Cat brings a touch of personal style to the community project, and the wider design language incorporates visual references to the outdoors. Some pieces have a misty, hazy edge, like the sky when reaching to top of mountain summit. Others use colour blocking, cutting, layering and printmaking techniques, to concoct feelings of invigoration. Stretches before morning runs materialise into spirited figures rendered in motion that “bring the piece to life in a way that connects you to the activity and feels more human”, shares Cat.
A sense of play is evident in Cat’s process, from the early design experiments all the way up to the final product. In playing with different media, Cat uses humour and storytelling to bring forth tactility from the page and into the real world; her work thrives on the philosophies of recycling and repurposing. Some pieces are inspired by clippings, tickets, calendars and membership cards – all physical reminders of belonging.
Cat says that her sticker work for Athene’s Sweaty Betty x Merell collaboration still brings her joy. “I still see them now on people’s phones and water bottles and it makes me like ‘eeeee’!” It’s an important facet of Cat’s work for Athene – it doesn’t only exists on it’s Instagram feed; her work lives in the real world, its wearable and it’s design as a marker of belonging to a community. Both Athene and Cat are passionate about taking people away from screens and into nature and that something Cat always wants to see reflected in her crafty work – it’s tactile design for a tactile community.