portfolio | from the archive: mud cloth pillows
- Haley
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
I recently stayed at the beautiful Blind Tiger in Portland, Maine, and was delighted to see several pillow designs I created for The Citizenry back in 2017 in their lobby. This inspired me to revisit the archives and start a new series highlighting past work from my portfolio each month.
Part of sustainable design, to me, is creating pieces that are timeless and able to be styled in many different spaces for years to come. I can sometimes be my own worst critic, and before seeing these pillows again, I would have said they felt too dated. But here they are, eight years later, looking right at home at Blind Tiger. Even more interesting, they’re styled in a space grounded in traditional elements, quite different from the “boho” or “California Casual” (remember that term?!) customer I originally had in mind.
When I think back to the design process, the trends in 2017 still leaned very graphic. As I looked ahead to how our customers’ tastes might evolve, I felt that softer shapes and curves would emerge. These designs were an early exploration of that direction, blending curved forms with graphic elements like stripes. I even unearthed some sketches and the original inspiration behind the designs.
I created a mix of both modern curved patterns, as well as more traditional layouts, reinterpreting traditional mud cloth patterns. I remember working closely with the artisans over many phone calls (with a very helpful translator!) to refine the designs and sampling. This experience was one of my early lessons in collaborating across language barriers, staying flexible throughout the artisanal design process, and embracing unplanned pivots that can lead to something both unique and beautiful.
Here are a couple more shots of the pillows in Blind Tiger, along with the original product photos from 2017.
Image Credit: The Citizenry
