The Sonova Studio Process
By Amy Kilvington
Sonova Studio encapsulates a love of colour, a connection to nature, and a passion for pattern design. For us, it’s not just about the product, but the process.
Our pattern designer, Eilidh, grew up in the Scottish Borders. Surrounded by nature’s glorious forms and colours, she was never short of inspiration, spending many hours painting in the garden with her favourite medium, watercolour. This story marks the beginning of the Sonova Studio process, and is something that we’ll always hold close to our hearts.
“It starts with an idea.”
Each design starts with an idea, sparked from a morning in the garden or a walk in the countryside. Returning to the studio, these moments of inspiration are explored and amplified by thorough trend research, information gathering and customer profiling to ensure we know what’s right for you.
“Telling stories of colour, tone and form.”
Our initial research is presented on concept moodboards, telling stories of colour, tone and form. They help us to understand our vision and formulate our very first concept ideas. From here, watercolour dyes and ink become the mediums of choice, enabling us to mix colour, gather marks and achieve the perfectly imperfect artisanal style that’s coveted by our customers.
“Fusing technology with traditional textiles techniques.”
Next, it’s time to fuse technology with the traditional techniques that remain a key part of our process. Each design is scanned into an editable digital format, so we can develop colour, scale and pattern repeats whilst retaining the integrity and essence of our hand-painted designs. With this amalgamation of skills and methods, we are able to seamlessly blend traditional craft with technology.
“A shortlist of designs that our customers will love.”
We believe that the best possible results involve collaboration, which is why we involve our wider team in design development and decision making. This enables us to drill down to an exclusive selection of designs to send to print, reducing hundreds of concepts into a shortlist that our customers will love.
“The joy of building our final collection.”
The Sonova Studio process is fuelled by passion and excitement, from the buzz of an initial idea, to the anticipation of fabric arrival, to the joy of building our final collection. Though meticulous, we always approach with flexibility. The stages of our process are fluid and unfixed, and if at any moment we meet a stumbling block or a sudden spark of inspiration, we’ll return to the drawing board to explore.
Our exclusive in-house collection Sonova Studio features an assortment of lovingly hand-painted designs. Explore the full collection here.
