Michele Payne (she/her) is a freelance surface designer and illustrator based in Worthing, South Coast UK, with nearly 30 years of experience in the textile design industry. She specialises in patterns and placement designs for the baby and children's market, graduating from Brighton University with a Fashion/Textiles degree in 1994. Alongside design work, she maintains a parallel fine art practice at michelepayneart.com (@michelepaints).

The portfolio features a warm, character-driven children's print aesthetic - cute characters, nature-inspired patterns, and playful placement designs for babies and young children. The work spans both all-over pattern repeats and individually composed placement prints, consistent with her stated specialism in both formats.

Illustration, painting, colour theory, trend awareness, market adaptation, and technical production skills. She also provides concept boards tailored to client brands, garment and product mock-ups, and detailed technical specifications for production - a full-service offering for the children's market.

Named clients:

• Lilly + Sid - longest collaboration, since 2010; includes an exclusive collection for the Natural History Museum
• Vital Baby - sippy cups and baby feeding ranges
• SmileyWorld
• Turtledove London
• Pigeon Organics
• Lakeland
• Hibou Home
• Mothercare
• Lucy + Yak
• Tesco
• Mamas + Papas
• John Lewis
• Menudos Cuadros

Market focus: baby and children's across clothing/fashion, homeware, and gifting.

Graduated Fashion/Textiles from Brighton University, 1994. Nearly 30 years of freelance practice in the children's textile design sector. The Lilly + Sid collaboration has been ongoing since 2010. Based in Worthing, South Coast UK.

Selected Instagram pattern images suggest cute character-led designs, nature-inspired repeats, and placement illustration suited to baby and children's product ranges. The portfolio shows work applied to childrenswear and nursery product contexts. Eight pattern images and four placement images selected.