Celebrating stories of transformation from our Immersion alumni community. If they can do it, so can
Nancy
"Bonnie opened doors for me that I never knew were possible. She opened my mind to what I can achieve with my life." – Mable Tan
"Bonnie opened doors for me that I never knew were possible. She opened my mind to what I can achieve with my life." – Mable Tan
the majority of students report
4,632 artists took the first step toward building their creative career
over 65 countries around the world
and over 55% of students feel that they have mastered a new creative skill
These programs took me from a Mom who had been painting for fun with her kids to a woman who started and launched a new creative business in surface design in less than a year from the first time I had ever opened Adobe Illustrator.
I was able to earn back EVERYTHING I had invested plus some in my first launch.
I gained my life back through a new start. I gained self-agency and confidence and a new career that I absolutely love.
Two years later and I'm able to say that I've been able to create a business for myself that allows me time at home with my kids. As a single mom, I can't describe the gift that is to me.
Since Immersion, I've created four collections and launched a wallpaper shop on my website. I am so excited to say that I have my first fabric collection coming out soon and have more collections coming soon after!
Laura
Katia
Laura
Colleen
Brittany
Christine
mable
Jackie
Katia
Ashley
Elena's story is incredibly inspiring. She has a family of five and they are now all supported by one income: hers! Before this dream came true, she had been working as a graphic designer but felt that she had hit a creative plateau. After feeling like this for years, she signed up for the Immersion Course, and after taking it she became inspired to dive into refreshing her entire brand. She had her first surface pattern design printed larger than life on a trade show booth, in NYC, at a trade show for professional photographers.
“This past year has been my first to break through the six figure mark. Thanks to Bonnie, it feels like it’s just the beginning! She keeps alive and re-ignites my love for creating, and her words have inspired and helped me push through imaginary or very real boundaries, failures and fears, time and time again. Bonnie's words about working from a place of abundance rather than fear has come to mind many times.
Bonnie’s course has equipped me and given me the belief that I can, and that there is room for an Elena Wilken collection of fabrics out there on store shelves, and on sewists' tables. I am thankful beyond words, thankful for all the research time it saves, and for a teacher that shares her knowledge and the tools for us to succeed so freely. It has been such a game changer for me.”
There are a few experiences in my career as an illustrator and surface pattern designer that I can consider life changing. One of those experiences is coming across Bonnie Christine.
As an artist I have come across many workshops and courses but not all have been as valuable as Bonnie's. The knowledge and skills that she shares is far from being generic. Not only does she share her experiences, she teaches the necessary tools you need to to grow and blossom in your career.
This past year I have seen my business sprout and grown into a brand that reflects my style and what I'm passionate about. New opportunities have opened up for my business, and I feel confident enough to pursue them all because of Bonnie and the beautiful community she has built. She has been an important mentor in my career, and a beautiful kindred spirit!
When I think of the Immersion Course, I think of the word transformation. After taking the course, I went from dreaming to doing! With Bonnie’s help, my business G. March Design has become a reality.
My journey began quite a few years before this, at Syracuse University, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Surface Pattern Design. On paper I had all of the training necessary to pursue a career in the field, however by the time I was ready and able to enter the world of design, I had put my career on hold to raise my five children. The skills I had obtained in college weren’t the same ones required to successfully begin my surface pattern design career.
Finding Bonnie’s class was truly the catalyst that moved me from dreamer to designer. My proficiency increased at an amazing rate! With all the information out there, committing to one course can be daunting. However, the encouragement, motivation, direction, and most of all community that Immersion provides is truly priceless. We never stop learning, and here is a forum that will continue long after the course ends to provide inspiring insight, advice, and direction to those in the surface pattern design industry.
This past May, I exhibited over 100 designs at Blueprint in New York City, an opportunity I wouldn’t have even dreamed of achieving prior to the class. This year I hope to teach a Skillshare course and find the right company to license my work. Bonnie took me from dreaming to doing, and I cherish the foundation that this course has given my business.
After being a stay at home mom for 16 years I was searching for a creative business of my own. I wanted one that would enable me to be home with my family, create a solid income and also express my creativity.
When I discovered Bonnie’s courses, I honestly felt like my mind was going to explode. My heart yearned for a career in Surface Pattern Design and Bonnie created a clear path for me to get there. Bonnie’s encouraging and comprehensive style of teaching made the intimidating technical side of SPD seem easy.
Because of her, my dreams have come true and my first fabric line will be launching this spring! I will forever be grateful for Bonnie and her willingness to share her gifts with the world.
I have gained a huge amount of confidence in my artistic abilities and was recently heard to describe myself as an artist!
It has flattened out the learning curve for me. This course was, by far, the most complete, informative one that I've had!
It has given me the tools and information to embark on a more creative life. It has been a huge help and the online community are a great support.
The ability to step forward into a new approach to my design career and not feel scared but know the truth of the business side. To know I can try this path.
