The Studio.

What is your background?

M : I graduated from Atelier Chardon Savard as fashion designer. At first I worked for several luxury brands then I started my own menswear t-shirt brand. Finally we founded our print design studio in 2015 with Coralie.

C : I studied fashion design at Esmod international then I learned how to be a tailor at Académie internationale de coupe de Paris. I worked as knitwear fashion designer for 10 years. After all these years in fashion I wanted to go back to my first passion, drawing and we decided to found Bleu Cobalt with Maud.

Describe your style.

Bleu Cobalt, formerly Atelier du Motif, is a Paris based print studio.

Since 2015 we have been experimenting, both with enthusiasm and passion, the endless possibilities of pattern design and create each piece entirely by hand as we believe this allows us to give texture and depth to our work.

Each print is created with care using various ancient techniques, such as suminagashi, encaustic painting and block printing, and comes in a fully editable digital format as well as an exclusivity contract.

We believe that craft takes time, therefore we offer a core portfolio of timeless designs in addition to a new, smaller capsule collection for each season.

What are your main inspirations / influences ?

M : I really like art experiments and my main influence is tribal art. Colours are also a big influence for me.

C : My biggest inspiration is vegetal, I really like to wander in gardens to name every flower and foliage I could then draw. I also really like colours and light.

Which place inspires you the most?

M : Parisians museums like for example Quai Branly museum and Guimet museum.

C : Museums too but also a café terrace and all the gardens of the world.

What sets off your passion for prints?

M : Since I was a little girl I always drew and watched my father paint. My parents also often took me to museums.

C : I have always had a passion for drawing and since childhood I decorated everything I could get my hands on. I first expressed myself through ornamentation, decoration and drawing. Painting and print design came later.

Your first print memories.

M : A contemporary red and blue painting in the Fine Arts Museum in Nantes that made a big impression on me as a child.

C : The wallpaper of my childhood with little Pierrots sitting on moons that I made my parents put all over my room.

Describe your creation process.

M : I gather my inspirations. I make a series of about 5 prints, first I make a sketch and then I colour (paint, pastels, markers...). If it's a very textured work I don't go through drawing, then I scan, clean and repeat on photoshop.

C : For my part, I always go through a very large sketch on which I will paint, colour or trace with Indian ink. I usually work on my repetition by hand, which allows me to spend more time on paper than on photoshop. My original formats are therefore very large. I don't go straight to the computer, one drawing inspiring another, I usually do large sessions by hand before finalizing my designs. To finish I scan, clean, adjust my repetition and work on my colouring.

What is your favorite medium to work with and why?

M : At the moment I am discovering again oil pastels. I love their texture and bright colours.

C : I'm completely obsessed with technical pens (working with Indian ink) and I love watercolour. So I often have to go beyond my first desire to experiment with other mediums.

What is your job's favorite part ?

M & C : we love to go looking for papers in art shops, finding new materials and mediums. Our favourite part is definitely drawing and painting.

What type of product / sector do you mainly work for ?

Fashion, decoration and stationery.

On which fairs do you exhibit?

Première Vision, The London print design fair, Heimtextil and Interfilière.

Your best fairs memories.

The more fairs we do, the more we get to know the other studios around us to share the good news and the hard times. It's really a strength and that's what lead us to found La Trame.

What do you want to accomplish in the future?

To develop our customer base in decoration. A field we are especially fond of.

The biggest challenge you had to handle as a designer?

Going to our first fair in London with our savings, not really knowing what it was going to be like and in the end that's what got us started.

What advice would you like to give to new designers who are just starting out?

Before starting out, take the time to make a substantial collection and think about your artistic universe in order to stand out.

Enquire at La Trame or other people to get to know this market, in terms of supply but also prices. Do not think that drawing up a contract is optional, it is extremely important.

It is not easy to work alone in a studio and to manage everything, especially when you start exhibiting in trade fairs. One of the best tips in our opinion is to team up with another designer, or even better, a salesperson.