Hi everyone

My name is Tina Devins and I have worked as a surface designer since 2012. I sell/license my designs to international companies for use on their products.

As a result of my experience in this industry I compiled a list of companies that accept artists submissions and packaged it as a PDF for sale for other designers. This literally took me years of research and months to collate into the finished product.

Another designer created a different product that also had a list of companies and I purchased this newsletter from Sep 2021 to Sep 2022. Unfortunately I have been accused by this designer of repurposing their content into one of my products.

They posted about this in their private Facebook group (which has hundreds of other surface pattern designers). This is UNTRUE and has severely affected my reputation and livelihood. I do not have access to this group so was unable to defend myself.

The designer accused me of having the exact same content as their product. This is untrue for the following reasons:

• There are 202 links in my PDF
• 146 links are NOT available in their product (72% of my PDF)
• In the 56 companies that are the same –

1. I have email proof that I contacted the majority of these companies BEFORE I got the information from their product (see below).
2. I attended the tradeshow Blueprint in September 2021 and have contact information for 7 of the companies at the tradeshow (again I received this information BEFORE I got the information from their product).
3. At least two of the companies are clients of mine since June 2021.
4. I have been in the surface pattern design industry since 2012 and am very familiar with some of these companies as some are household names.
5. I have been following the Print & Pattern Job site since it started and many of these companies advertise there.

Here are just 3 companies that I emailed BEFORE I received their information.

Just to add –

• I have been in the surface pattern design industry since 2012.
• I licensed my first designs in 2013 and now my work is available in Walmart and Homegoods.
• I was on the blogging team for Tigerprint, who are the design wing for Marks and Spencers.
• I’ve had my work published in books.
• I’ve built up a good reputation in this industry with companies, clients and other surface pattern designers.

Unfortunately the designer never tried to reach out to me to discuss any concerns, instead they chose to post in their Facebook group.

This Facebook post has affected my reputation. I spent over a decade building my good name in this industry and to have it tarnished like this is a nightmare.

The post also actively discouraged people from buying my product which resulted in a loss of sales. I was also reported in another Facebook group for theft as a result of this.

Thank you once again for all the support I received from people over the last few weeks. Many were from surface pattern designer friends that have known me since 2012. I am so happy to be a part of this supportive community. Please continue to be kind to each other.

Thank you for reading ♡