From Sketch to Free-to-Grow “Doodle”
Part of what makes Baby Tula unique, is how we strive to provide an abundance of different prints and styles that let you express yourself, or special meaning, through our carriers, blankets, and backpacks (!!!). From bold, whimsical designs to more understated styles, we make an effort to have it all! A fun detail about some of our designs is that they usually start as sporadic doodles in the sketchbook of our creative graphic designer, Nicole! We chatted with Nicole to get to know her a little better and learn a bit more about the process of taking sketches into becoming our favorite Tula items that arrive at your doorstep or local retailer’s shop!
ABOUT TEAM TULA MEMBER, NICOLE:
Nicole comes to Tula HQ, in San Diego, by way of Madison, Wisconsin. She attributes her technical skills and honed “design thinking” to her time at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she received her degree in Fine Arts in Design and Visual Communication. In addition to her knowledge in graphic design, Nicole also spent time traveling to explore art and the design industry.
Nicole was not familiar with Baby Tula before joining our team, but when applying for the position she went onto our website and fell in love with what she saw! We are excited to have Nicole on the team and have her fresh perspective inform our long standing effort to be creative.
ABOUT OUR GRAPHIC DESIGNER’S PROCESS:
Often, Nicole works closely with Ula, our founder and president, to start brainstorming and looking for inspiration, researching what people are most excited about, do some trend forecasting, and collaborate with our team to give the community what they want! Our main goal is to create a design for everyone, so they can see a Tula item and think, “This was meant for me!”
When possible, Nicole will work internally or with a partner brand to develop hand-drawn designs, like our original print used for the Doodle Free-to-Grow. It started with a mood board and some hand drawn sketches in a notebook. Then she’ll bring the sketches into Photoshop and Illustrator to refine, refine, refine, colorize, and organize into a pattern. The best variations of the design are shared with Ula and other Tula Team members for feedback. After which, there are many iterations until we finally reach an, “OMG YES” moment. Then, then our production team works to bring the design to life as it’s printed onto fabric and constructed into carriers, blankets, or backpacks. The process involves different expertise, inspiration, and collaboration because we enjoy bringing lots of different designs and forms of expression to you! Be sure to follow us on Facebook for previews and updates on all of our newest prints.
