Designer Spotlight: Michele Kellett

We are pleased to introduce you to designer, Michele Kellett!

1. What made you decide to venture out on your own and leave the corporate world?

I first worked as a graphic designer, then as an advertising art director, then as an interior designer, and while I have had formal jobs in all three fields, I have been a freelancer for more than half my career, not always by choice. The design field has many vagaries: the firm you work for can lose a key client, or merge, or be bought out, or just fail to recognize your genius. In some ways, self-reliance is more secure – you cannot quit or be fired, you have to find a way.

2. What is the best part about owning your own business?

First, bringing something fresh and surprising to a project – I live for that gasp of delight! It means that something that was a problem for your client has just been solved in an unexpectedly happy way.

Second, making room for that project. That means turning down projects you know will prove unsatisfactory to all involved. Those projects keep you from doing your best work; not only are they no fun they often end up being costly in terms of money and stomach lining.

Both the good and the bad are hard to spot when you’re starting out – you truly feel you have to take anything – but it’s great to get to a point where you see them for what they are.

3. Tell us about your brand and what sets you apart?

I like to tell a little story with each pattern, no matter how small. I did a series of tiny two-color geos of dog breeds – just something for pocket squares or linings – and paired each breed with an accessory, such as a golden retriever with a newspaper. So that’s a little story. Or making a floral that includes leaf, blossom, stem and seed. Just finding a narrative of some kind. Sometimes that narrative is told across the whole collection, sometimes in a single pattern.

I hand-draw everything, pencil on tissue, so that even after scanning, coloring and putting into repeat, it still has the mark of a human hand. The patterns I like best are both graceful and lighthearted, so that’s what I aim for in my work.

4. What long term opportunities do you see for your creative viewpoint and products?

I would like to do more home and tabletop. My sense is that people setting up house today don’t want formal, but they do want structure and integration. They’ve been through a lot – student debt, a long recession, delayed dreams – and they’re wary of trends. That’s why mid-century modern came on so strong and is finding new means of expression – it’s not a retro look. It looks fresh, clean and modest, but if you think about it, it’s been around for almost 70 years.

You can find Michele and her work below:

http://www.michelekellett.com/