We’ve been creating print designs for a loooooong time now. Back in the day, it was easy to fill in the gap. There was no such thing as a designer licensing print designs. So business took off quite easily. Nowadays the surface design market is very saturated and most creative academies offer surface design as a course. Not in my days. I have a background in graphic designs and typography. The typography studies let me find the balance in every pattern I create up until today. We started out creating things that just weren’t there yet. And over the years we’ve been doing trend reports and we’ve seen both short and long trend waves come and pass us by. But some designs just never seem to leave our licensing list.
For this post, we selected our 5 most popular print designs to date. Some were made over 10 years ago and got picked up by a trend. Some got popular simply because they ended up in a Chinese database and turned into the most used but also stolen designs. And some are just good designs, thank god for the good designs, right? A properly balanced, color sweet spot print design.
1 // The Scandinavian Hedgehogs
We made these hedgehogs 7 years ago. At first, this surface design was only available on a white background. And most of our best selling pieces are created with a white background first. The white is a crisp clean contrast with any color used. And therefore perfect for baby nursery and clothing pieces. Pure and soft. Now, this design has been licensed all over the world numerous times. And the hedgehogs are also available in versions with gender-specific and gender-neutral backgrounds. This one still remains our best selling design to date.
Shop Hedgehogs here.
2 // The Monochrome Grid
I personally am not a very big fan of checkered designs. But simple basic check prints were missing from our portfolio. I came up with the Monochrome Grid around the same time the hedgehogs were made. I was creating an exclusive design series that was created from raw brush strokes and this grid designs didn't make the cut. Little did I know this would be one of our hot selling designs for years to come.
Shop grid designs here.
3 // Scandinavian Bunnies
There are a couple of evergreen themes in print designs. This bunny design is not a typically popular theme for kids patterns. Around Easter, we always see an increase of bunny interest but this one has been selling like mad for years, all year long. It might be the illustration that is suitable for both babies and older kids but I think it mostly has to do with the fact gender neutral kids products are very popular. And the bunny is not gender-specific like some: cats for girls, dinos for boys. It's fun to see so many different things created with this fabric. It's available in various sizes and colors and available for licensing.
Shop Bunnies here.
4 // Colorful Rainbows
Talking about evergreen designs, this rainbow design certainly is one. This particular design has been our all-time fave gender-specific design and has been licensed for girls clothes and baby nursery. At the moment, the rainbows are also very much on-trend and another rainbow design of ours is rapidly climbing the best selling charts. I am pretty sure this one will keep taking the lead though, the rainbow trend is just a wave and this print is less influenced by trend with its multiple colors and simplistic shape it's a contemporary design. Perfect for girls, even though we also have a version for boys without the pinks, this one remains a hit.
Shop Rainbows here.
5 // Geometric Indian Animals
Our last design finishing off the top 5 faves is our geometric Indian Animals design. Another design suitable for both genders. These animals were licensed to numerous companies, for baby bedding, kids fashion, and new creations made with our Spoonflower fabric keep popping up on our feeds. Definitely one of our fave designs this one. it was a blast coming up with these quirky animals full of personality.
Shop Indian Animals here.
As you can see in this top 5, most of our designs that sell best are not specific to gender. And we love the fact that parents and customers get more conscious about the durability of their products. A great trend! All of these designs are however also available in more girly and boyish tones if you do want to create something specific to gender. They're available in our Spoonflower shop and available to license directly if you wish to use our design for your business. They can be used for all sorts of products, not only on paper or fabric. If you're curious to know more just send us a message or check our website for more info and rates about licensing.
