Rachel Goodchild

(Portrait by Rosa Fay Photography)

About Rachel

PATTERN DESIGNER | PROJECT MANAGER

Rachel creates surface pattern design for textile, home interiors, company branding and a variety of consumer products. Her work takes the form either of pattern for commission or the licensing of pattern from her pattern bank. Alongside her creative work, Rachel has broad experience directing design projects for companies. She has an excellent eye for detail and is a creative problem-solver. She is also qualified as a Prince2 Project Manager.

Brands Rachel has worked with include Charbonnel et Walker, The Art Fund, Warner Textile Archive and Paul Smith for Leica. Her designs have been featured in The Sunday Times, Homes and Antiques, Country Living, The Telegraph and Country Homes & Interiors. Her work has been exhibited at trade and retail shows from London to San Francisco, and her designs have been featured in The Pattern Sourcebook, A Century of Surface Design by Druscilla Cole.

Rachel originally started her career as a qualified Montessori teacher. She studied and worked in Bristol, London and California. After having her children, Rachel became a high end gift packaging designer, where she ran a successful company for many years selling her products around the world. From packaging, Rachel has developed her portfolio to encompass a wide range of product surface design.

Rachel lives in Bristol, England and is married to William, a composer for film and television. They have two daughters, Rosa (a photographer) and Eleanor (a project manager).

Project Manger

Rachel is a trained PRINCE2® Project Manger, meaning she has knowledge of overseeing the planning, execution, and completion of projects within an organisation, ensure projects meet goals, stay within budget, and are completed on time. The PRINCE2® Foundation provides knowledge of the key elements of successful project working, contributing to the delivery of great outcomes for their organisation.

Rachel's PRINCE2® Certification

Upbringing

Rachel cites her parents as being both inspiration and catalyst for her love of art and design. Janet and Peter met at art school in the 1950s. They married young and had five children together.

After a spell as a commercial artist, Janet became a seamstress and dressmaker, opening up her own shop where she sold the clothes she made. She is an avid collector of textiles and vintage clothing. Her impressive collection contains items from the Victorian era through to the present day. As youngsters, Rachel and her sisters would dress up in vintage clothes from their mum's collection at any opportunity.

Rachel’s father, Peter, is a painter of fine art. Whilst Rachel and her siblings were growing up, Peter lectured in Fine Art. His painting studio has always been in the family home, and now, well into his eighties, he continues to paint with a passion, as he has throughout his life. Rachel’s father has always been on hand to pass Rachel the right art book at just the right time.

Rachel's parents have lived in their large Georgian house since the 1960s and it is the home Rachel was born in. The house is still to this day full of beautiful paintings, a vast array of art books, antique furniture, period china, patterned wallpapers, Victorian wall tiles, voluptuous textiles and vintage clothes. There is an abundance of colour in every single room.

(Rachel's parents and Rachel wearing a 1950s dress aged 13)

Design

Rachel has always had a love of pattern. Her interest extends from ornamental designs of the 1700s through to the clean lines, distinctive shapes and muted tones of Mid-Century designs from 1933 to 1965.

Rachel prefers to draw by hand, rather than use computer generated shapes. Her approach often begins with a rough sketch, and a colour pallet that she puts together. She is inspired by vintage textiles and wallpapers, however, her patterns are unmistakably contemporary in feel, and she loves to incorporate the use of bold, tertiary colours.

It's an ongoing creative process for Rachel, and she feels she is learning all the time.