Designing Dreamstalk with Irregular Sleep Pattern
Creating a design museum exhibition range
The background
Irregular Sleep Pattern have been a team and a brand that I have long dreamed of working with. Based in Glasgow, they seem to me to epitomise everything that a Scottish-based design brand could be, they are playful and upbeat with a really strong brand identity. Known for their fun, patterned magical bed linen and sleepwear (that is so good, it is mostly worn out and about and not to sleep in). They recently branched out into smaller accessible accessories, which we started to stock in Spring 2024.
Mil and Jolene founded Irregular Sleep Pattern in 2020, seeing a gap in the market for upbeat graphic bed linen and sleepwear. Like all great start-ups, as customers they could not find what they wanted in the marketplace, so they decided to make their own. This is what you might call their second life, both have great backstories of what they did before founding ISP and they bring all that life experience mixed with their own brand of irregularity to what they do now.
Brief and timeline
Although I had been a big fan from a distance and we knew each other in the digital world, Jolene and I met in real life at our July 2024, Tea Green Design Market, when we introduced ourselves and the possible idea of doing something together, meaning V&A Dundee x ISP.
We started thinking in a more detailed way about our product range for Garden Futures; Designing with Nature, in September 2024, approximately 6-7 months out from launch. Right from the get-go Irregular Sleep Pattern were my first and possibly only thought as the perfect partnership to collaborate with for many many reasons. Collaborating with a designer and maker enables shops like ours to have unique and exclusive products created and brings both the design partner and us to different audiences, we cross-pollinate! Irregular Sleep Pattern is all about great design, with strong opinions - the perfect combination. They know what they want to be and when to say yes, and equally when to say no. So, when I approached them about doing something with us for our next major exhibition, I was delighted that they said yes!
(I think it was maybe the Vitra element that tipped the project in our favour)
We started with a phone chat, talking about the exhibition and outlining a very rough timeline and a verbal brief - to start with designing a unique to us pattern inspired by the exhibition with a view to producing gardening aprons among other potential ideas.
We followed this up by sending them a copy of Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, the exhibition catalogue, check it out here.
First design meeting
We had our first proper design meeting in November in their inspiring Glasgow studio (the Pyjama Library, as Jolene calls it). As well as fascinating objects, art and design everywhere you looked - from classic fluro design chairs to magical posters, artwork, handmade mugs and plates by their many talented friends across the Scottish creative community and of course a very cute dog called Truman. Plus there was cake!
Much more importantly Mil had developed three design concepts to share with us. Mil's method is to start exploring using pen / paint / paper / scissors before transferring to digital, where his repeat patterns are developed. This meant we had actual sketches (a rare thing in today's digital world) to look at while he talked us through the three approaches. One inspired by garden mazes - whether with structured in shape or more organic. One floral and one a hybrid like mash up of organic shapes mixed with gardening tools (obviously my descriptions here not his). Mil shared these ideas with unassuming modesty, apologising for how unformed they were, which humbled us all the more to be shown his ideas in conceptual form.
Mil's initial sketches reminded me a little of a Rorschach test, as we saw different things in each sketch, where I saw a bird or a turnip, he had seen something else and as the design unfolded this aspect appealed more and more.
From the 'Milish mind' (as Jolene calls it) Mil plucked the phrase "you reap what you sow" and created a repeat pattern with it in a great font choice. Adding this into the mix of the hybrid tools/produce concept. Note - this is not just a great line from a Stranglers track.
Not only had Mil concept designs, he also had samples of other aprons, garden clothing and weights of fabric to touch, feel and try on, this really helped focus us on what we wanted and didn't want. We decided on both an apron and a robe, it was go big or go home time (and we definitely didn't want to go home).
We left that afternoon in state of serious joy and design reflection, with so many ideas floating in our heads, decisions needed to be made...
Design evolution
On the train home to Dundee, we knew we needed to focus the design work down from three options. We proposed dropping the maze idea and continuing with the floral and the pagan concepts (these were working names only in order to identify them).
Only at this stage did we offer and agree on a design fee and a rough scope of works. Up to then and continuing throughout the project, Jolene and I had what we called a 'gentlewoman's agreement’ based on mutual respect and trust.
Within only two weeks, Mil came back with a fully formed design; he had jettisoned the floral option, rightly so and progressed with the hybrid mash up, and it was perfect.
Our pattern was not yet titled 'Dreamstalk' but we all thought it dreamy. To stick to our timeline we had to decide the design by the end of November and the colourways by the end of December... we were on schedule!
Mil explored the pattern with and without the text and in various dark and magical colourways. It was at this stage that we landed on including the copy as an integral part of the pattern and our first colourway. Torn between the two colourway options below, we landed on what was initially called 'Cocktail' but morphed into 'Midnight Garden' - which is the one on the right.. I am not normally a purple lover, quite the opposite in fact, however with these delicious options, it was an easy decision to make. It doesn't hurt that Mil is a colour expert - just look at all their own ISP products for proof of this fact.
