behind the blocks

DESIGN INSPIRATION

Travel is founder Breanne's most prominent inspiration. She scours the globe to find inspiration in architecture, the way sunlight bounces off of a building, patterns in ceramic tile, unique color combinations, and natural textures.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Once full of inspiration, Bre gets to work with design brainstorming. This includes painting with gouache, doodling, playing with patterns in photoshop, and color experimentation. From here, she will develop these concepts into products.

ARTISAN COMMUNICATION

Here & There Creative presents their product designs to their partner artisans in India. Together, they discuss design feasibility, logistics, pricing, and timeframe. This phase often lasts longer than one would expect! A lot of back and forth communication occurs, often with the added challenge of language barriers and currency conversions.

CARVING OF WOOD BLOCKS

This process is intricate and takes an incredible amount of craftsmanship. A solid block of teak wood is hand carved in a way that removes the negative space so that what's left is the pattern. Each color and design element requires its own block. For Here & There's first collection, the one pattern has three associated blocks with it. Each color in the pattern comes to life one at a time, as color is added to the fabric through a series of block prints.

WASHING & DRYING FABRIC

Once the fabric reaches desired saturation, the fabric is washed a handful of times and then hung or laid out in the sun to dry. In the rare instance that the sun isn't shining in Rajasthan, the blockprinting process halts until the sun returns and the fabric can dry fully.

COLOR MIXING & DYEING OF FABRICS

Using a Pantone color deck to match the colors of Bre's designs, dye is mixed in large vats by the master printer. Designs can utilize synthetic dyes, natural dyes, or a combination of both. Once the colors are perfected, they are poured into wooden trays in preparation for block printing. While the color mixing is in process, the base fabrics are dyed in large vats. The fabric will sit in the vat for longer periods of time for richer colors and shorter periods of time for lighter colors.

BLOCKPRINTING

The block printer begins with the outline block, moving down the length of the fabric and striking the block with the heel of his or her hand. One by one, he or she will line the block up and add another layer of color. No tools, besides the human hand, are used in the blockprinting process. If you look closely at blockprinted fabric, you'll notice imperfections and registration marks - proof that your item was made by hand!

FINISHING TOUCHES

The last production step includes sewing the blockprinted fabric into finished products, hemming all edges, adding tassels, sewing on zippers, and adding our branding tags. From here, the products are on their way to our customers.