From Wrapping Paper to Textiles and beyond
Designer Emily Burningham talks about her love of plants and the creative process that drives her brand
Interview by Stefanie Rudolph
Emily, where is the garden in your life that accounts for the multitude of flower and branch patterns?
Preparing for this interview I found several mentions of your family’s Suffolk boathouse as a vital source of inspiration. And yes, it’s easy to recognize its influence in your boat, lighthouse or seagull designs. But the plants?
I guess my love of flowers comes from my grandmother. As my parents were working full time, I spent a lot of time at hers, she lived nearby. She was a keen gardener and I’d be in the greenhouse with her, potting up seedlings, water the plants, smell the tomatoes… Those were very happy days that – at least in memory – were always sunny.
She taught me plant names and I think - even though I probably at the time just liked being with her and having a cup of tea and (best of all) cake - her enthusiasm and passion simply rubbed off and inspired me. So I too have loved flowers and plants ever since I was a small child.
Also, my father had a rose garden which he loved and I think English rose gardens are hard to beat. I’d be in there and smell the roses and the cut grass when he’d been around with his lawn mower. Actually, my parents still have a garden – with a mulberry tree and pear trees and flowers – which I visit often.
Do you do any actual gardening yourself? Or have you done so in the past, apart from helping your granny in her garden?
We have a small studio garden here at the company. It’s so nice though not yet looking what I’d want it to look like. But there are little patios with pots and such. It is mainly maintenance at the moment and I wish I had the time to do more, I’d really love to. But it comes down to finding the time for it. Well, one day…
Preparing for this interview I found several mentions of your family’s Suffolk boathouse as a vital source of inspiration. And yes, it’s easy to recognize its influence in your boat, lighthouse or seagull designs. But the plants?
I guess my love of flowers comes from my grandmother. As my parents were working full time, I spent a lot of time at hers, she lived nearby. She was a keen gardener and I’d be in the greenhouse with her, potting up seedlings, water the plants, smell the tomatoes… Those were very happy days that – at least in memory – were always sunny.
She taught me plant names and I think - even though I probably at the time just liked being with her and having a cup of tea and (best of all) cake - her enthusiasm and passion simply rubbed off and inspired me. So I too have loved flowers and plants ever since I was a small child.
Also, my father had a rose garden which he loved and I think English rose gardens are hard to beat. I’d be in there and smell the roses and the cut grass when he’d been around with his lawn mower. Actually, my parents still have a garden – with a mulberry tree and pear trees and flowers – which I visit often.
Do you do any actual gardening yourself? Or have you done so in the past, apart from helping your granny in her garden?
We have a small studio garden here at the company. It’s so nice though not yet looking what I’d want it to look like. But there are little patios with pots and such. It is mainly maintenance at the moment and I wish I had the time to do more, I’d really love to. But it comes down to finding the time for it. Well, one day…
Do you have a favourite flower or plant?
Oh… [pauses for a second] – lily of the valley, blossoms, the English rose, foxglove, lupins, hollyhocks…
So cottage garden flowers rather than exotics. No orchids for you then?
I like them, yes, but they are not the same – they don’t sing to me.
What’s your actual design process like? Do you draw plants from nature?
A bit of both. I draw outside but I also sometimes treat myself to cutflowers, it’s my guilty pleasure. I know, they are not alive anymore – but oooh, what a difference they make to a room! They are just so beautiful and brighten it no end.
So then I sit there, admiring them, and whatever I have in my hand – pencil, or else – I start doing a little sketch and then more. And then I play with it to make a repeat pattern. That is dictated by the type of plant. Say with nasturtiums: How to combine and link the petals and spurs to make it a pleasing repeat pattern?
Then I will do colour variations. I especially love gouache. However, I will often do more variations on the computer, because it’s easy and quicker.
What happens after the original designing?
Once I’ve finished this, it will go the manufacturer and we’ll test the pieces: a bit lighter, a bit darker, change this, change that – it’s a meticulous process. With paper it’s easier: you just choose the colours you want and there you are, it can get printed. With fabrics, there is more trying and testing.
The manufacturer eventually produces big rolls of the printed fabric which is then sold by the metre. And then all you can do is cross fingers that the public likes is! I always try a couple of colourways – it pays to have one daring, eye-catching combination among them. People may not be attracted to it but it will make them look and notice. And then perhaps they’ll go for something safer, easier from my range.
I think it [the colour combination] also depends on the home – it should look and feel alright in there. Hence the choice might differ not only by the style of interior but by country: some countries have different light, so colours can be brighter without looking garish.
There’s also a definite difference in cultural preferences: in the USA, for instance, they like things to be bright. Here in the UK people prefer them to be more muted. Personally, I do think we should be bolder too and have brighter colours and patterns in our homes.
You once said you love unusual colour combinations that strangely match. But the plants/ flowers and animals in your designs retain their “natural” colour, i.e. one they could have in real life. I’ve not seen something like, say, a blue daffodil.
So do you reserve the “unusual colour treatment” for the background and keep the subjects “lifelike” if stylized?
Laughs… Blue daffodils? Yes, I might actually do that next! - - Well, I often take something that you’d normally think would clash – such as brown and blue, or red and orange – and try make it work.
Your designs somehow remind me of book illustrations from the 1920s to 1940s – is that deliberate?
