Illustrator and graphic designer Catherine Kay is a master of all things cute. Known by her moniker Katnipp, she opened her studio at the end of 2015, at a time when she was working full-time in a graphic design job. Now based in North-East England, her brand is growing by the minute, producing a range of prints, pins, and other goodies, which are sold on her Etsy shop.
“I have always had a passion for illustration & design for as long as I can remember,” writes Kay on her website. “I wanted to pursue this as a career but found jobs few-and-far-between and when a job did come up, I found it was someone else’s creative vision rather than my own.”
And so, after a lot of research, she decided to open her own e-commerce store, which allowed her to have full control of the creative reigns. “Slowly but surely, I have created designs, from custom portraits to hand-printed mugs (which I do myself in my little studio),” she says. “I can honestly say this is my passion, I am so thankful everyday that I get to create and illustrate cute things with some of my favorite colors & inspired by the things I love the most (Anime, coffee, books & animals) “
Aside from her commercial work, she’s also working on her first children’s book for a small publisher up in Scotland. Her style – playful, naive, and very kawaii – tends to stick to bright, pastel colors. “By zoning in on the things that make me happy, illustration cute pastel happy stuff made me happy, so I decided to explore this route,” she writes. “I believe my style is forever adapting and changing, even if its subtle as my skills and techniques change over time!”
Check out her work on Instagram and follow her day-to-day on YouTube:
