208: The Blueprint Behind Pattern+: What's Actually Inside

When I dreamed up Pattern Plus, I pictured something really simple and highly strategic. I wanted a resource that would help artists create consistently, pitch confidently and grow their art business step by step. I wanted to do away with the overwhelm and kind of random information. I wanted something that was highly focused, organized and created for the professional, knowing that the beginner would also glean really incredible information from it. So today I'm going to give you the full blueprint behind what's inside PatternPlus and how it's organized and how over 4,000 members are already using it to create serious traction in their work.

I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life. But when I first set out to become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

If you are just catching up, last week I shared with you how how we leaned in and we listened to create this brand new membership. And so that is the how this week is going to be. What exactly it is. I think one of the most common things that creatives can resonate with together is feeling stuck on what to do next. I hear the same things over and over again. I have the work, but I don't have a clear plan to get it out into the I want to grow, but I don't know what to prioritize. I try to be consistent, but then I lose time trying to decide what to do next. And I deeply get it. I've been there. I still go there sometimes. And the other truth is that there's just no shortage of resources online especially. So without structure though, those resources can kind of just begin to feel like one more thing to do on your to do list. And so I kept hearing from our members that they didn't want more. They wanted clarity and tools and resources that helped them save time and actually make progress. So that's what we built. Pattern plus was built for focus and help members save hours every week over 20 hours in a month so that they can do more of the work that lights them up. Pattern plus is kind of the single place to go that delivers what you need when you need it. We designed it to really help members get traction without all of the guesswork. So they're really stepping into a professional grade system that helps them grow their business month after month without the burnout, the overwhelm, the stalling out and the wondering what to do next. So again, if you caught last week's episode, you already know that Pattern plus really came from us listening intently to what our members and our past members were asking for. And it was a uncomfortable but highly productive task for us to really lean in and listen deeply to what everyone was saying. So today I want to walk you through exactly what's inside. Whether you are pitching your first collection or building a portfolio, I built Pattern plus to really be your creative center to help you know what to focus on, help you stay consistent and help you move forward with confidence. So let's take a peek inside. First up is the monthly industry Kit. It is one of the most helpful resources that we offer and it is delivered at the beginning of every month. It is your go to collection of practical tools that I've curated and I update every month to help you work more efficiently, share your work with confidence and make professional progress in your business. It includes things like product mockups. So every month I photograph mockups with Kali, my photographer and we do so in this beautifully styled ready to customize formatted for both Illustrator and Photoshop so that you can showcase your work in a professional way. You can use these anywhere you want on your website, on social media, in your portfolio. The next thing is what we call the Social Studio. Now this is a done for you content system that outlines all 20 caption prompts for you. Then that is built to the month specifically so you'll get seasonal trend ideas, key calendar dates, visibility opportunities, even suggested reels and viral breakdown of what's happening and what what are things that you can do in your own social media strategy to help you gain the right eyeballs. It's all designed to help you show up on social with less stress and more consistency. Also in the kit is a business template. These are the things that we use in our business day in and day out that are going to help save you time. It's things like anything from like a pitch deck to a pricing calculator to a licensing email template. We build these to save ourselves time and we give them to you to help you run a business like a pro. The next one is an AI prompt that our actually useful things that can help save you time. These are tools that will help refine your content, help you brainstorm ideas or collections, even prepare for outreach. And so they will help you really bring everything into focus so that you work smarter, not harder and again save tons of time. The industry kit is focused on time saving. It is designed to give you high quality, ready to use tools that keep you moving forward. The next one is the one that we are most excited about and that is the licensing brief. Every single month we publish a real world licensing brief based on the direction from a dream company. So these are actual creative specs that allow you to design work that fits within an existing brand's brief and then you'll submit those for the licensing opportunity with that brand. One of our most recents have included a company called PNB Textiles and two pages and we have more lined up. There's one every single month. And these brands are brands and companies that our members are dreaming to work with. And Pattern plus gives that really clear, easy way to submit your work right inside the platform. And then someone earns that licensing deal every single month. And honestly, even if you don't submit every month, working through the briefs is one of the best ways to strengthen your portfolio and learn what companies are looking for, what they're asking for and get real world experience in working in your designs and your files in that way. One of the parts that I love about the membership is Sharing Pattern Magazine. Now this is our quarterly, beautifully designed publication that celebrates both the art and the business of surface pattern design. Each issue is organized into four main sections. There's Living and Lifestyle, which gives you a look at the tools, rhythms and practices that support your creative life. Then there's Business and Strategy, where we dive into licensing and pricing and branding. Then there's Productivity and Creation which includes tutorials and studio tours and mock up guides. And finally, Patterns in Motion which helps explore seasonal trends and tear out mood pages and prompts that will help fuel your next collection. We just released the very first magazine. It's packed with beautiful images and thoughtful articles and stories that inspire you to create from a grounded, intentional place. This magazine is unlike anything else in our industry. It's tactile, it is strategic, it is heart centered and if you're a Pattern plus member, you get the digital version included with your membership every quarter. If you're an artist or designer dreaming of seeing your work on products in the real world, like fabric and wallpaper and greeting cards. But maybe you're struggling to break into the world of licensing. Listen up. The art licensing industry can feel like almost an exclusive club with gatekeepers and confusing entry points. But I've found a way to simplify everything. Imagine pouring your