Nadia Hassan
nadiahassan.com | @bynadiahassan
Nadia Hassan is an artist and designer from Greensboro, NC. She created her first repeating pattern 10 years ago as part of a class assignment while pursuing her BFA, and hasn’t stopped since. Nadia’s signature style is defined by bold graphics, clean lines, cheerful colors and a healthy dose of playfulness. She draws inspiration from nature’s endless supply of beautiful forms, the legacy of mid-century design, and the moments in everyday life where the mundane meets the serendipitous. Her process is as much about play as work; it’s an exciting investigation of ideas, colors, shapes, textures, and scale.
Scroll down to read our Q&A with Nadia for Artist Appreciation Month!
Shop Nadia Hassan Wrapping Paper Designs
Artist Appreciation Month Q&A
We caught up with Nadia in honor of Artist Appreciation Month for a quick Q&A and a peek behind the scenes at her process and inspiration behind her art!
Can you tell us a bit more about how this collaboration with Wrappily came to life and some of your artistic inspiration for your newest collection?
Sara was one of my earliest clients/cheerleaders, and we’ve (somewhat accidentally) established a tradition of me creating holiday designs for Wrappily. With my latest collection, I was equally inspired by quirky and traditional holiday motifs, so I decided to mix them together in a perfectly-imperfect modern style.
I know we aren't supposed to pick favorites, but do you have a favorite pattern from your collection?
I love all of the prints that we collaborated on, but once I got my hands on the paper, I fell head over heels for the Bough Wow/Twinkle Twinkle pairing. I wrapped so many of my Christmas gifts with it!
Can you share a favorite gift wrapping memory?
One of my best friends loves Junior Mints, so one year I bought a bag of the mini boxes and wrapped all 16 of them individually as a silly surprise. Seeing the delight on her face when she opened them was 100% worth the extra effort. It’s a tradition I have kept up for at least a decade at this point, and I think it is largely responsible for sparking my gift wrap obsession :)
How do you strive to live an eco-friendly lifestyle?
Sometimes it feels like being a human and living an eco-friendly life are completely at odds, but I try to focus on things within my control that have the biggest impact: eating less meat (especially red meat), grouping errands and online shopping purchases to prioritize efficiency over my desire for instant gratification (hard!), not watering the lawn or treating it with herbicides/pesticides, forgoing single-use items whenever possible, and shopping with intentionality so that I buy fewer things and keep them longer. If I need some retail therapy, I opt for secondhand shops - the combination of cheap thrills and sustainability is a real win-win in my book.
What's new? Do you have any new projects coming up?
I just started on a dream project - illustrating a children’s book! The story is absolutely fabulous, and I cannot wait to see it all come together in print early next year. I also have some exciting collaborations with a couple of my bucket list clients in the works, one of which will be released in the fall! Find me on instagram @bynadiahassan