Yes, I think so. I love things from the past. People knew how to draw then. These old pictures have such charm and innocence. That’s important to me: the line and the colours, the feel of the pattern…
How did the Asian influence come about? Did you stay in the Far East for a while?
I have visited, but only after my love of it. I love the clarity, the colours, the boldness of Oriental design - Japanese in particular. If I’m not clear about my own design for a moment, I look to the East for inspiration. Also, it’s so modern even though a lot was created so long ago.
What about your recent technicolour graphic designs?
Oh, they were great fun! You sometimes have to throw something totally different into a collection and hopefully people will love it. But yes, they were great fun – I loved playing with the colours.
Generally speaking, your designs are very happy and cheerful, even innocent. Is that on purpose? Are you a happy, optimistic person?
Yes, I think you could say so. Or maybe designing is my salvation. I think the job of a designer is to try and lift the mood of people and bring happiness to their homes. If I can do that, then I’ve succeeded. It makes me happy to do that.
Talking of nature, I think May is the happiest month in the year. Everything is at its most beautiful and full of hope and promise! Then afterwards, colours are still great and lots of things are coming. But it makes me sad to see it all go down towards grey and brown again. In May there is still promise!
Elsewhere you have said you were quite sure early on in your life not only that you wanted to be a designer or artist, but that you’d have to set out on your own in order not to compromise your art.
But were you always keen on designing paper products and textiles one day? Or was that due to “life’s coincidences”, because you worked for companies like stationer Paperchase? You studied furniture design and ceramics, after all.
Paper is a good place to start out with as a beginner because you can test the market fairly easily. Fabrics is a medium which I love and find extremely interesting. I also love repeat pattern enormously, it’s very satisfying. So somehow I knew I’d end up designing textiles. But actually I think I’d call myself more of a surface designer – designing patterns that could be applied to anything. I sure would love to do lots more and lots of other things, too. Tiles, ceramics,… But paper is my trusty friend.
…Can you throw a pot?
Yes, though not a very good one. It’s more the painting of it I’m interested in.
Your company also offers accessories, such as aprons, washbags, desk tidies, and cushions. How do you decide which of your designs to fashion into such a more advanced product?
I’ve completed a few designs recently for paper products like notecards where, once finished, I thought this pattern would look good on fabric. It flows nicely and is strong. That’s how I start: Do I like that design? Is it strong enough for fabrics, for products? Is it pleasing? Is it something I would like to have around me? As a washbag perhaps? Or a shopping bag?
It’s instinctive, I guess – and trial and error. I always test it first, create a prototype, and see how the finished product turns out: the look, the shape.
You grew up in a very creative family. Both your parents are well-known illustrators and authors of children’s books, both have won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. I suppose there are not many children and young adults in the UK who haven’t been read We’re going on a Bear Hunt, for instance, illustrated by your mother Helen Oxenbury.
So as a child, did you sit with them in their study and scribble alongside?
Yes, there certainly were those moments. They were and are a great inspiration. They’ve shown me the joy of working for themselves - as freelancers, all hours, determined and striving for perfection, showing that art doesn’t happen quickly. Many people think of art as a “drop out” subject [at school], as the easy way – but it’s not at all like that, it’s hard.
Did they also influence your actual style?
We all appreciate a certain design period, be it Art Deco or Art Noveau. When we find something interesting – a book, magazine article, artefact etc. – we share it with each other. Also, I ask for their feedback and they are very good at giving it. Then I might change my designs according to that feedback. Thus, inevitably, they have inspired my style, too, I guess.
You became a mother yourself recently – has that changed anything at “Emily Burningham”, the company?
I have a wonderful team who made it possible for me to carry on. So far, my little daughter comes with me everywhere, to meetings etc., and it works well. It might become more difficult when she starts crawling though…
Your own parents apparently had hoped you’d be a scientist one day. It didn’t work out, as they probably should have known… Whilst bearing this in mind, what would you want your child to be doing one day?
Laughs: Oh, my parents are very happy now, very supportive… Let me think. I would love her to be involved with nature, work with nature - whether animals or plants. Perhaps in conservation – the next David Attenborough perhaps, so no pressure there…
Classic question of job interviews: Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? What will you focus on in the future – more on new products, or more on new designs?
BOTH! I itch for more designing, it’s just a question of finding the time. Also, I want to expand and do as many different things as possible: ceramics, bedlinen… a whole variety!
Returning to the theme/subject/topic of this website: What do plants mean to you?
I just love flowers – they are so strong and beautiful and gentle at the same time! They are miraculous, all these colours, patterns… Think of fritillaries or tulips or pansies – simply extraordinary! We’d be a lot poorer without them; at least I wouldn’t want to be without them.
They bring life to our life. There is simply nothing like watching something grow, bloom and blossom. They are an incredible life force, I think. And most look so beautiful. A home without plants – in whichever form – would be bland and is lacking something, in my mind. They bring life and energy. This balance between delicateness and strength is truly fascinating, I think.
If money and time were no objections, what would your ideal garden look like?
I think a traditional English garden, with banks full of foxgloves, lupins, delphiniums and honeysuckle – the traditional flowers. I like a garden in the manner of Gertrude Jekyll: like a canvas, where colours are working well together, where you work with plants as if painting. There certainly would not be very bright, tropical flowers though – beautiful as they are.
I also like a bit of wilderness – nature left to its own to a certain extent, but with no weeds. Just nothing too structured. I’d like to create somewhere that hosts birds and insects.
Thank you very much for the interview and all the best!