:-

My name is Jenny Petit; I’m a third year illustration student at Stockport College. You came in last year to give a guest lecture and your work had a big impact on me. We share many of the same influences like Lucienne Day, Charlie Harper and Gillian Blease. I’m also interested in surface pattern design as well as illustration. If you’re not too busy will you be able to answer a few questions on your influences and working method?

Thanks for your mail and the kind words. Yes that should be fine I'd be glad to help. Perhaps you can send me your questions in the next few days.

Thanks for getting back to me. Like I said in my last e-mail I’m a big fan of your work, I feel as though mine is developing along similar lines. I think this is partly because I also see shape and pattern as very important factors in my developing style. I find your work slightly more graphical than my own; perhaps this is because of your use of flat colour and structured compositions. I’d really like to be able to work in that way as composition is something I seem to struggle with. Do you have any particular influences for the use of composition in your work?
I remember from your talk last year that you were thinking about adapting some of your designs to surface patterns, this seems like a great idea and something I also have put some consideration into since you talked about it. Have you thought anymore about doing this? I was wondering how you would go about doing something like that, would you market these designs differently to your illustrations?

I hope this stuff below might be useful in some way. I think composition is one of those difficult things that you develop through time and very much through trial and error. Of course the masters of composition tend to be the many and varied artists one finds through art history. You could certainly do a lot worse than look at the master of composition an Italian painter called Piero della Francesca the balance and placement one finds in his work is often more useful than you might imagine.However for influences closer to home and perhaps more relevant, try looking textile designers like Eley Kishimoto, Neisha Crossland, Orla Kielyre surface pattern, they all have great balance and good use of color.I certainly wouldn't worry if you feel your work is not as immediately graphic as it' s really all about the overall impact you create. Julie Verhoeven's work is often quite messy, and non symmetrical but straddles the two fields of illustration and surface - pattern design very successfully. Going back in time Lucienne Day who worked mainly on textile design in the fifties and sixties produced wonderful repeat patterns whilst keepinggreat warmth and texture in her designs. Above all I think when considering composition (particularly in pattern design) you must consider the whole space and one shape or marks relationship to another. So often less is more, but of course this takes more courage. I would also avoid the temptation to overwork something & try instead multiple versions. a successful result very often comes through combining two separate versions. All these things sound and I guess are very obvious, but when caught up in the process of making it is easy to suddenly forget these precepts. It’s almost worth writing yourself a list of prompts to pin up on the wall as a reminder when working. I was reminded of this when I watched a program on the artist Richard Sera which you can still catch on I player under imagine - bib He wrote a list of verbs he used as a method for producing his sculptures. Really interesting! In response to the second part of your question, I'm afraid to say I haven't done much recently about applying my work to surface pattern. But hey one day! In terms of marketing, I would say yes it's quite a different field to illustration. It would be lovely to see a few examples of your work as at this stage it's difficult to suggest which direction you should take. But I would be very happy to offer any help or advice if this was possible.

Piero della Francesca

Eley Kishimoto

Neisha Crossland

Orla Kielyre


Julie Verhoeven

Thanks for answering those questions. I’ve been looking at the textile designers you mentioned and their work is lovely.
I agree that it takes a lot of courage to use a less is more approach, I still haven’t got much confidence when designing so I tend to overcompensate in a lot of my designs which can make then look cluttered. So I’ll definitely be trying to simplify my work in the near future. Multiple versions seems like a good way of doing this, like you said it is very easy to get caught up in the process of making and the pressure to have a finished piece often limits my designs. I think if I make a conscious effort to make time to try out these different versions it could help a lot.
I found it interesting the way that you integrated concepts and ideas into your work, you seem to do this really well. Do you think this could have something to do with your fine art background? Another thing I noticed when you were doing your talk was that you don’t shy away from difficult briefs. I really admire this and I think it’s a tell of a good designer when they accomplish good designs for uninspiring subjects. Do you have a particular process of generating ideas?
Unfortunately I haven’t got a website up and running yet. I have recently started a blog though which I’ve been posting my work on since September. I have also posted the work of my influences on there, I’ve included a couple of your images, I hope you don’t mind? It would be great to hear your thoughts.

It was great to see your blog, and very flattering to see you'd posted two images of mine together with somevery generous words. Your work is great! Both the surface pattern design and The Death of the Cock story which is really beautiful ( I loved the way you used texture together with such bold shapes ) The Madness of Verdaguer work also really works I think. You certainly have no problems on the composition front. Re your last question about generating ideas, I would say that always the best way is through drawing. No matter how bad you think your drawing skills are, it's still hands down the best way of unlocking ideas. Almost all my work is finished on the computer but the best stuff comes from some sketches and doodles. You don't have to show this to anyone just use it as part of your armory for ideas making. Have a look at some of Petra Boners drawings on http://www.borner.se/ Anyway great work, and do keep in touch.

I’m really glad you like my work, thanks for the encouragement. I am currently working on one of the competition briefs for the D&AD, I hear they’re really keen on good ideas in students work so I’ll definitely be trying more drawing to unlock a good idea. I’ve just had a look at Petra Borner’s site, it’s really nice. I like her drawings and also her cut paper work. I think the raw edge of cutting paper by hand gives a really nice effect. This is something I’d like to have the patience to do.
Thank you for answering all of my questions. You’ve been a great help.