heart into your art only to see it gather dust. That is not what we want. Maybe you've tried posting on social media, setting up an online store, sending out emails, but it feels like shouting into the void. The art world is confusing, and breaking into licensing isn't just about talent. It's also about finding the right partners that are the right fit. Now, I've been in the same boat. I've spent tireless hours researching, compiling lists, learning how to approach companies. Then one day I had tremendous success. So after so much trial and error, I signed my first licensing deal. Then another, and another. Today my artwork is licensed all over the world and I want to help you achieve the same success. So I've taken what I consider the most difficult part and well, I've done it for you. I've poured over a decade of experience in developing the Ultimate Licensing Handbook. This is a curated list of over 400 companies across 17 plus industries. So you don't have to this handbook is so much more than a list. It's a comprehensive resource that is going to help you eliminate the guesswork. It includes pitch templates that get results and step by step guidance on how to approach companies. If you've tried compiling this information on your own, you know how time consuming it is. It would take months. In fact, we've estimated that this handbook will save you over 463 hours of work and it gives you direct access to the companies that can take your career to the next level. So are you ready to take the Next step? Visit BonnieCristine.com Handbook to get your copy of the Ultimate Licensing Handbook and get instant access to all of these resources that we've poured so much into so that you don't have to remember there's room for you and I'd love to help you get started. The next one is Trend Reports. These are also released quarterly and they're designed to keep you ahead of what's coming up. In Search Surface design, we break down trending patterns, trending motifs, trending typography, and trending color palettes in this beautiful 35 plus page trend report. Some of the recent themes that we covered this past summer for Q2 were garden party florals, Produce parade. They're always fun, but More importantly, actionable and incredibly inspiring. So many of our members have built many collections based on one of these trend stories, and they're having fun having something to anchor their kind of direction each season, too. Every month I also host a coaching session, and this is where I really get to go deep with members on what's coming up for them in their business and do this personalized guidance. All of these sessions are recorded, they're timestamped by topic, and they're easy to jump into whenever you need them. So I want to pull back for a moment and talk about what this really means. And that is because at the end of the day, Pattern plus is about giving you your time back. It's about removing the guesswork, eliminating the spinning, and helping members focus on the work that actually moves their business forward. Every single part of Pattern plus was built to help members save time and make progress. So I want to walk through that. Let's start with just the social studio. Most creatives spend hours every week trying to decide what to post, how to say it, or. Or where to focus their content. And that friction can really add up. It pulls energy away from your design work, and it's one of the most common kind of pitfalls I hear from people. So what we've done is map out this entire calendar for you. The 20 plug and play prompts helps you post five times a week, and they're also baked in stories for you to fill in the blanks with. So no two members posts will ever be the same. They're more ready for you to bring in your own story, your own perspective, your own ideas. But we've outlined it for you to make it really easy. Next, you need mockups, you need product templates, you need visuals that feel polished and professional. And building those from scratch takes time, or buying them is really expensive. So, right inside Pattern plus, we've done this for you. Our mockups are drag and drop ready, beautifully designed, and I love that we offer them for both Photoshop and Illustrator. So if you don't have have Photoshop or one or the other programs, you can use the program that you already own. Then there's the licensing side. If you are designing without a brief or clear direction, it can take a long time to decide what exactly and how to kind of wrap it up with a. With a bow, right? But when you're working into a professional brief that's already tied to a real licensing opportunity, you've got that momentum and the motivation to pull it together and deliver high professional work. And the reason that we include trend reports is to save you hours of trying to pull together current trends and color palettes and decoding what's happening in the industry. These trend reports eliminate that. We give you cohesive themes, curated palettes, and product ideas that are ready for you to use, but also infuse your own kind of style and story into them as well. This alone should save members three to five hours per quarter because they're not starting from scratch, they're starting from a place of clarity. So when you look at the big picture, we're talking about saving dozens of hours every month. Not just so that you can do more, but so that you can do what actually matters. Designing, pitching, creating and doing the things that you actually want to do, like spend time with your family. This is what makes Pattern plus so special. It is a shortcut to your momentum and a way for you to protect your energy while you build your business. Something I hear all the time is this quiet worry that members won't be able to use everything inside the membership. Maybe they've had a super busy season, or maybe life has pulled them away from work, or maybe they're just not sure where to start. So they do nothing. And I know that feeling. I also tend to do nothing when I feel like everything is so important. It is really human. But here's what I want you to know. PatternPlus is not something that we made for you to keep up with. There's no finish line. There's no way for you to necessarily work from A to B to C to D. It's a toolbox. It is a steady resource that is there when you need it, and it is incredibly valuable even when you don't use every single thing. So some months you might go deep into a licensing brief and submit a collection. Other months you might just grab the caption, prompts, watch a 10 minute coaching replay, and open the magazine for some inspiration. All of those months are a huge win because you don't have to use everything to get incredible value from it. And that's the power of the system. It's designed to meet you in motion, not to pressure you into doing more so you can take what you need and skip the rest. And I don't think I've said this yet, but the membership is only $47 a month, so we've tried to make it incredibly accessible for you to come join and jump into. This membership is yours to grow with, at your pace, in your season, and with whatever goal you have in mind. Next week, I want to share more with you about the exclusive perks that we've created inside Pattern plus for our alumni. And even if you're not an alumni, I think you'll love to understand how we built two different levels or variations of this membership so that you can be thinking in that way as well. Thank you so much for being with me today. Create the beauty that you want to see Come alive in the world, world and remember there's room for you.