The Analog Renaissance, Episode 9: Come With Me
16 Feb 2026 · 10 min
In the concluding episode of the nine‑part "Analog Renaissance" series, Bonnie Christine reflects on the evolution of her Surface Design Immersion course and introduces a new teaching methodology she calls "Come with me learning." She explains how, after years of recording the course in a traditional, teleprompter‑driven format, she and her team re‑imagined it as a cinematic, documentary‑style experience meant to be both educational and entertaining. The new format reduces scripted content by about 80%, features real‑time ideation, mistakes, and vulnerable moments, and is filmed over eight days with additional Illustrator tutorial sessions. Christine argues that analog experiences—hands‑on, tactile, and human—deeply build trust, attention, and conversion, citing data that combining analog with digital can boost reach and engagement by up to 400%. She highlights the current "pattern renaissance," promotes Adobe Illustrator as the industry‑standard tool for creating seamless repeating patterns, and invites listeners to a free "Print and Pattern Revival" workshop. Enrollment for the 2026 Surface Design Immersion course opens Feb 17‑24, with classes starting March 2. Throughout, she reinforces the series' thesis that the biggest innovation is not digital technology but deeply human, analog connections that foster lasting relationships.
Chapters
I started teaching online in 2013. That feels like a very long time ago. I started teaching the Surface Design immersion course in 2018 and since then I've re recorded it every two years. It's just become a ritual. But this time I looked at my team and said, what if we didn't make a course? What if we made something someone would want to put up on their big screen, Something that entertained them, something that was beautiful to watch. Not just to learn from, but to experience. What if it was a documentary style masterpiece? This is episode nine of nine, the final episode of the Analog Renaissance. Over these nine episodes, I've shared the eight different ways that we have gone all in on analog over the last 18 months and what that has meant for us and our business and what we've learned. It's been a strategic, deeply human response to the world that we're living in today. This final shift brings everything together. Analog Advantage way number eight is Come with me learning. Now let me talk to you about what has inspired this. I have devoured some of Magnolia's recent series. Like oh My Goodness, for the Love of Kitchens is one. Of course. Erin Binskane of Florette Flowers is one. They are. I mean, I watched them more than once and I always bring Ollie. We watch them together. They're beautiful and inspiring and so good. So one of the reasons that I love them so much is that they are slow and beautiful, but they're also immersive. I realize that these aren't just instructional, they're literally invitations into their world and their way of thinking. So you don't just learn. Even though I do learn watching them, but I also feel like I'm there and that I stepped into their world. And so my question is, how do I make something that someone else would want to curl up and watch that teaches them everything they need to know, but also feels like a gift, feels like it's entertaining. So that has led to us coining what we call Come with me learning. Come with me Learning means not just a talking head in front of a teleprompter, not just voiceover slides, but documentary style cameras coming with me, looking over my shoulder and following me through the process from concept to ideation to finish pattern, into the garden, picking flowers and sketching while I talk about why something inspires me. But it also means a little bit messy. It means real time ideating, real time erasing, real time kind of working through the creative process, which means that it's way more relatable. That's the most Vulnerable part. It meant showing the mess. It meant real time mistakes, real time me thinking out loud. It's the part where I'm least comfortable, but I'm trying really hard to let you see it. So we also stepped away from so much teleprompter use and voiceover slides, and we really did a deep dive into an interview format. So instead of scripted work, I brought in team members who have been here since the beginning. They know the work, they know me, we love each other, and I had them ask me questions. So I was able to talk really naturally about the concepts and we laughed together. And probably this version of the course is about 80% less teleprompter than any other year. It's conversational. So it is a huge project. If you are an alumni, you know this. But this course is. I mean, we liken it to an entire degree so that you can come through the course and leave with a new career on your horizon. That means it's big. It's 200 plus lessons, each of them completely reimagined. It's eight days of filming and then an additional maybe 12 days of Illustrator tutorials that I did on my own. But for the eight days of in person filming, that's all me on camera, right? We flew in three people from my team. I hired professional videographers to fly them in, and we shot it like a film. The goal was that we wanted to entertain. Even