78zin

The initial inspiration began with Maurits Cornelis Escher, a Dutch artist who blends irregular, interlocking tiles shaped like animals in his artwork. Our print’s background maintains this geometric, tessellation-inspired format. ‘I really liked the idea of placing the ocelot character into a geo shape, which is something that felt new and a fun way of designing a conversational print,’ says Danielle.

The decision to explore the ocelot was a natural continuation from our previous tiger and cheetah characters. ‘The ocelot's fur is extensively marked with solid black markings on a creamy background colour,’ says Danielle. This variation in markings lends itself to a highly detailed drawing and opportunity to explore digital texture and tone. ‘Each ocelot has a unique colour pattern, so this felt considered and elevated to be used within the print,’ explains Danielle.

Once the original ocelot drawing was created in Photoshop, the geometric layout of the repeat print began to form, following the natural shape of the cat. ‘Ocelots tend to be most active in twilight and at nighttime, which led to us overlaying the print on a darker base,’ says Danielle. Once the character was placed in a repeat pattern, hand-drawn stars and foliage were added to introduce movement and additional detail to the design.

Before being printed onto the blouse and dress, the print is separated into screens and colour matched. ‘The design team kept to a classic silhouette to allow the print to do the talking and the garment to hold its value,’ says Danielle.