There is such great design coming out of San Francisco, and I wanted to share a few companies with you who are doing exciting things that will inspire you and your creative flair at home.
This week I am featuring “White Alligator Designs” and “Tea Collection” Wall Decals for “weeDECOR”.
“White Alligator Designs”
Looking for unique and vibrant artwork and accessories for your child’s room?
Two moms from San Francisco have recently launched their own design company named “White Alligator Designs” that produce contemporary art and home accessories for children, yet sophisticated enough to appeal to adults. Graphic designer Julie Giles and founder Leslie Thorpe bring cool and contemporary colors to kid’s rooms with a line that includes wall art and coordinating pillows in two nature-inspired designs; ‘Dahlias & Daisies’ and ‘Rainforest Frogs’.
Founder and company lead, Leslie Thorpe explains more to The Marin Scoop:
How did you both come up with the concept and inspiration behind ‘White Alligator Designs’?
“It was a slow evolution. Our children were having a play date one day and I noticed the design on the t-shirt that Julie’s son was wearing. I asked her about it and she told me she designed it and had it printed. I was really impressed.
Months later, I was contemplating a return to work after taking years off to stay home with my daughter. I wanted to work from home and have some flexibility with my schedule so that I could maintain more or less a status quo at home.
Returning to my prior career as a health care and employee benefits lawyer would not allow me to have the flexibility I desired. After a couple of months of thinking about what I could do instead, I remembered the t-shirt that Julie had made and began to think about collaborating with her.
After months of thought, conversation and product development, we ended up with what is now White Alligator Design, LLC”.
“It was a slow evolution. Our children were having a play date one day and I noticed the design on the t-shirt that Julie’s son was wearing. I asked her about it and she told me she designed it and had it printed. I was really impressed.
Months later, I was contemplating a return to work after taking years off to stay home with my daughter. I wanted to work from home and have some flexibility with my schedule so that I could maintain more or less a status quo at home.
Returning to my prior career as a health care and employee benefits lawyer would not allow me to have the flexibility I desired. After a couple of months of thinking about what I could do instead, I remembered the t-shirt that Julie had made and began to think about collaborating with her.
After months of thought, conversation and product development, we ended up with what is now White Alligator Design, LLC”.
Does your family life influence your designs and company ethos?
“Absolutely. We came up with concepts and designs that would appeal to our school-age kids. Both of our children are drawn to bright colors. Both of their rooms are explosions of color and energy!
Julie’s son loves frogs, lizards, bugs, etc. He has a pet frog named Biscuit that eats crickets and other insects. While my daughter loves visiting Biscuit and playing Super Lizard with Julie’s son, she spends her time tending to her fairy garden.
Frogs and flowers seemed like a great place to start.
Having children of our own, we want to make sure that we produce items that we feel good about using in our own homes and that we would buy for them. We feel strongly about using safe dyes on the pillows that we produce since we know that children will have close contact with these items on a regular basis.
We keep production local, within the city of San Francisco. We could use cheaper options in other countries. But, it feels better to us to know that we are supporting our local economy, where our families live.
Finally, our ethos is about having fun with family and friends and surrounding ourselves with items that inspire us. We hope that your readers will find fun and inspiration in our designs.”
Julie’s son loves frogs, lizards, bugs, etc. He has a pet frog named Biscuit that eats crickets and other insects. While my daughter loves visiting Biscuit and playing Super Lizard with Julie’s son, she spends her time tending to her fairy garden.
Frogs and flowers seemed like a great place to start.
Having children of our own, we want to make sure that we produce items that we feel good about using in our own homes and that we would buy for them. We feel strongly about using safe dyes on the pillows that we produce since we know that children will have close contact with these items on a regular basis.
We keep production local, within the city of San Francisco. We could use cheaper options in other countries. But, it feels better to us to know that we are supporting our local economy, where our families live.
Finally, our ethos is about having fun with family and friends and surrounding ourselves with items that inspire us. We hope that your readers will find fun and inspiration in our designs.”
Tell us about the printing process for your designs
“Our pillows are individually screen printed on 100% cotton twill using water-based Eco dyes. These dyes are safer than traditional screen printing since water-based Eco dyes contain no PVCs or phthalates. In addition, this printing process results in a softer finish since the dye soaks into the fabric and does not have a tendency to flake. The result is a safer, higher quality print.
Our wall art is digitally printed on blond maple wood. The machine that prints it is essentially a gigantic ink jet printer. This method ensures a wide array of vivid colors.”
"White Alligator Designs" prices start at $38 for pillows & up to $115 for artwork, for more information view website
Tea Collection Wall Decals for weeDECOR
Some friends of mine introduced me to the “Tea Collection” clothing brand for children a few months ago when my daughter was born. I am becoming a big fan of their designs so you can understand my excitement when I discovered that they are collaborating with weeDECOR to produce an exclusive assortment of Wall Decals.
Tea Collection is based in San Francisco and produces children’s apparel inspired by their trips around the globe. “From the iconic art and architecture of Barcelona to the graphic boldness of Brazilian street graffiti, they interpret their discoveries into beautiful, modern and consummately wearable children’s clothing for ages 0 – 12”. view website
weeDECOR also founded in San Francisco designs a broad selection of eco-friendly wall decals that are removable and reusable making it easy to design and redesign your child’s room as they grow and their tastes change. They are also matte finish so they look hand-painted on the wall without the mess. Their designs are made in the US from biodegradable fabric and do not contain harmful PVC’s like most wall decals made of vinyl! view website
Pam Webber, CEO and founder of weeDECOR says:
“Tea, a leader in children’s fashion, is well known for their gorgeous prints and colors. We are thrilled to turn those prints into wall decals for children’s rooms. We are especially honored to work with a fellow San Francisco company to offer parents more eco-friendly decorating solutions in the prints and palettes they have known to love from Tea.”
I can enjoy the print on my daughter’s “Tori Print” onesie (pictured below) long after she grows out of it by placing it on her nursery wall. Other designs include songbirds, origami cranes and elephants.
weeDECOR’s wide selection of designs are priced from $5 - $150 on weeDECOR website & offer a 10% discount to customers that submit photos of the weeDECOR decorated rooms on their website’s blog and FACEBOOK PAGE so get showcasing your creative flair and inspire other parents!
Baby & Toddler
Weekly Activities Calendars
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Click on the ‘Weekly Calendar’ bar at the top of the page to view this week’s “Baby & Toddler Weekly Activities Calendar”.
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