Vicki Golden
Juliet van der Heijden
Louise Moore
Leanne Longwill
It’s opened my eyes to endless possibilities.
It gave me hope and the desire to make a living creating from my heart.
I feel that having taken the Immersion Course is one of the best decisions I have ever made throughout my entire life!
I learn something everyday. Design feels like what I was meant to do, and I truly love my job as an illustrator and designer.
Denise Palmer
Kasey Lewis
Kathrin Woo
Lynn Priestly
and it also connected me with a beautiful community of like-minded creatives. Being part of this community has been integral in building my confidence so that I can tell the world “I am an Artist!”
I’ve made my investment back several times over both in dollars and the confidence to keep going, dreaming, and building. It takes work, but it’s worth it.
I'm hardly the same person. I'm amazed at all that I've done in just one year since learning about surface pattern design. Everyday I sit down in my home office and I have serious work to do. This time, it's on my terms and I love every minute of it.
I knew I needed Immersion and I was not wrong! Bonnie is an amazing teacher and teaches every step and tool you need to know to hit the ground running when you leave Immersion.
The community and the energy will always top the list for me! I'm a big believer in putting yourself in a room with the people you aspire to be or be in community with. Find a room of people chasing dreams, leveling up, and bravely putting themselves out there and watch the magic happen as the tide rises for everyone in the room! Bonnie has a gift for creating these spaces and I'm so grateful to her for that!
You’re learning so much more than a program or even how to make a print. You’re learning how to begin building or expanding your creative business and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
One of the best parts of Immersion is the community, there are kind people from all walks of life who cheer you on and support you all along the way. One of the most favorite skills I’ve cherished is how to express myself using this medium of print.
Both during and after taking Immersion I felt invigorated with energy and a love for my craft, something that I haven’t felt in a long time.
How did the Immersion Course make you
The best part of the Immersion Course is that I walked away knowing I had skills, a finished collection, and confidence.
Immersion has given me the sense of becoming... becoming an artist, becoming a business owner, but mostly becoming me.
Hear from over 300 students all over the world and from every stage of life who have crafted a career they love.
"There are a few experiences in my career as an illustrator and surface pattern designer that I can consider life changing. One of those experiences is coming across Bonnie Christine.
As an artist I have come across many workshops and courses but not all have been as valuable as Bonnie's. The knowledge and skills that she shares is far from being generic. Not only does she share her experiences, she teaches the necessary tools you need to to grow and blossom in your career."
Bonnie has been with me every step of the way - from my first days watching her Skillshare courses, to signing up for the Flourish membership, to diving into the Immersion Course. She is so supportive, and without her guidance, I'm not certain I would be where I am today in my business. I am so excited to be making money doing what I love, and I can't wait to see where this journey takes me!
"I have learned more in this course than I did in a whole year in college studying graphic design. Immersion literally changed everything for me."
Laura
Alaina
Inés
It’s equivalent to a college course without the competitive, high pressure environment that universities can create.
My 4 year degree in Studio Art doesn't even come close to what I have learned with Bonnie.
Immersion was so immersive and comprehensive. It felt like a college course, but in my most favorite subject and with no pressure or finals!
Katrina Henry
REbecca Smith
Stephanie Roche
I’ve learned from Immersion in 6 weeks more than I have learned in 4 years at Uni. This course changes minds and lives.
Gabriela Dachin
The best part of taking Immersion was the fantastic community you find, I have made friends I still keep in touch with! If you’re serious about changing your life, Immersion can change your life, it certainly changed mine in ways I had never imagined! Now I have location and time freedom too.
Not only did I learn the technical skills I needed for surface pattern design, I also joined the most amazing community of creatives. The support and encouragement from this community is unreal. Meeting other people who are excited about surface design has been the fuel I needed to propel myself forward.
I really value the community I have made in Immersion and the Mentorship. These are my people, they understand why you stare at fabric looking for a repeat, they understand the recolor tool obsession and they lift me up when I feel like I’m an imposter. I can’t imagine not having these humans in my life.
After a very winding creative path that included degrees in fine art and graphic design, random jobs across many fields from museums to games to boats to apparel, a lot of crafting and way too much self doubt, I finally took the leap into starting a studio business. Having always loved fabric and repeatedly returning in my mind to the idea of being a textile designer, I dove into learning everything I could about surface pattern design. There weren't a lot of clear resources, particularly on licensing, until I discovered Bonnie through Skillshare.
After taking the Immersion Course, I created a collection that I felt finally touched on my core signature style. I used this collection to redesign my website and create a suite of marketable goods that I've sold since then.
I started getting custom design commissions and bookings to teach printmaking workshops, which led to being featured in the Print/Maker book from Uppercase.
I participated in my first trade show and recently spoke on a panel discussion on Textiles in the Marketplace for Portland's Design Week. I often feel pulled in so many directions with my work. I’ve struggled a lot with creative overwhelm in recent years and time and time again I come back to Bonnie's teachings and grounding advice to keep me moving forward. Beyond just technical skill building, she has helped me totally restructure how I think about my business and my time. The level of support and focus I feel after each class or interaction with her has truly been what keeps me out of those self-doubt trenches and working in concrete ways towards my dreams.
For the first time in my life, I have the next year, the next two years planned out. I have big goals, and I am working toward them. I am creating work that has my heart in it, and each pattern tells a story.
I am so grateful that the Immersion program not only taught me the technical skills of creating vector-based designs and building repeats but also helped me shift my mindset to one of the abundant possibilities for how I could use my art.
One thing that Immersion also has taught me is that in order to get results you must be willing to invest - with time, work, and sometimes money. It's been worth every single hour and penny.
When I first signed up for Immersion I could never have predicted how my path would unfold, but it was the catalyst I needed to change my life.
The most positive impact of completing Immersion 2021 was how it re-shaped my professional and creative mindset.
The Immersion Course took something that seemed so daunting and out of reach and gave me not just the basic skills needed to create patterns, but the information I needed to build a brand and a career in surface pattern design.
Bonnie gives you a first hand look at her entire process from brainstorming a collection to actually seeing the pattern collection come to fruition. I am designing fabric for Riley Blake Designs.
My very first collection, Strawberry Jam, will be in stores April 2020. I designed Strawberry Jam during the Immersion course and soon I will be able to hold the fabric in my hands. The things you learn in the course and the community you find with other like minded creatives is invaluable.
You will leave feeling like you can confidently move through illustrator, create collections, and speak the language of surface pattern design.
Bonnie's step by step approach broke it all down in an intuitive way that gave me the technical skills to create the ideas in my head.
If you want to learn surface pattern and AI, this is the only course you need! You’ll learn everything you need from a very good teacher.
Prior to taking the course, learning Illustrator was the biggest roadblock I faced. It just wouldn’t ‘click’ for me and I wondered if I’d ever master it. By the end of the course I was so comfortable with the program and able to use shortcuts like a pro.
Bonnie's teaching style is designed to be supportive and understandable. Her energy is positive, uplifting, inspiring, and calming. The "bite-sized" chunks were exactly what I needed in order to learn Illustrator and feel confident in my new skills.
Bonnie’s clear, logical approach to using all the features in Illustrator allows you to master a skill, then move on to the next concept. The tools are a game-changer in terms of creating more complex designs and are easy to understand with Bonnie’s instruction.
Bonnie broke everything down into manageable pieces and made every step of the course feel special and exciting. Even though I have over 15 years of experience using Adobe Illustrator, I still picked up gems and found those lessons so valuable. And knowing everyone else was working along with me motivated me to sit down and make my first pattern collection during the course. I also loved the video lessons and the live calls.
I am so glad I didn't wait to take the Immersion course. It made my year! Wherever you are at in your surface pattern design journey, Immersion will accelerate your growth, make you feel supported and inspired, and take you to the next level.
I was a little worried about joining as it takes me a while to tackle technology but the flow of the course and the teaching gave me confidence. Now I can just use Illustrator with ease. Also, when I forget how to do something I can just dip back into my library.
It's never too late! Don't give up.
It does not matter about your age or whether you do not have a specific goal in mind, because this opens up so many avenues... so much potential.
"It is refreshing to find Bonnie who is genuinely excited to share her knowledge with others. She feels that our success is a wonderful thing and it doesn't threaten her. I want to be a Bonnie in this world. I want to feel abundance, not scarcity. There is enough for everyone to succeed, and I want to help others find success. Being in a community with that kind of thinking is priceless."
Gone was the previous confusion and overwhelm from when I was trying to teach myself how to use Illustrator and create repeat patterns. I could confidently move into the upcoming modules knowing we had covered the essential skills in the previous section(s). It was super helpful to visually track the progress I was making on the course platform as well!
"The Immersion Course is incredibly comprehensive, providing you with all of the tools necessary to have a successful career in Surface Pattern Design. I had already taken all of Bonnie’s other classes when I signed up for her Immersion Course and wasn’t sure if there was that much more she could teach me. Boy, was I wrong."
Immersion taught me so many ways that I could show up as a fashion and design creative. It really spoke to my entrepreneurial spirit.
I truly believe that if it weren't for this course, I wouldn't have the tools I need to grow as an artist and entrepreneur.
While I learned Illustrator, I was blown away by the business and marketing skills Bonnie (and guest speakers) imparted.
You’re learning so much more than a program... You’re learning how to begin building or expanding your creative business.
I was a little worried about joining as it takes me a while to tackle technology but the flow of the course and the teaching gave me confidence. – Jillian Harvey
As someone who has been using Illustrator for 15+ years, I was frankly shocked at how much I learned from Bonnie. – Jamie Alexander
Even though I have over 15 years of experience using Adobe Illustrator, I still picked up gems and found those lessons so valuable. – Genna Blackburn