Colour evolution
Via email Mil and I discussed if we could be greedy and add a bright and zesty spring/summer like colourway into the mix, we found our thoughts echoed each other's and so Mil proposed looking at Sweet Peas for colour inspiration, his favourite joyful tangled climber of a flower. As he had previously with the dark magical colour options, Mil shared six different options of a bright and zesty colourway. Collectively, we landed on the brightest, zingiest, zesty-est one!
the concept
the real thing, Gardening Apron in Sweetpea >
We had planned to have T-shirts, prints/posters and a chocolate bar and having two colourways opened up the scope for these and other ideas. Meanwhile December came and Mil sampled the chosen colourways in fabric. At the end of December our timeline meant agreeing on costs and placing purchase orders to get our robes and aprons into production in January.
Nomenclature
By February, we needed to get our press and marketing involved which meant we needed to name the design. In fairly typical fashion, I had a very Ronseal-like approach and Mil was much more creative and poetic. I don't know how others have found the naming of things, but I find that this aspect of any project can take longer than the entire design process; however having said that by mid-March we had a name. Obviously named by Mil, the pattern became 'Dreamstalk' and his design statement is a thing of poetic beauty...
The Dreamstalk design is an optimistic observation on the fragile nature of the symbiotic relationship between humans and the natural world. Care, control and consumption. Gratitude, respect and love.
Elements of familiar and lost gardening tools, produce, participants, givers & takers are combined in a series of paganistic, hand-drawn ‘totems’ in bloom, whose symbolic subtext is reinforced by their juxtaposition over a simple, infinitely repeated message which seems as timely now as ever:
"You reap what you sow" : do the right thing
Back to earth with other merch
Prints or posters were always on my list, given the strong graphic nature of the designs, this seemed a must to have in the range. We toed and froed a little with how to best do this and as always on this journey Mil shared multiple options with me. I was so spoilt for choice that I ended up printing them all out and carrying them around with me for a few days as well as spreading them across any available handy surface to better see them all at once and digest the choices.
Mil suggested using a metallic bronze Pantone reference which immediately elevated the design, however it meant that none of our usual printing suspects (or suppliers) could make our metallic printing dreams come true. Four enquiries and suppliers later we found an art print specialist who could do what we wanted easily and affordably. Phew!
from swatches to...
.. receiving final prints
Joining two brands up each with their own logo and branding guidelines can be challenging however the dream design partnership with Mil made everything easy and in the natural flow of things, we landed on what worked for each item.
T-shirts were part of Mil's first design concept and we leapt at the idea. The designs pulled out individual elements of the Dreamstalk pattern, so certain aspects could be seen and celebrated more. We also loved the juxtaposition of a monochromatic T-shirt under a colourful robe or apron. Printing them in Glasgow with a printer that Mil had previously used and therefore could wholeheartedly recommend was a great help and sped things up for us considerably.
Branding-wise, each product found its own solution. For T-shirts we included Irregular Sleep Patterns branding into the pattern design and placed our V&A Dundee branding on the sleeve.
For notebooks, it was a different approach, we celebrated the ISP branding as the hero. Landing on sets of two notebooks, one in each print, wrapped in a branded belly band, one features dot grid paper and the other plain paper. At A6 they are the perfect size to pop in your bag for handy note taking and thought capturing
We first produced branded bespoke chocolate bars for our Tartan exhibition back in 2023 and found them to be a rip-roaring and very tasty success. With two different colourways in such a delicious pattern, it seemed a no-brainer to make two flavours of chocolate. The colourways lent themselves so well to a milk and a dark chocolate option. We had stocked COCO chocolate over Christmas and knew they specialised in working within the arts, artisans and fair trade cocoa world. They joyfully combine two of our favourite things - great design with great chocolate. Plus, they offer a fully bespoke service and are based just outside Edinburgh in Queensferry - what is not to love!
I have to admit designing the wrapper was a little bit of a puzzle as we were joining up COCO + ISP + V&A Dundee, no easy feat. However after some mild design wrestling, mostly with ourselves, we landed on a solution that pleased everyone.
Here is an earlier version
and here the final finished delicious chocolate landing in our stockroom.
Last but not least, a wee hiccup
Here is the amazingly named Hayley McSporran, a woman of many talents, not least being part of the Irregular Sleep Pattern team, trying on a glorious sample of a gardening apron in sweet pea, we were all so excited to see it that it took the magic of Mil to spot the print was actually upside down. A project would not be a project without at least one hiccup!
Summing up
It has been a top-secret, hush-hush project since its initial conception back in September 2024, seven months ago now, and we have enjoyed every step of the way.
Planning the collection launch and getting everything here in time to meet an agreed launch date has been the last hurdle to jump, and jump it we did. If I could do anything differently, what would it be - as always it would be to start the project earlier, which is so much easier said than done.
Now it is out in the world, we hope you love it as much as we do!
It is and has been a total joy to work and partner with Mil, Jolene and Hayley, they more than live up to their statement
Serious about Design + Serious about Joy
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