Growing up in the Swedish countryside and deeply inspired by nature, Malin Gyllensvaan transformed her childhood daydreams into a passion for storytelling through colour and texture, weaving them into a thriving career as a textile designer, creating stunning designs for renowned brands like IKEA.
When did you first realise that you wanted to be an artist and how did your creative career begin?
I was 10 years old when I started to think I wanted to be an artist. But since this was long before the internet, it was difficult to find out how to go about it and what a career could look like. But I kept on drawing and creating until I applied to my first art school and got in.
Which artists or artistic movements have had the biggest influence on your work? How do they inspire your creative process and design style?
Since I am educated as a textile designer in England I would have to say Arts and Craft and William Morris. I don’t look in that direction actively nowadays, but it has made a very clear mark in my handwriting.
What mediums or tools do you prefer working with, and how do they impact the look and feel of your work?
I love gouache for the multiple use of both an opaque and a translucent feeling. It is such a versatile medium that lends itself well to my style. I also use blackwing graphite pencils a lot, I have always loved that neutral grey as a nice balance together with colour.
Can you share your process for developing a new textile design, from the initial concept to the finished fabric? What inspires your designs?
It depends what client I am working with…if it’s for kids, fashion or interiors. But after I have a brief I start looking for my own inspiration. I have to make a moodboard for myself before I start sketching. This is also when I start gathering my thoughts and working up inspiration.
I can most of the time feel true inspiration for a job but I first have to find an angle that makes it "mine". When I have a moodboard and a clear thought in my mind of what I want to achieve I start sketching by hand on paper with a graphite pen.
When I am happy with that, I start sketching digitally on my ipad so I can get a good flow of the pattern etc. When that feels done I will transfer that sketch onto a nice piece of paper and start painting. Then when I create the final repeat I will use photoshop and my Cintiq Wacom tablet.
How does working in textile design affect the way you think about scale, repetition, and composition in your illustrations?
I think I often think in collections. That there is a nice variation in the images, but that they should still work together. Different scales can add interest and colour bind things together.
Do you find that certain themes or motifs appear repeatedly in both your illustrations and textile work? What draws you to these recurring elements?
I have grown up in the Swedish countryside and I am very influenced by the flora and fauna from here. I keep coming back to me as a kid. I love woodland critters and I always prefer them to domesticated animals. They seem to be living a secret life and as a child I used to fantasise about what they were up to when no humans were around. I also paint flowers because of their organic sculptural feeling and lovely colours of course.
How do you decide which colours to use in your illustrations and designs? Is your colour choice driven more by current trends, personal preference, or the specific story you want to tell?
My colours are almost always a gut feeling.
In a world of fast fashion, how do you ensure your textile designs remain timeless?
I don´t follow trends anymore, at least not very consciously.
Can you tell us about your favourite collaboration so far? What made it special, and how did it influence your approach to textile design?
I can’t say that I have a favourite. My favourite is very much what I am working on at the moment. I love variation in clients and products. And illustrating a book can be fun as can doing a children's collection for IKEA, even though they need different approaches.
If you could choose any project or brand to collaborate with, what would be your dream partnership, and why does it appeal to you?
Again, I am more focused on the brief and the people you work with than the brand. But I love to work with sustainable brands with high end products that can live on for a long time. Or books and music covers.
See more of Malin Gyllensvaan:
Instagram: @Malingyllensvaan
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