The Print School's Story
The Print School all starts with Longina — Lola to everyone who knows her. Lola founded Longina Phillips Designs in 1988, building one of Australia’s most respected surface pattern design studios over the following three decades. Our work has graced collections for some of the world’s most recognisable brands, from Anthropologie and Zara to H&M, Givenchy, Bec & Bridge, and Seafolly. That’s a career’s worth of real-world industry experience — and it’s exactly the knowledge her team wanted to pass on.
1988
Longina Phillips Design founded in Sydney Australia. We moved into our studio in 1993 and we have been creating prints here for nearly 40 years.
2014
In 2014, The Print School was born. What started as a single course has grown into Australia’s leading online destination for surface design education, offering a curriculum built entirely around what actually works in the industry — not just theory. Every lesson, every brief, every technique taught here comes directly from the studio floor.
Today
We continue sharing our passion for print through our course and online community.
Where We Come From
Longina Phillips Designs has been a fixture of the global textile industry since 1988. The studio’s prints have appeared in flagship stores across Europe, the United States, and Asia-Pacific, and the team has worked with buyers from fast fashion giants to boutique luxury labels. That breadth of experience across different markets, price points, and production methods is woven into every course The Print School offers.
When Lola decided to formalise that knowledge into a structured teaching program, she didn’t want to create another generic design course. She wanted something specific: a surface design course taught by industry professionals, for people who are serious about making this their career or creative practice. That’s still the standard we hold ourselves to today.
Meet the Team
Lola (Longina Phillips) — Founder
Lola founded Longina Phillips Designs in Sydney in 1988 and has spent over 35 years supplying original surface patterns to global fashion and homewares brands. Her commercial instincts and deep knowledge of the industry and production methods are what students learn at The Print School. She brings the kind of practical expertise you can only get from decades at the coalface of the industry.
Sara — GM, Sales & Design
Sara is the General Manager of Longina Phillips Designs, where she leads global sales and oversees the commercial strategy of an internationally recognised print studio. With a strong foundation as a designer, she brings a deep understanding of both the creative and business sides of the industry. At The Print School, Sara shares this real-world insight, helping bridge the gap between creating beautiful designs and building a commercially successful career. Her perspective ensures our courses stay grounded in what the industry actually needs—giving students a clear, practical path forward.
Rebecca — Creative Director
Rebecca is the Creative Director of Longina Phillips Designs, where she leads the studio’s creative vision and sets the standard for commercially relevant, design-led print. She also oversees the creative direction and experience of The Print School, ensuring everything we create feels inspiring, elevated, and deeply connected to the real industry. With a background in fashion design, Rebecca translates high-level studio thinking into courses that are both visually compelling and genuinely achievable—helping students build work that not only looks beautiful, but sells.
What we teach
Our online surface design courses are built around the full lifecycle of a commercial print — from initial concept and colour theory through to seamless repeats, hand drawing and painting, digital editing in Photoshop, and presenting work to buyers. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a working designer looking to sharpen specific skills, we have a course designed for where you are right now.
Students across Australia and around the world come to The Print School because they want more than tutorials — they want the context, the commercial awareness, and the professional eye that only comes from people who are doing this work at the highest level. Our curriculum reflects the demands of the actual marketplace: what buyers are looking for, what studios produce, and what skills set working designers apart.
The Print School Today
Today, The Print School is home to a growing community of designers — students, graduates, and working professionals — who share a love of pattern, print, and the craft of surface design. We are proud to offer some of the most comprehensive online surface design courses available in the world, taught by people who are actively working in the industry.
If you’re ready to learn surface design from the people who live and breathe it, you’re in the right place.
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