Hey Reader
I walked into the room and stopped dead in my tracks.
Fresh flowers were everywhere. Lining a massive wall of shelves in glass vases, in a flower stand (imagine the one you’ve seen in every movie where someone in New York buys flowers), pinned next to my fabrics. Soft, pretty, whimsical — it looked like someone had taken the inside of my brain and built it into a physical space.
Last week, I was in New York City for Apple. They set up a teaching studio for me to use this week and they’d styled it to match my brand.
They didn’t call me and ask what colors I liked. They didn’t request a mood board. They just… knew. Because my brand was clear enough that a major corporation could look at it and replicate its feeling.
It was a very cool moment for me and I knew right away that there was a lesson in it.
Branding isn’t just your logo or your color palette. It’s a feeling that travels with you. And when it’s clear enough, it shows up in rooms you’ve never been in, in how people introduce you, and apparently — in the studios they build for you.
So let’s talk about how to get your brand that clear, but first, check out my 3 favs from this week:
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Amy Hastings – Patchwork Woven Throw
Every Square Is Its Own Little World Tulips, a Kewpie vase, a poodle, a bunny, strawberries, a swan, a fish, a moon — this patchwork grid has no business being this cohesive and yet here we are. The varied colored backgrounds per tile keep it playful while the consistent illustration style holds the whole thing together.
Grid-Based Patchwork with Illustration Depth Each tile functions as its own mini illustration, but the grid structure gives it real textile credibility. Designed specifically for a woven throw — and you can see that product thinking baked right into the layout. That's designing with intention.
Great for Woven Textiles, Puzzles & Licensing Throw blankets (obviously), tapestry, jigsaw puzzles, tote panels, wall art. The kind of design where someone spends five minutes just finding new details. That's not an accident — that's craft.
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Nicole – Mindful Doodle Floral
Bold, Dense, and Completely Unapologetic Purple, pink, yellow blooms outlined in gold on black — this is maximalist with a capital M. The doodle-style linework gives it a handmade, almost coloring-book quality that makes it feel warm instead of heavy.
Full-Coverage Doodle Repeat No negative space, no breathing room, no apologies. Every inch is working. The gold outlines are the secret weapon — they unify the whole thing without flattening it.
Great for Journals, Upholstery & Stationery Spiral notebooks (already proven!), journal covers, bold accent pillows, gift wrap. This one has a very specific buyer and she knows exactly who she is.
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Sally Murphy – Happy Easter Meadow
Quiet, Airy, and Completely Seasonal Cream ground, delicate scattered wildflowers, soft greens and blush — this feels like a spring morning before anyone else is awake. The "Happy Easter" text at the bottom makes it occasion-specific, but strip that out and you've got a year-round wildflower toss with real commercial legs.
Loose Toss Repeat with Seasonal Placement Light hand, varied scales, generous negative space. It breathes. The restrained palette keeps it sophisticated without losing the spring freshness.
Great for Seasonal Stationery, Gifting & Apparel Easter cards, gift wrap, spring apparel, table linens. Worth noting — the base design without the text could work all season long. One pattern, two lives.
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Tip #1: Distill Your Brand Into 5 Words
Apple didn’t need a 10-page brand guide to build that studio. They needed five words.
Floral. Whimsical. Feminine. Colorful. Sophisticated
That’s it. Every decision flowed from there — the colors, the props, the vibe, the whole room. Five words did all that work.
Here’s what I want you to try. Grab a sticky note and write down five words that capture the feeling of your design work. Not what you make — how it feels. Dreamy? Bold? Coastal? Earthy? Modern?
Now run everything through those five words. Every design, every post, every pitch email — does it feel like your five words? If it doesn’t, that’s your answer. Cut it, tweak it, or set it aside.
This is what I call the elimination test, and it’s honestly the simplest editing framework I’ve ever used. Not because it’s easy to do — but because it’s easy to understand. You stop second-guessing and start filtering.
Try this one too: the stranger in the room test. If someone who’d never heard of you walked into a room decorated in your brand — your patterns on the walls, your colors on the table, your aesthetic everywhere — would they know it was yours? Or would it just look like… someone’s stuff?
That’s the goal. Unmistakable.
And here’s why it actually matters for your business: buyers make split-second decisions. Licensing reps, Spoonflower shoppers, trade show visitors scrolling through portfolios — they’re not reading your bio first. They’re feeling your work first. Five clear words create instant recognition across your portfolio, your socials, and your pitches before you say a single word.
Don’t overthink the words. Write the first five that feel true and start there. You can refine them later. I’ve refined mine over the years. It’s okay if it’s not perfect. Just get something written down.
Tip #2: How to Show Up When All Eyes Are On You
Here’s what I’ve learned from working with Apple, Procreate, and other companies over the years about showing up professionally in face-to-face situations:
Know your intro before you need it. When someone else introduces you as a featured creator or brand partner, it can feel awkward — almost like you’re supposed to shrink a little so it doesn’t look like you think too highly of yourself. Don’t. Practice receiving a professional introduction gracefully. A simple smile and “Thanks, I’m excited to be here” goes a long way. You don’t have to downplay it.
Stay on-brand even when you’re on camera. This goes back to those five words. What does your in-person presence say? The clothes you wear, the way you talk about your work, the confidence (or lack of it) in your voice — all of it communicates your brand. I leaned into pink. I talked about flowers. I was fully, unapologetically me — and it coordinated with the room they’d built for me.
When you’re the expert, act like it. I taught beginners how to trace photographs of real flowers in Procreate to create finished digital pattern designs — most of them had never worked in Procreate before. I had to be calm, clear, and confident without being intimidating. That’s the skill nobody teaches you: how to hold authority gently. Know your stuff. Speak it plainly. Trust that you belong wherever you are right now.
💡 Pro Tip: Show up as your brand in real life. Your online brand and your in-person presence should match. When I walked into that Apple studio, I looked and acted exactly like who they were expecting. |
These opportunities don’t come to people who are still waiting to feel ready. They come to people whose brands are clear enough — and consistent enough — that the right doors open. Yours can too.
Apple’s New iPad Update — Time to Upgrade (Back-up First)
Speaking of Apple — they just dropped a significant iPad update, and if you’re a Procreate designer this one’s worth your attention.
The big news: a new windowing system. You can now freely resize, tile, and stack app windows — much more like working on a desktop computer. Which means your iPad just got a whole lot more powerful as a professional workspace.
Running Procreate, a reference photo app, and your file manager at the same time without everything disappearing? Yes please.
Before you update: back up your files. I know, I know — you’ve heard this before. But I’m saying it anyway because I’ve seen too many artists lose work over a botched update. Back up to your iPad’s built-in backup and to iCloud or an external drive if you have one. Then update. Then enjoy your much more functional workspace.
Your iPad was already a powerhouse. Apple just gave it some desktop energy. Use it.
That’s a wrap!
That’s it for this week. I’m still processing the whole NYC experience honestly — it was a lot of good, emphasis on a lot.
But what I keep coming back to is that studio. The flower shop they built for me. That’s what a clear brand does. It goes ahead of you. It opens doors. It tells the story before you have to.
Five words, friend. Start there.
P.S. If you’re not sure what your five words are yet, go look at your three best-selling patterns or your most-saved posts. What do they have in common? That’s your brand trying to tell you something.
