My name is Kayla Conrad and I am an artist and surface pattern designer based in beautiful Utah. I am a homebody who rarely ventures outside unless forced. I am supremely indoorsy and believe that nature is best enjoyed at a distance, from inside, sans bugs. 

I share my home with my husband and our son and daughter. My studio is currently our kitchen table and my design work happens in the moments between being a mom and wife. Our house is small but full of love (and a little chaos). 

I have very little formal art training. In fact, my first ever art class was a cartooning class at University. Since I’ve always loved doodling, I figured it would be something fun to try. Talk about diving into the deep end. Turns out, it’s incredibly intimidating to surround yourself with people who are focused on making art their career when you have no idea what you’re doing. I enjoyed learning new things and challenging myself in new ways so I ended up doing a visual arts minor. I’ll admit, there were definitely times I questioned why I did those “fun” classes when I often found myself crying as I attempted to figure out things that it seemed everyone else already knew. I pushed through and learned that I can indeed do hard things. 

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a visual arts minor, I jumped head-first into a business with my Mom and Sister designing sewing patterns. They had the sewing skills, and I had the (limited) technical know-how in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign to bring our patterns to life. I ended up teaching them to use those beefy Adobe programs, and they helped me improve as a seamstress. Eventually we were all creating delightful (if i do say so myself) stuffed animals, blankets, bags, pillows and a variety of other patterns from start to finish on our own. You can still find them at mckaymanormusers.com where my Mom single-handedly keeps things moving forward. 

With that pattern design business we traveled and sold our patterns and kits at retail and wholesale shows across the country. We also attended craft shows and taught sewing classes using our patterns. As fun as this was, when I found out I was pregnant with my son I knew I didn’t want to be traveling as much. Also, my heart wasn’t in sewing-pattern design. Occasionally, I would create repeat patterns to use in our pattern illustrations or on the cover designs of our patterns. That is where I truly found joy. It warmed my heart every time a customer asked where they could buy the fabric featured in our pattern. It also broke my heart to tell them that the fabric didn’t actually exist. 

Having a baby seemed like the perfect opportunity to pivot my career and start making those designs come to life. As I’ve created more art and developed my style it has become increasingly clear that what comes most naturally to me is cute. I tried to fight it but it’s a losing battle. So I’ve embraced it instead. Honestly, this world can feel dark and scary and I hope my brand of cuteness and light can bring a little relief to that. I also love to add a little something fun and unexpected in my designs for you to find. 

For my fellow creatives, find my designs on Spoonflower. For brands, my designs are available for licensing. I would love to work with you to bring some fun and whimsy to this world! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.