Shannon designer living the American Dream

From Shannon to Sesame Street through Major League Baseball with comic book heroes, Louise Carey has had a busy five years. Nicola Corless caught up with the LA-based designer to find out how she has brought her vision to the masses

IN 2009 Louise Carey spoke to The Clare Champion about getting her designs into some of the United States’ most famous department stores. Three years on, the 31-year-old Clare woman plans to challenge Hello Kitty.
Louise has her own company, Hideout Designs. She creates designs and licenses them to manufacturers for various products.
“I also work directly with manufacturers for specific projects. For example, if they receive a request from a particular retailer asking for a specific style, color palette or theme, I will create art to those specifications,” Louise explained.
Since she last spoke to The ‘Champion Louise has signed with a major licensing agency that works with international brands such as Major League Baseball, Marvel Comics, Mattel, Sanrio and Sesame Street. She has also signed with a Japanese agency for Asian distribution.
Today, her designs can be seen on clothing, tote bags, puzzles, calendars, rugs, stationary, greeting cards, storage trunks, housewares, dishes, glasses, wine glasses, coasters, shot glasses, serving trays, candles, wall decals, jewellery boxes, pillows, blankets, office products, photo frames and memo boards.
“Nail files and hand sanitisers were definitely the most unusual things I have seen my designs on,” said Louise.
While seeing her designs on products is a thrill for Louise, oddly it is not the best part of her job.
“For me, the highlight so far has been the amazing response to my work. I get dozens of emails every week from people who have seen my designs or purchased one of my products and have taken the time to send an email to thank me for my work or to tell me that what I did meant something to them.
“At the end of the day, that’s why I do what I do. To know that my work makes a difference to someone is what keeps me motivated and inspired,” she explained.
Recently, Louise began experimenting with combining her own photography with typography.
“I’d like to continue to explore different combinations of media in my future work,” she outlined.
“I’m working on a character brand concept similar to Hello Kitty or Paul Frank. Once completed, I hope to be able to expand beyond my current product categories into cartoons, children’s books, toys and games and ultimately create a lifestyle brand,” continued the former St Patrick’s Comprehensive student.
The design process is different for every artist. Louise outlined the route her creations take from her imagination to some of America’s biggest name shop shelves and it is a must-read for would-be designers.
“I usually start with a specific style I want to work in, whether it is a vintage/retro feel or a more contemporary look. I work primarily in Photoshop but many of my designs incorporate hand-drawn or painted elements, which are created and then scanned and input into Photoshop.
“Then I lay out a rough composition and come up with words and/or a theme for the design. The palette is usually the last step in the design process and I typically play with many different options until I’m satisfied with the final look.
“Once a design is complete, I send a digital file to the manufacturers and licensees that I work with. They will then request a high-resolution file of my design to use on their product. A sample of the product is made for my approval prior to production. Once production takes place, the product can end up in stores anywhere from two months to a year later,” she outlined.
The process is time consuming, as is running her own business, which she has done in LA since 2008.
“My biggest challenge currently is trying to balance the needs of the various companies I work with. For every design I create, there are many additional versions of that design requested by each company in a different size, color or for a different product.
“Most companies want designs that are exclusive to them meaning that no one else can sell it except for them, so it’s important that I give each company unique designs. Keeping up with these requests has become a time-consuming part of my job. I may need to hire an intern soon,” she outlined.
Louise’s work is heavily influenced by the pop surrealism/lowbrow art movement.
“I admire the masterful technique of those artists, combined with a sharp sense of humor. One of my favorite artists is Tara McPherson. She creates art with a combination of irony, fantasy and storytelling, which I really love,” the Shannon woman revealed.
Although she hasn’t been home in four years, Louise’s mother and sister Shauna have travelled out to California.
“I’m hoping to be home soon as well. When I’m home I mostly like spending time with my family and friends. Sometimes you might find me at the Shannon Knights disco,” she divulged.
“I’ve been in LA nearly five years now. I love the overall vibe here. There’s so much great music, theatre, art and culture and the weather is hard to beat…almost never rains.
“What I most dislike is the traffic. It should theoretically take 20 minutes to get pretty much anywhere in LA but with the insane traffic you can sometimes sit for hours. I also really dislike some of the celebrities that did absolutely nothing to warrant fame and do nothing positive with it, ahem…Kardashians,” she said.
“I really love living here. As someone who left school when they were 16, I have been given amazing opportunities to fulfill my dreams here. I recently became a permanent resident of the US so I definitely plan to stay. But it’s hard being away from my family and friends. Ireland will always be home,” Louise added.
The last five years have proved an adventure for the self-taught designer but one that has been very positive. As well as developing her craft, she has learned extensively about business and what it takes to run your own company. She has also discovered more about herself.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is to trust yourself when you find something that you love doing. Figure out what you are passionate about and find a job that allows you to do that. If one doesn’t exist then create one.
“Never stop learning or believing in your abilities because life is too short to spend time doing something that you don’t love,” Louise concluded.