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Meet the Designer: Vince Desjardins aka Vinpauld

In the latest edition of our Meet the Designer series, we discuss the creative process with Vince Desjardins (Vinpauld), a designer living in Bloomington, Indiana inclined toward trees, birds, and vintage items. Vince recently also made the top 5 in our Aurora Borealis Design Challenge.  Visit his Spoonflower shop and read on to learn how he incorporates wildlife into his imaginative ditsy and toile designs.

Designer Vince Desjardins

My day starts with…

walking my dog in Bryan Park.

Vince's studio and his collection of duck figurines

Vince’s studio and his collection of duck figurines


I fell in love with design and illustration…
when my mom gave me her set of books from the Famous Artists correspondence school and then began encouraging me to draw.
Great barrier reef by Vinpauld plus his collection of Superman figurines

Great barrier reef by Vinpauld plus his collection of Superman figurines


What’s in your toolbox?
My digital toolbox consists of Corel Painter 12, Adobe Illustrator CS4 and Photoshop CS4. My “real” physical world toolbox consists of a Pentel brush pen, Pigma Micron pens, Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens in various colors, and Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor pencils in a wide range of colors.
Winged beetles by vinpauld

Winged beetles by vinpauld


When I’m in my studio…
I feel safe, cozy and happy.
Designs by vinpauld

Designs by vinpauld


Who or what influences or inspires your work and why?
I have three primary sources of inspiration. The first one comes from things I see in nature, especially on my walks with my dog, either in our local park or on local hikes (I frequently carry a camera with me and take lots of reference pictures of trees and flowers). Since I consider myself primarily an illustrator, my second source of inspiration comes from vintage children’s books, especially the Little Golden Books from the 1950s and 1960s. I love the works of J.P. Miller, Alice and Martin Provensen, Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren and of course Mary Blair. My third source of inspiration comes from old movies and TV shows. I find that when I’m watching an old film, I’m always keeping an eye out for beautiful patterns and color palettes. Sometimes, especially if I’m watching a DVD that I can pause, I will get out my camera and take a picture of a pattern right off the paused image on the TV screen.
Brown bunnies by vinpauld

Brown bunnies by vinpauld


What are your favorite small businesses or independent shops?
Bloomington is lucky in that it has a number of wonderful, independently owned shops. My favorites are Gather: Handmade Shoppe & Co., Bloomington Stitchery, The Book Corner, Vintage Phoenix Comic Books and a little farther out in Greencastle, Indiana is Conspire: Contemporary Craft.
Designs by vinpauld

Designs by vinpauld


If I could live in a painting, I would live in…
“September Sunshine, Adel Woods,” a 1998 painting by the late British botanical, wildlife and landscape painter Raymond Booth.
Landscape 2008 by Raymond Booth via The Fine Art Society

Landscape 2008 by Raymond Booth via The Fine Art Society


If I could only wear one fabric, it would be…
something soft and lightweight like a cotton jersey and most likely be a shade of dark blue. I usually wear solid colors or dark plaids, but if it had a design on it, it would probably be a fox, rabbit or dog.
The Library Cat by vinpauld

The Library Cat Brown by vinpauld


My favorite Spoonflower fabric to work with is…
Fleece, because it is so soft and I don’t have to worry about it fraying. I really should make more things with it, but most of my projects are made from either the Basic Cotton Ultra because it’s relatively inexpensive or the Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra (I make a lot of tea towels).
Retro bikes and dogs by vinpauld

Retro bikes and dogs by vinpauld


I’d love to see one of my designs turned into…
an animated film. Knowing that will probably never happen, I’d be happy to see one of my designs turned into a duvet cover.
Country life toile by vinpauld

Country life toile by vinpauld


The secret to a strong collection is…
something I feel I’m still trying to figure out. I believe in letting your personality show through in your work and I tend to be drawn to subjects that excite me – animals, flowers, vintage style, but when I’m working on a new design, I rarely think past the one design I’m working on. My collections on Spoonflower tend to be grouped by subject matter rather than by whether or not they relate to one another in color or style. I need to work on creating ’spin-offs’ from my designs that could be looked at and instantly recognized as being part of a collection.
Goldfinch on blue by vinpauld

Goldfinch on blue by vinpauld


The best advice I ever received is…

“Don’t give up, perseverance pays off.”

 You can visit Vince’s Spoonflower shop and view his entire collection of nature-inspired designs. Connect with him on the web via his website, and don’t forget to check out his Etsy shop.

Thanks Vince!

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Comments

  1. Lovely work and the encouragement to keep going is nice.
    His website link works but his Etsy store link goes to a page
    entitled “OH CRAP! WHAT NOW? SURVIVAL GUIDE”

    Reply

  2. Vince, how impressive that your many Etsy products are hand-crafted from your Spoonflower-printed fabric. Thank you for inspiring us with your interview!

    Reply

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