The #30FlowersInMyStyle2024 floral pattern design challenge has come to a close, and what a wonderful journey it has been! This year's theme, "Flowers of the World," allowed us to celebrate the diversity of global flora, focusing on five flowers from each continent. It was amazing to explore these unique blooms and transform them into patterns that represent their beauty. As always, artists and designers from all over the world participated, bringing their own flair and creativity to the challenge. It’s always a pleasure to see how each designer interprets the theme, and this year’s entries were full of fresh, inspiring takes on floral design.

For me, this year’s challenge had a special focus—I decided to practice my ditsy floral patterns. I’ve always loved the look of these small-scale, intricate florals, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to challenge myself and refine my skills. It was a rewarding experience, pushing my creativity in new directions while sticking to a style I love.

This year, I kept the same structure as last year, with three options for participants: Free, Starter, and Premium. Each tier was designed to meet different needs, whether you were just getting started or wanted to dive deeper into the creative process. The exciting new addition this time around was the opportunity to win a 1-on-1 consultation with me for those who signed up for the Starter or Premium options. It was important to me to offer something more personal and supportive, giving participants a chance to gain feedback and insights that could help their design skills and career.

In the end, #30FlowersInMyStyle2024 was more than just a design challenge—it was a space for growth, learning, and connection. The sense of community, the creativity shared, and the collective drive to push boundaries made this year’s challenge incredibly special. I’m so grateful to everyone who took part, and I can’t wait to see what next year’s challenge brings.

Here is a selection of participants for you to meet and finally see the face behind the pattern. Let's meet them! Don't forget to visit their IG profiles and leave some love + support!

What did you enjoy the most about the challenge?

I enjoyed experimenting with different floral styles and color combinations to create unique vibrant designs.

How was the challenge beneficial to you?

To challenge myself and see that I have progressed since last year.

Tell us a little bit about your path as a Surface Pattern Designer!

For me it started three years ago when I started with Procreate and did some online courses for surface pattern designers. I still consider myself a beginner.

Tell us what you will be working on next!!

Trying to make one collection of what I have made in the past month.

What did you enjoy the most about the challenge?

I enjoyed learning about different flowers and stretching outside of my comfort zone.

How was the challenge beneficial to you?

This challenge gave me an opportunity to try something different. I feel like I am drawing faster and more confidently as a result. 

Tell us a little bit about your path as a Surface Pattern Designer!

I am a total beginner. I am just learning pattern design and had only created a handful of patterns before this challenge. 

Tell us what you will be working on next!!

I’m looking forward to creating more patterns and trying other art challenges.

What did you enjoy the most about the challenge?

The challenge of coming up with many design concepts in a short time. That's normally very very stressful for me, but the topic of flowers makes it somehow more enjoyable! This time I fell into a routine and it all worked rather well.

How was the challenge beneficial to you?

The challenge gave me the opportunity to "mass produce" floral patterns, in a positive way: the number of prompts gave me the challenge to come up with a new way or look for each one of them in a short time. I think this encourages experimentation and gives opportunity to practice. It lead to many different patterns, although the overall topic is the same.

Tell us a little bit about your path as a Surface Pattern Designer!

While studying for a degree in fashion design, I discovered my love for making patterns. I learned more about that in my later studies of textile design, and I discovered Spoonflower at that time. 

So just about when Covid came around, I graduated and started building on my skills in designing patterns and collections. I'm working in house in a textile business, and work on my pattern business on the side, mostly for print on demand and small commission projects. 

Tell us what you will be working on next!!

I'm just now finishing another collection about vacationing in nature, inspired by the SPD Color Collaboration group. Next in line is an autumn collection. I have some bits and pieces lying around for a while now. And of course turning all the prettiest flowers from this project into seamless repeats!

What did you enjoy the most about the challenge?

What I enjoyed the most was starting the day with drawing flowers. With the prompt list, you do not need to think first "what subject shall I draw?" So you can just start. And I loved to see all the different interpretations of the same flower. 

How was the challenge beneficial to you?

I noticed that starting every day with drawing is fun, relaxed and possible! And I still got enough time to do my other work for the rest of the day. I work faster and more organized now with designing patterns. And I've got plenty of new patterns for my Spoonflower shop.

Tell us a little bit about your path as a Surface Pattern Designer!

I've always been a creative person, I liked sewing as well and I loved all the fabrics with beautiful patterns. When I became a graphic designer, after working for years internationally in sales and marketing, I also wanted to learn how to make my own pattern designs. I decided to do some online courses and learned how to design patterns. I still work as a graphic designer, but moving slowly in the direction of becoming a surface pattern designer in the first place.

Tell us what you will be working on next!!

I will have a look at the flower prompt list of last year, and keep on drawing new flower patterns, the upcoming weeks! :-)

What did you enjoy the most about the challenge?

I loved pushing myself to think outside the box with each flower, experimenting with shapes, movement, and color to bring a fresh interpretation to every design.

How was the challenge beneficial to you?

The challenge held me accountable to make art daily and be intentional about sharing my work even when what I created sometimes wasn’t my favorite. It was very vulnerable and liberating for me to just trust the process and keep going even when I felt all out of creative juice. 

Tell us a little bit about your path as a Surface Pattern Designer!

Before I stumbled upon Surface Pattern Design, I had no idea it even existed! At the beginning of 2023, I set out to pursue my dream of making art a bigger part of my life. It felt like I had all the pieces, but they just weren’t coming together yet. I knew I wanted to build a career where I could be creative, share my designs, and work on my own terms. I’ve always pictured seeing my patterns on store shelves, like at Target one day. It wasn’t until I started sharing my work that I came across Surface Pattern Design. This summer, I launched my business, Oh Hello Kiwi, and opened a Spoonflower shop that I’m slowly but surely populating with designs. Once I dove into learning more about this creative world, I knew I had found my path and haven’t looked back since.

Tell us what you will be working on next!!

First, I’ll be finishing setting up my Spoonflower shop. I’ve also been encouraged several times by multiple people to start pitching my work to companies, so my other next step is mustering up the courage and pitching to companies that align with my brand.

 I decided to do something at the end this year again, because after the challenge people usually have lots of new patterns, but they don't really know what to do with them. Should they upload them to P.O.D. sites? Or pitch them?

The best answer for me was to put everything I know about creating collections into a workshop. All the knowledge and experience I have gathered in the last 10 years of working in the fashion and textile industry with companies, textile studios and as a freelancer has gone into this workshop, which I plan to update with new information from time to time.

The workshop is already available for purchase. For now, you'll be able to learn about the different types of collections, get tips and tricks on how to create them, download templates, see examples and helpful links. The next update will be coming soon and I will show you the process of how I create collections, step by step.

Click the button below to get more information about the workshop: