Caroline Pratt is a Leeds-based designer, printmaker and creative producer working across surface design, education, research and creative project development.
Caro’s studio practice brings together image-making, considered craft processes, research and collaboration to develop creative projects that explore colour, pattern, process and place.
She works with cultural organisations, businesses, educational institutions and communities, adapting her approach to the needs and possibilities of each project.
Her work is rooted in a love of printmaking and drawing, with a particular interest in the value of heritage craft techniques and analogue approaches within contemporary surface design and illustration.
Increasingly, her practice explores relationships between people and the natural world and how creative activity can encourage closer attention to plants, place and the environments around us.
Through technical exploration and research, she investigates the spaces where theory meets practice, believing these intersections can unlock new ways of thinking, seeing and connecting with the world.
She is committed to mindful and sustainable approaches to making, where the crafting of surfaces, images and narratives can encourage more thoughtful and resilient ways of working.
Caroline combines hands-on processes, research and collaboration to create work that is both joyful and conceptually driven.
Creative Approach & Specialisms.
Caro’s practice brings together printmaking, drawing and colour with research and conceptual development.
She values heritage processes as a foundation for contemporary design, using them as a way to reflect on sustainability, craftsmanship and materiality. By balancing technical skill with curiosity and critical thinking, she creates work that is both rooted in tradition and open to fresh perspectives.
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Specialisms include:
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Printmaking - heritage and contemporary processes.
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Colour - theory, palette development and semiotics.
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Drawing and Collage - as research and visual enquiry.
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Surface & Pattern - for textiles and interiors.
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Craft & Concept - balancing technical skill with critical ideas.
Values & Sustainability.
Caro’s practice is underpinned by a commitment to sustainability and mindful production.
She integrates heritage printmaking processes with contemporary design thinking, promoting approaches that reduce waste, value materials and prioritise longevity.
She is Carbon Literacy trained and embeds these principles into her studio work, teaching and collaborative projects.
Academic Research & Talks.
With 15+ years working as a Senior Lecturer in Printed Textiles and Surface Design at Leeds Arts University and a variety of visiting lecturing roles at other institutions; Caro has developed a research profile that runs in tandem with her design practice, exploring colour, links between nature, wellbeing and design, heritage processes, and sustainable pathways for creative employment. Her work spans publications, exhibitions, and academic symposia, engaging both scholarly and creative audiences.
Selected highlights:
Professional membership: Academic Fellow of Advance HE
Conference presentations:
Making Space Through Print: Community, Practice and Collective Learning.
NSEAD Making Space: Artist Teacher in Adult Community Learning Conference (2026)
Sustainable pathways for Creative Employment.
Learning, Teaching & Enhancement Conference, Leeds Arts University (2023).
Connections between natural and commercial colour systems.
The Power of Colour; Textile Society Conference, Manchester (2019).
Promoting cross-curricular thinking and making skills within schools.
Futurescan 4: Valuing Practice, University of Bolton (2019). Submitted for REF21.
Rethinking textile production frameworks with Biophilic principles.
Activating Biophilic Cities Conference, University of Greenwich (2018).
Publications:
Russell, A (2021) The Fundamentals of Printed Textile Design. Bloomsbury. Image credit.
Style, B (2010) Print & Pattern. Laurence King. Image credit.
That's enough about us - why not get in touch and tell us about you!?
There are lots of ways we could work together so why not get in touch for a chat?
If you'd prefer to send a direct email please send your message to hello@carolinepratt.co.uk