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KAREN STORR

DESIGNER. ILLUSTRATOR.
EXPERT BACON FRYER.

Hi!  I’m Karen.

I’m a designer living in the beautiful Laurentian region of Québec, Canada where we ski all winter, swim in the lake all summer, and have backyard campfires all year-round.

What is Surface Design?

Surface design is the creation of artwork like patterns, illustrations, lettering, and standalone designs that can be applied to a surface.  We are surrounded by surface design in our everyday lives.  Think fabric, wallpaper, notebooks, tissue boxes, cellphone cases, apparel, stickers…the list goes on and on!

The World Needs Weird OG Colour palette white mug
FLS Custom T-shirt design 2021

What about Art Licensing?

Art licensing is when an artist (Licensor) gives permission to a manufacturer (Licensee) to use their artwork on products in exchange for payment.  This can mean a one-time payment where the artist sells the rights to their artwork outright or when the artist agrees to ‘rent’ their artwork to the manufacturer and gets royalties in exchange.  

Before diving into the world of Surface Design I was a graphic and web designer focused mainly on Brand & Visual Identity design which I still love to do.  I hope to bring awareness to things like social justice & environmental protection but I also just want to have fun & make people smile with my artwork.

Now Available

New Surface Pattern Collection 'Feisty Flo|rest'

Contact for licensing


Q & A:


Hometown:

Fredericton, N.B.  Canada

Favorite Food:

Everything Mexican!

Dream job as a kid:

Archaeologist

On my nightstand:

National Geographic,  The Outsiders,  Kids of Appetite

On my playlist:

Jimi Hendrix, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Milky Chance

3 things already checked off my bucket list:

Solo skydive, African Safari, being a mama.

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners.  I wish someone had told me.  All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.  But there is this gap.  For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good.  It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.  And your taste is why your work disappoints you.  A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit.  Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.  We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have.  We all go through this.  And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.  Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece.  It’s only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.  And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met.  It’s gonna take a while.  It’s normal to take awhile.  

You just gotta fight your way through.

– Ira Glass

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