I wanted to start a travel section of The Print Edit as so much of my inspiration comes from travelling and seeing our beautiful world. 

I feel very lucky that I'm able to visit different cities and experience new cultures. To learn something new keeps you feeling alive and the ideas flowing. If I'm stuck behind a desk for too long my work definitely suffers.

As a print designer, who yes loves anything printed and colourful, I can get inspiration from so many different things. A random torn down building, floors, food, cultural behaviours, markets and loads more. Everything can inspire you if you look and are open to it.

I recently went to Lisbon for 5 days and all I can say is go go go! It seems a bit of a place to be at the moment, and I can see why… the architecture, the food, the markets, the shopping, custard tarts and my new fave cocktail, a Pisco Sour.

Everywhere you look, you see a new pattern...

Most of the buildings are covered in original hand painted tiles and if they are not, they are painted in the most beautiful colours. Ranging from bright yellow, greens or pinks and the roads are lined with these amazing lilac trees.

Its pure escapism, forget laying on a beach, there is so much to distract your mind from the day to day life at home, there is so much to see.

And yes, a 20 minute walk took an hour and a half...

Because I kept stopping to take photos (the hubby got a lil annoyed in the end) but I came back with so many ideas.

The Tiles

The tiles in Lisbon are so beautiful

Seeing them up close you can tell most have been hand painted individually (no photoshop to repeat these beauties). This must have taken forever to design for an entire building, but so worth it. 

It highlighted to me how fast we work now, and how we vary rarely design a full artwork by hand. Don’t get me wrong, photoshop has been my best friend for the last 12 years but it got me inspired to hand design and paint more.

Use the colour combinations from the tiles to inspire new colour palettes, outfit ideas, home interiors or anything you want.

How I get inspiration for a design from my travels

A big part of my job is to come up with future trends. Whats going to be on trend in the next year to two years, and to also know whats going to happen in the next month. 

So to begin with… I look at whats popular right now, not just whats in print but whats happening within peoples behaviours, social media, future changes, exhibitions.. the list goes on. 

Everything comes from whats happening around us, and this is filtered through to fashion, interiors, food, technology and so much more. 

'Escapism' is a bubbling trend right now...

Maybe its to do with the fact people are going away more then ever ,and wanting to experience new things. A while ago now, it was great to go away for 2 weeks and lay on a beach, this is now changing. With people wanting short smaller bursts of excitement, and to do more while they are away. 

People want to escape from the day to day. Its good for our mental wellbeing, eagerness to learn and its a break from social media.

Its already huge within high end fashion. For example if you look at Christian Dior's Resort 2020 collection. They have used original North African artworks from a Studio called Uniwax. A print studio who makes African wax prints on cotton. Dior wanted to show a collection about luxury, globalism and culture.

This is a trend thats growing. I go into more detail over on my Destination Dressing post https://theprintedit.com/trend/destination-dressing.html

Trend ideas

I start to build trend boards around the new ideas I've collected from my travels. From what I've learnt, more research, and the 100s of photos Ive taken. I put together rough mood boards to start building colour palettes and trend ideas. I will then look through the catwalk, other trends that have been bubbling and new colour combinations. And it grows from there...

Below is how I start collating information, and my initial mood boards...

The Shopping

As well as all the beautiful architecture and design in Lisbon, the shops are well worth a visit. They felt way ahead, offering more sustainable and vegan products. 

The term ‘Made In Portugal’ was labeled on many garments. And speaking to shop owners, customers will wear the label with pride, as they know where its made and it hasn’t been shipped from across the world.

You will find many dresses in recycled fabrics, and vintage shopping is also a big part of Lisbon’s charm. With stores curated into trends, and the stores have an inviting feel.

Kleed

A brand I found in Lisbon which amazed me.

The KLEED brand was founded in 2016, by Carolina Guedes Cruz, who’s two passion’s in life are fashion and wildlife conservation in Africa.

I was first attracted to their kimonos because of their beautiful designs. Im a big Kimono fan anyway but these stood out with their statement animal embroidery on the back. 

Each sale directly supports conservation in Africa and 5% other annual net profit goes towards saving the white rhino from extinction in Africa.

https://kleedkimonos.com

LX Factory

LX factory is a little haven of sustainable boutique shops and great lunch spots. Definitely worth a visit if your in Lisbon.

It used to be an industrial site for fabric mills and is now full of boutiques and restaurants. It's got that Shoreditch, East London vibe where designers will go to meet up, and they have different events going on each week.

I noticed lots of hand printed techniques in the shops, vintage clothing and customisable items. And the famous 'Made in Lisbon' or 'Portugal' sign in most shops.