Sunny Todd Prints
89 // Sunny Todd is originally from London but now lives in Ledbury, Herefordshire, UK. Sunny studied for an MA in Printed Textiles at the Royal College of Art. He has always been greatly inspired by Henri Matisse’s cutouts, and he has adopted this unconventional way of working, and he now draws and designs using a scalpel. He also loves the clean, simple and geometric nature of Scandinavian design and textiles, in particular the work of Marimekko and the company 10 Swedish Designers. Other significant influences include the optical artist Bridget Riley, the simple shapes and composition used by Patrick Caulfield, the stark yet striking images produced by graphic designers such as Saul Bass and Paul Rand, the bold mark making of Keith Haring, the fashion illustrations of Sonia Delaunay, the textile designs of Alexander Girard and the colour palette of Howard Hodgkin. Sunny’s clients have included Topshop, Topman, River Island, Levi’s and Tinsmiths. Sunny would love to see his print designs used in beautiful fashion garments, furnishing fabrics and other design products. His dream collaboration would be with Marimekko.
Design Heroes: Marimekko, Eley Kishimoto, Henri Matisse
Stripe Stripe Blue Red
Stripe Stripe Red Blue Reverse
By turning the stripes of a circle in the opposite direction to the background, Sunny creates the perfect juxtaposition.
Narrow Stripe Pink Blue
The circle and triangle in this design appear to lift off and float above the pink striped ground.
Sails Blue Red
All Sunny’s designs start off as drawings created with pen, scissors and scalpel. He then cuts out the shapes to explore scale, reducing and exaggerating to experiment with composition and the impact of the repeat.
Form 3 Red Pink
A simple but striking composition with two triangles pointing the eye into the central space.
Diamond Red Blue Reverse
This hollow diamond design appears to be slotting itself into the blue striped ground.