though I don't feel entertaining, like I'm not an entertainer, what I hear from people is that I'm calming, which I hope is true. We get that feedback a lot. But I thought, how could I make this something beautiful to watch? Not watered down from an education perspective, but more cinematic, more immersive. A course that you might actually put up on your tv and maybe you'll watch it with your daughter. That makes me smile. Pattern is having a moment. From bold wallpaper to checkered mugs to stripy pajamas and floral notebooks, the world is embracing color and texture and personality again. We are officially living in the era of pattern drenching. And honestly, I'm so here for it. If you've been noticing it too, and thinking, I wonder if I could make patterns. You absolutely can. And the best way to do it is by using Adobe Illustrator. It's where I created my very first repeating pattern over a decade ago. And it's still the tool that I use and teach today because it's designed for this kind of creative work and it's trusted across the entire industry on a global basis. Illustrator makes designing seamless, repeating patterns feel intuitive. You can easily tweak colors, scale your artwork, and move things around without starting over. Everything stays crisp because it's all vector based. And when you're ready to put your pattern onto a real product, well, Illustrator works beautifully with printers, manufacturers and licensing partners. So whether you're creating patterns for your notebooks, your living room walls, or dreaming of turning your creativity into a career, Illustrator helps your ideas. Go from sketch to look at what I made, Head on over to our show Notes, Open Adobe Illustrator and have some fun. Pattern is having a moment, and Illustrator is how you join it. Over these nine episodes, I've shared something. The data that woke us up. The trade show gamble, the proof that you can hold the beauty of print, my garden sanctuary, the box on your doorstep, the completion obsession, meeting people in their analog lives. And now this. The come with me approach that changed how we're thinking about teaching. These are the eight things that we went all in on, and every single one of them has come back to the same insight. The thesis is that the biggest innovation isn't digital at all. It is beautifully, deeply human. Combining print with digital can increase our reach and engagement by up to 400%. Analog builds attention longer, analog deepens learning, Analog builds trust, and analog converts. I'll say it again, this is like my tagline for this year and last year. Digital is how we reach people, and analog is how we grow roots with them. It's how we go deep with them and how we build lasting relationships in a connected community. So if you've listened this far, you are exactly the kind of person that I made this for. Someone who feels the pull towards creating. Someone who cares deeply about their audience, their students. Someone who wonders if there's still room for them. I think that's all of us. Someone who wants to fill their life with beauty and pattern and meaning. And I want you to know that there is room. There is room for you, for your art, for your story, possibly more now than ever. And if you want to step into this world, if you want to become the creative director of your own life and your own career, I'd love to show you how. In February, I'm hosting a free day workshop. It's called the Print and Pattern Revival. This is where I'm going to teach you how to make a pattern and put it on a product. We're going to gather inspiration and sketch some simple shapes and then turn them into digital artwork by building a seamless, repeating pattern. And you will see your design on a product come to life. Fabric, wallpaper, or gift wrap. Or all three if you want. You do not need any design experience. You don't need any drawing skills. You just need a pencil and a piece of paper and a willingness to show up and have some fun. Thousands of people have already signed up and I would love to have you there. I'll link it in the show notes, but you can go sign up@bonniechristine.com revival and of course some of you are all in. You know it already and you've been hearing me talk about all the things that we've done to rerecord and reimagine the Surface Design Immersion course. This course we teach live once a year and it's all happening very soon. So we open enrollment for the 2026 course February 17th. We close enrollment February 24th and class begins March 2nd. Would absolutely love to have you there. If it's something that you're interested in pursuing now, you can sign up to be on the wait list@bonniecristine.com immersion my friends, thank you for listening to this series. This is something that has been deeply fascinating to me, something that we have been quietly pursuing and going all in on for more than a year. And I hope that you enjoyed it and got tons of ideas to use in your own business as well. Thank you for caring about creativity and beauty and just doing things differently. You were created to create. I believe that to my core. I can't wait to see what you create, my friends. Create the beauty that you want to see. Come alive in the world and remember, there's room for you.