Rachael Taylor Studio in 2015!

Wow! 2015 was our biggest & most busiest year yet! We’re taking a moment today to reflect & look back on yet another amazing year, which is all thanks to the amazing community of supporters & followers we have. A massive THANK YOU to you for making 2015 a year to remember!

The year started with us exhibiting at Printsource, New York for a third time in January 2015 through the Lilla Rogers Studio. Rachael’s work got to travel the world even further this year with designs picked up by Quarry, Soake, Mpix, Ritzenhoff, Demdaco, Safeway & more!

In May we had another amazing opportunity to exhibit through the Lilla Rogers Studio at Surtex, New York! Rachael added even more design to her ever growing portfolio which is available to clients to look through in our private archive. We also created a third ‘Pattern & Illustration Lookbook’ to add to our collection which you can see below.

In 2015 we were so excited to expand our teams both at the Rachael Taylor Studio & at Make it in Design as we hired Holly Wells as our PR & Marketing Assistant at the RT Studio & Lisa Moncrieff as our Sales & Marketing Manager & Vic Dickinson as our Education & Resources Officer for Make it in Design.

Holly – PR & Marketing Assistant for the Rachael Taylor Studio

Lisa Moncrieff – Sales & Marketing Manager

Vic Dickinson – Education & Resources Officer for Make it in Design

In May we also celebrated 7 years as a studio since Rachael decided to leave her full time design job & fly solo! In her blog post Rachael listed seven of her key highlights from the last 7 years (even though there are so much more!) This year we will be celebrating 8 years & we are so grateful!

In June we launched a new range of exciting designs with our licensing partner Artscase adding to our collection of stylish, contemporary phone cases!

Also in June, Rachael made the big decision to move the studio & her home to her original home city of Liverpool! Rachael has had a lot of fun styling up her new home & studio, all of which you can catch sneak peeks of on Rachael’s personal Instagram.

In June, Rachael also got the chance to attend The Global Art Gathering ran by her lovely agent Lilla Rogers. Rachael was asked to be part of a panel of amazing art & design industry experts & to answer some questions for an audience.

Issue 8 of MOYO Magazine was published in June & was packed which was our special ‘Home’ edition & was packed with inspiration, advice & design tips on designing for the home as well as an interview with tv personality & interiors expert Sophie Robinson!

In July our sister site Make it in Design ran the popular Make it in Design Summer School for the second year running & we were so impressed with the quality of submissions to the briefs & creative exercises. You can check out the galleries here & sign up to the 2016 waiting list here.

Also in July Rachael was very excited to be asked to speak at The Design Trust Start Up Day at New Designers on behalf of Make it in Design!

In 2015 we also expanded our range with DENY Designs even more with cool new furniture such as credenzas, funky tapestries, wall art, wristlet pouches, desks, mugs, phone cases & so many more! We now have 67 designs in the collection, with a design for every mood & personality & 2016 will see the range become even bigger!

In August, Rachael took a little trip to New York City where she got to do two seminars for Printsource, New York & meet their CEO Massimo! She also got to explore a little bit of the amazing city & soak in some inspiration.

In September we escaped from the studio for a team catch up in Manchester in a lovely little tea room! We planned some exciting things in for 2016 & had a wonderful catch up with new team member Holly!

Also in September we launched a new glassware design for Ritzenhoff for their Pearls collection, which featured this gorgeous butterfly design with rose gold confetti!

September continued to be an exciting month with the launch of Rachael’s second book ‘Draw 500 Dazzling Doodles’!  “A pocket-sized sketchbook filled with 500 inspirational illustrations featuring a variety of doodles. A new fun format for Quarry’s best-selling 20 Ways to Draw a Doodle & 44 Zigzags, Hearts, Spirals & Teardrops by illustrator & designer Rachael Taylor, this cute chunky volume features 500 inspirational illustrations in a perfect small size for drawing on the go!” The book is now available in the RT shop with the option to have a specially written personalised message & to have Rachael sign it!

In October Rachael launched a new range of seasonal cards for our fantastic licensing partner Mpix! We love working with their team & we are excited to be launching a new range of Graduation invitation cards in 2016!

In November the Make it in Design team had another big meeting to plan in ideas & projects for 2016 such as expanding The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design modules with amazing new video content, planning Summer School 2016, #Patternbombing 2016 & even more exciting top secret projects coming soon! We also celebrated 4 years of Make it in Design with a little toast, some sparklers & with #100daysofpattern! We even officially named our Birthday as World Pattern Day!

Rachael also had several wonderful press mentions over the year including being featured in Pretty Patches Magazine, Design Crumbs Magazine, MOYO Magazine, Wedding Ideas Magazine & Love Patchwork & Quilting Magazine.

Rachael’s design work was also featured in design books such as Color + Pattern by Khristian. A. Howell & Print & Pattern Geometric by Bowie Style!

So that was 2015! What a year! And 2016 is shaping up to be another exciting one. We have lots more projects in the works so keep an eye on our Facebook / Twitter / Instagram accounts for all of the up to date news & sneak peeks!

2016 will see us expanding our shop ranges with a brand new personalised, alphabet hearts range!

We will also be taking more exciting overseas work trips, continuing to work with our amazing teams on amazing projects & we recently just announced that #TeamMakeitinDesign will be taking part in the Color Obstacle Rush for charity in May!

Thank you for all of your the support last year & for the support so far this year! Here’s to making 2016 our best, fun filled, colourful & positive year yet!

Rachael, Kelly & Holly xoxoxo