Professional work · Mountain WarehouseTextile print / Illustration / Capsule design

Girls’ western print capsule

A horse-led print system, from direction to supplier sample.

Overview

I developed a western-themed print capsule for Mountain Warehouse, using an illustrated horse repeat to connect placement graphics and supporting patterns.

My contribution: Print direction, illustration & capsule development
Context & output: Print artwork & supplier strike/sample

Supplier sample jacket with western motifs on a pale green background.

Brief & direction

Make the prints feel like one collection.

Every print needed to feel part of one girls’ collection when displayed together. A cowgirl trend I noticed while looking at competitor shops gave me the direction; I then gathered palette and motif references before drawing.

Explored routes

Try different ways into the theme.

The hat graphic, bows and check were early routes that did not join the final range. Looking back, I would check each idea against the wider collection earlier.

Chasing Sunsets lettering above an illustrated cowgirl hat. — Chasing Sunsets — an early placement route.

Pink and pale bow shapes in a repeating pattern. — Bows — an early repeat route.

Loose pink and orange checked pattern. — Check — an early repeat route.

Selected print system

Let the horse repeat lead the family.

I made the horse repeat the lead design, then reused its western motifs across the supporting prints. Mixing detailed illustration with simpler repeats gave the collection variety while keeping the pieces related.

Illustrated horses, hats, boots, cacti and stars repeating on a berry background. — The lead repeat brings the full motif set together.

Decorative horse head filled with floral, cactus and western-inspired shapes. — A horse-head placement uses the theme in a single illustration.

Wild and Free placement artwork, a scattered western-motif repeat and two star prints. — Supporting designs: Wild & Free, scattered icons and star repeats.

Colourway exploration

Keep the motif system, vary the ground.

I explored navy, blue, sage and berry backgrounds, keeping the western motifs as the link between them. These colourway studies vary the overall feel while retaining the collection’s illustrated character.

Horse repeat explored on a navy background. — Navy study.

Horse repeat explored on a blue background. — Blue study.

Horse repeat explored on a sage background. — Sage study.

Horse repeat explored on a berry background. — Berry study.

Supplier sample

Take the motifs onto a garment.

The supplier sample takes the western motifs onto a jacket, showing the pattern across the body, sleeves and seams beyond the flat artwork.

Keep exploring

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