My Christmas Woodland Animal Collection for Langs
I first met the team at Langs at the Harrogate Home & Gift Buyers Festival in July 2025, and after a few follow-up emails, I was delighted to be commissioned to design their new Christmas range.
They already had a clear vision in mind, a woodland Christmas theme, and had been drawn to my existing Christmas reindeer pattern shown in my brochure. From there, the brief evolved into something a little richer and more character-led, featuring a whole cast of woodland animals: a hedgehog, red squirrel, pheasant, roe deer, fox and rabbit, with a robin added to really dial up that festive, Christmas feeling.
As someone who draws much of my inspiration from British wildlife and the countryside, this brief felt like a wonderful fit.
Working to a tight Christmas deadline
The timescales were tight. With a couple of holidays already booked, I had to work quickly to meet their deadline. Everything needed to be signed off and sent to print by November, allowing time for samples (and potential re-sampling) ahead of the Harrogate Christmas Trade Fair in January, where the collection would officially launch.
Although the brief itself was clear, my first round of designs didn’t quite hit the mark…and looking back, the feedback was spot on.
When the first designs didn’t quite work
My initial designs were created on my iPad. While Procreate (the app I use for drawing) is an incredible tool, I sometimes (and I use that word sparingly!) find that working digitally this way from the outset can strip illustrations of their authentic, hand-drawn charm, especially for a collection that needs warmth and character.
Even though the designs were technically sound, they just didn’t quite capture the style Langs had hoped for. It’s never easy hearing that something isn’t right, but in this case, they were absolutely right.
So, I went back to the drawing board, quite literally!
Going back to pencil, paper and process
This time, I returned to my roots and worked the old-school way: pencil on paper. There’s something about drawing this way that allows a bit more looseness and personality to creep in, tiny imperfections that bring illustrations to life.
If time had allowed, I would have loved to colour the illustrations traditionally too, using watercolours or pastels. Instead, I scanned the drawings in and coloured them digitally using Procreate’s beautiful watercolour and pastel brushes, which gave me the best of both worlds: hand-drawn character with the flexibility of digital colouring.
Thankfully, this approach worked perfectly. Once all six woodland illustrations were approved, the collection really began to take shape.
From illustrations to a full Christmas range
With the artwork signed off, it was time to apply the designs across the full product range, often the most time-consuming part of the process.
In total, there were over 45 products to design, including ceramic coasters, Christmas cards, slate hangers, mugs and cushions
Seeing the illustrations translated onto so many different surfaces is always incredibly rewarding. What starts as a simple pencil sketch eventually becomes something people can bring into their homes during the festive season, making it a small part of their Christmas traditions.
All photographs courtesy of Langs
A Christmas rooted in nature
Seeing the noël collection out in the world
