I kind of fibbed when I said I didn’t have a New Year’s resolution. Not so much fibbed as totally forgot because I didn’t think about this until yesterday which is EXACTLY why it is my resolution: I’m going to be more organized and on time this year. If you know me well, you’re probably thinking- wait, on time? Aren’t you always on time? Well I sure used to be. Always the first at the party. Always the first to show up for a coffee date. But since moving to Texas, I have become a tardy person. I’m 5 minutes late everywhere. I think it’s because people are more relaxed in Austin than in Chicago and I’ve become comfortable being a little late. So that’s resolution 1. Resolution 2 is going to be a tad harder because I’m going to push myself to stop being so scatterbrained! In the past month, I’ve lost stuff, forgotten things, and had conversations where mid-thought, I totally forget what I am talking about. It’s really quite attractive when you’re trying to demonstrate your interest, eagerness, and thought in a conversation…ha! My solution is to start writing things down so I have a place where I can revisit my thoughts.

Enter JAY Pattern Design…

I met Annie Wood, the visionary and founder behind JAY, at a coffee shop in Chicago where we chatted over delicious lattes and then strolled over to my parents’ house to take some pictures. She is also a Miami University Alum but graduated in 2015. I’m telling you this because I still can’t believe she’s only 24… She is one of the most well spoken, put together, and eager people I have met. And she’s an entrepreneur. I was impressed. JAY Pattern Design is a company that creates unique patterns for phone cases and planners and strives to pattern your world. I received a planner from Annie which has unique designs on each page between months and are inspired by various people and places, such as the Marina Building in Chicago which looks like corn on the cob! I thought that was so cool. My planner will not only be unique and pretty, but serve as an excellent tool for me kickstarting this year.

I decided to interview Annie to gain more understanding of the girl behind the brand.

What IS Jay Pattern Design? What inspired it?
Simply put, JAY Pattern Design is my personal mission to pattern this world!  As a graphic designer, we are always in front of a screen, designing. In order to offset the strain on my eyes, and challenge myself to get off the computer for a bit, while still channeling my creative process, I started JAY as a passion project in December of 2014 by doodling patterns on coffee cups. I was always carrying a cup of coffee and my Micron pens, so it seemed like a natural fit (still to this day, I haven’t found a surface I like illustrating on more, the paper quality on a coffee cup is absolutely the best!) One design a day for a month. Some day’s doodles were great. Some day’s doodles I wasn’t always in love with it, but committed to never foregoing a doodle. I would even post the cup illustrations on Instagram, not for the notoriety, but for the accountability. At the end of my personal challenge, I had 30 paper cups brimming with patterns. These designs then went on to become the seeds for the patterns on JAY’s products. In essence, I live by the motto that coffee cannot be enjoyed without art and art cannot be created without coffee.

 

2017 planner creative jay pattern design organization