Designer Highlight: Pattern People

Written on March 10, 2009 by Laura Whipple

Wallpaper installation designed by Pattern People

Driven by the dynamic duo of Claudia Brown and Jessie Whipple Vickery, Pattern People is a surface design studio based out of Portland, Oregon. The company creates beautiful prints for use in a myriad of applications, including apparel, interiors, footwear, and paper goods. The founders were both drawn to pattern design after working in the fields of graphic design and fashion. Patterns are a perfect fit for their mutual interests and creative skills, as the studio’s output is expressive and bold, drawing from both contemporary and historical inspirations.

Pinball has collaborated numerous times over the past year with Pattern People, and we’ve always been delighted with the printed results. Read on for more insight and inspiration.

Jessie Whipple Vickery and Claudia Brown: founders of Pattern People

Who are the people behind Pattern People?

Pattern People was founded in 2007 by Claudia Brown and Jessie Whipple Vickery as a surface design studio, creating prints for fashion and interiors. When we were first introduced, it was like we were being set up! We had many mutual friends that kept telling us how much we had in common. When the two of us finally talked, it really was amazing. Our backgrounds were very similar; our ambitions were the same, and we had both recently made the transition to pattern design. Previously, we had our own clothing lines and worked as graphic designers. Pattern design was a natural progression given our love of graphic design, art and fashion.

Totebag featuring Pattern People illustration

Tell us more about the field of surface design? Where are surface designs most frequently found?

Surface design is a fun field to be in because there are no limitations. Basically, any surface becomes your canvas. Our prints appear on apparel, paper goods, walls, footwear, bags, and textiles.

Prints can really elevate a product by making it look more unique and more valuable. Companies often team up with studios like ours to create custom artwork for their line of products. For example, Louis Vuitton recently launched a line of clothing featuring the art of Stephen Sprouse.

What are your predictions for Color and Pattern trends in 2009-2010

Bright, bold colors – as seen on the Fall 09 runways. There are tons of designers showing off a super bright palette, such as Marc Jacobs, Top Shop, and Anna Sui. As far as patterns go, fun things are happening. Large, bold geometrics – as seen in the Fall 2009 collections of Jonathan Saunders, Eley Kishimoto, Alexandre Herchcovitch, among others. Karen Walker showed some amazing shattered china prints. Danielle Scutt from London featured an update to the splatter trend that reminded us of the strawberry swirled ice cream in a cup with a wooden spoon from our childhood.

Designs by Zandra Rhodes

Who are some of your favorite surface designers from previous eras? From present day?

Zandra Rhodes started creating print designs, along with clothing, back in the 60s. She continues to design her line today. She’s a living legend! We love her organic approach. She’ll use trips to places like the Grand Canyon or Australia as inspiration and build a collection of prints around it. Her hand has a naïve quality to it that seems to reflect her youthful spirit. You can see more about her at

The work of Florence Broadhurst is also a favorite. Florence was a fascinating figure from Australia. She created designs for fabric and wallpaper, and then was mysteriously murdered in the 1970s. Her work is bold and graphic with hints of 1930s glamour. See more about her here:

As for present-day favorites, we love Rory Crichton, Katrin Wiens, Jonathan Saunders, and Eley Kishimoto.

2/1 Custom Folding Brochure (printed by Pinball!): 100% recycled paper

Where does Pattern People draw its inspiration?

Everywhere! Runways, interiors, the Planet Earth series with David Attenborough, obscure films like one we watched recently, Lucifer Rising by Kenneth Anger, our dreams, the madness of our minds.

Describe a dream project?

It would be amazing to design an entire room – from the floors, to the upholstery, to the wallpaper, and even the ceiling! We recently got a tiny taste of such a project working with Andee Hess at Osmose Design. We created a mural for a bathroom that is basically a big crazy drawing that wraps around the walls and onto the ceiling.

Custom brochures (printed by Pinball) for Stumptown Coffee: Designed by Jessie Whipple Vickery

How does your MA training from Central St. Martins inform your present design work?

Jessie: It made me realize my passion for narrative in design. I’ll often start with a story and weave bits of the narrative into a series of prints. My process has become looser and more fluid. I now wander and let my designs lead me down new paths.

The collection of patterns designed for the Stumptown brochures pull inspiration from coffee culture. Each print represents a step in the coffee process – from sourcing, to growing, and finally to drinking and enjoying the flavor of the bean.

Tenth & Grant pocket notebooks featuring Pattern People design

As a creative business deftly maneuvering the challenging economy, what sorts of changes do you see your business going through in the next year? Expansions into other arenas of design? Adjustments to marketing approach?

We’ve been focusing a lot on finding creative ways to market ourselves. Blogging has been a good way to connect to a wider audience. It allows us to share our knowledge, research, and point of view.

We’re always looking to expand into new areas and like to test out markets that traditional print studios wouldn’t think of touching.