Jacqueline Colley specializes in creating explorable and playful illustrations that defy the ordinary. Having studied Visual Communication at Chelsea Art College, she meant to become a graphic designer but her passion for illustration got the best of her. After working in print design for 6 years, she rediscovered her original passion and now works as a freelance illustrator and pattern designer almost exclusively.
When it comes to her creations, color is key. “I actually regularly pin or photograph things just for the color combination,” she admitted in an interview with Yes I’m a Designer. “Sometimes I want to work with a color combination so bad I will design a screen print specifically for it so that I can play with it. My go-to is shades of green with shades of pink, so many possibilities!”
Her creative process relies on both traditional and digital tools. “I work by hand a lot with felt tip pens but everything ends up in photoshop which I love as you can do so much in that one application,” she explained. “I make my patterns in there, change colors, re-draw things touch up photos for my online shop and just recently I’m learning to make GIFs which is an exciting new thing to learn!”
According to Colley’s website, her favorite themes to tackle are exploration, collections, and play. “My role models are people like Lisa Congdon and Jane Foster whose creative careers happened and blossomed later on in life, that is so inspirational to me,” she added in the interview.
With more than 25k fans on Instagram and selected clients that include Twitter UK, Kate Spade, and FLOW magazine, you’d want to take note:
