Bren Talavera
11 // Bren Talavera is a full-time designer working from her studio in Kansas City. She creates surface designs and illustrations both for commission and for licensing. Bren graduated with a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration and went on to hold design positions with such big-name companies as Hallmark Cards, where she was an art director. Bren’s style is inspired by mid- century modern design, folk art, and the aesthetics of Japan, Scandinavia and the American Southwest. She is particularly drawn to the geometric style of Native American textiles. Recent clients include Robert Kaufman, for whom she has designed two fabric collections. For the future, Bren hopes to keep growing creatively, and her dream is to someday design a whole range of furniture and home accessories featuring her artwork.
Design Heroes: David Weidman, Stig Lindberg, Alexander Girard
Thunderbird
Bren’s take on a familiar symbol from the Native American culture of the US Pacific Northwest, created by cutting out shapes in construction paper, then using Adobe Photoshop to reassemble, trace and recolour them. Bren wanted the bird to be very stylized yet maintain a hand-drawn feel, and added the pencil lines to lead viewers’ eyes throughout the piece.
Kiva
Part of a series of prints called ‘ Totem’, inspired by a combination of Bren’s heritage and Gee’s Bend quilts. The geometric shapes were cut out of coloured construction paper and used as puzzle pieces to figure out various layouts, before being scanning into Adobe Photoshop to be traced and coloured/textured.
Bird in Flight
This design, taken from Bren’s sketchbook to use as a print, is a combination of her favorite motifs – birds, the moon, crosses, geometric patchwork, and mountains. The spontaneous sketchy overlapping lines and off-kilter shapes define Bren’s style.
Mountain View
This print takes on an illustrative feel with the addition of pencil lines and construction-paper texture. Bren wanted the juxtaposition of bright sun and rain that can be seen when in the mountains. She uses geometrics to achieve an overall Southwest mood.
Maui Pattern
This pattern was created by a spontaneous exercise of drawing in Adobe Photoshop and experimenting with different filters. After it all came together, Bren felt it had a tribal/ Hawaiian vibe to it, hence the name ‘Maui Pattern’.