My involvement with Renegade Craft Fair is:
“I have been working for Renegade for a little under 8 years now. I started as an info booth volunteer at our Chicago flagship event and quickly began managing and buying for the little shop we had at the time, Renegade Handmade. After closing the shop, I continued as an official RCF employee from then on. I’ve hand my hands in nearly every pot at Renegade but have settled into my new role as Associate Creative Director. I do everything from creating GIFS and icons for the RCF website, to jurying and curating the fairs, to designing our info booth + collateral, to creating Flag Installations for the events (that the lovely Spoonflower makes possible!).”
My background is in:
“Design! I attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I mainly focused in Fiber and Material Studies. I’ve spent double the time at RCF that I spent at SAIC, so I consider my time with Renegade as my Masters Degree in Design (and so many other things!). I have RCF to thank for developing my art practice as it stands today.”
My inspiration for the Renegade Craft Fair banners comes from:
“The Creative Team comes together with images + colors and overall vibes that inspire us. This leads to a breakdown of what direction we want to go in for all of our Creative Deliverables. This includes e-flyers, posters, postcards, etc. etc. Once we’ve locked down some colors, a vibe, I just go for it and start painting, cutting out paper, drawing and scanning. Then I take the scans into photoshop and create large files where I play around with my designs and make the final fabric layouts! Sometimes it feels like magic and sometimes I’m so uninspired that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to design anything. Ever again. So far that hasn’t been the case….fingers crossed!
The flags have become a fixture of RCF and help make the blank spaces we set up in feel more intimate and creative. We’ve been using Spoonflower to produce the flags since 2015.
My design toolbox is made up of:
“I use my two mitts. Paints, paper, colored pencils. A scanner. My phone camera (lol). And finally Photoshop!”
My work is inspired by:
“Nature. I love camping and river rafting and I always try to go there in my head when I design.”
My advice for someone trying to create a statement piece for an event is:
“Play with color. Play with texture and different materials, hand paint and draw instead of working digitally. You can always mess around with colors/textures in design programs later, so don’t be afraid to do something weird!”
I chose Poly Crepe de Chine for the Renegade Craft Fair banners because:
“I spoke with a Spoonflower rep and explained what I wanted, which was something transparent, (essentially double sided), lightweight and easy to wash/transport. They suggested Poly Crepe de Chine and I never went back!”
I turned my banner idea from a vision into a reality by:
“I’m a free and easy kinda gal when it comes to making art and I feel good when I make something that I really love. Spoonflower makes it easy to take my paintings/scan them and make them into something more substantial and exciting. But I’m probably preaching to the choir here? I really love making fabric.”
Inspired to transform your artwork into fabric just like Madelon? Take a closer look at some of our favorite design resources.
Madelon wrangles *most* things creative at Renegade Craft Fair, makes fun gifs and icons for our website + social media, and juries and curates the events. Outside of RCF she’s extremely food focused and is working on slowly remodeling her little house. She loves painting, drawing, surface design and making lil’ clay thingys.
I enjoyed this post, reading about this designer. It did pop out at me, however, that she said she, “Spoke with someone at Spoonflower.” I find that to be impossible. There is a phone number where you can leave a voice mail. Otherwise, I find it impossible to get a quick answer to a question.
Hi Susan,
We’re so sorry for your frustration! We worked with Madelon via email as we have very limited phone support at this time.
We’d be happy to answer any specific questions you have via email, which is usually the fastest way to communicate here at Spoonflower. In email, we can send you helpful links and screenshots as necessary to help guide you through our website.
The other quickest way to to get in touch with us is via livechat on our site. You can find this option by clicking on the button towards the bottom right corner on our website. It is usually available weekdays during business hours EST.
LOVE your work —but mostly I love that you are doing so much of what YOU love.
I do need emails and ads about RCF.—please. Use my email and give me news of the latest. I totally missed the Austin show. A BIG THANKS—-Elizabeth
Great story. I haven’t done any designs lately but I also need to remember to take a picture before I give it away.
Absolutely gorgeous! I am so inspired to try this. Your work is stunning, Madelon!