TO her friends, it is no surprise that Ingrid Sylvestre has become a successful designer on the verge of a potentially massive merchandising empire.

Her instantly recognisable characters in the fictional Giraffe World sum up what she's about.

"I am known for having more neck than a giraffe and for being very focused in my work but also for having fun. The characters are a representation of that in that they combine humour, gleeful 'Giraffitude' and entrepreneurship," she says.

It began with a painting of a giraffe with its neck poking out of a car sunroof. In a conversation peppered with sentences that begin "I hadn't originally intended to...", Ingrid reveals how that small seed grew into a world of a dozen giraffe characters, including Raph G Neckmann, Necky Becky and Girth.

"I'd always liked animals but I was never particularly interested in giraffes," she says. "I didn't intend making them part of the business."

But, once the thought began to develop, there was no going back. Throwing herself into it with characteristic passion, her life has now been taken over by the necky creatures, right down to her giraffe print clothes, her coloured hair and the painted steps to her front door near Durham.

Originally from Derbyshire, she did a degree in fine arts sculpture at Sheffield University where, incidentally, she shared a house with Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, before teaching art therapy at a psychiatric hospital and then studying the subject as a post-graduate student in St Albans.

One weekend, she visited a friend in Middlesbrough and fell in love with the countryside around Great Ayton. She decided to stay in the North-East and embarked on a part-time garden design course at Houghall College, in Durham, later teaching design there.

Still painting her "serious" commissioned landscapes, she started her own business in 2001.

"I was asked by an agent working for a US wallpaper company to design some borders of scenes of lions and leopards. I included some of my giraffes with their heads in the clouds and it was those that attracted the most attention at trade fairs," she says.

An exhibition of giraffe paintings followed at the Botanic Gardens, in Durham.

"A lot of people said they couldn't afford a painting but liked the designs and would buy cards. I hadn't thought about it before, but tested the Lots of Neck range at craft fairs, then put them into shops. It grew from there into mugs, T-shirts, keyrings and so on."

It was her first foray into merchandising.

More card design opportunities came her way when she met David and Gwen Cooksey, from Butterknowle, County Durham, who asked her to design sympathy cards for their Colourstone Cards business. They now publish and distribute Ingrid's designs internationally.

The sympathy cards and giraffe designs were soon joined by the Vetyver S. shoe collection.

Ingrid explains: "I'd sprained my ankle and was lying on the settee.

"I've always loved glamorous boots and shoes but, of course, couldn't wear them then so I started painting the kind of boots I wanted to wear and they became cards too.

"It's been the perfect excuse to go into shoe shops - all in the interests of research of course."

Meanwhile, Giraffe World was growing to the point where she needed to take steps to protect it.

"It was always a route I wanted to go down because I could see the potential - but I didn't even know it was called licensing," admits Ingrid.

"Brands are all around us, but people aren't aware of what goes on in the licensing world. It was an area I knew nothing about.

"It's been quite a lonely existence. You have to find things out for yourself - other people in the same position can't really tell you because they'd be giving away their secrets. It's been very interesting - but I wish there was a text book."

She did get some help after being introduced by another contact to the industry bible, the Licensing Source Book, License Europe magazine and the Brand Licensing exhibition held at Earl's Court, in London.

"I have the exhibition to thank for putting me on the map," says Ingrid, who was persuaded by her partner, Ian Penman, to take a stand there.

"It cost £10,000 - I used to baulk at paying £30 for a table at a craft fair. But it was worth it because I made quite an impact and met a lot of people from the industry."

They included book publishers whose enthusiasm prompted her into writing ten children's books based on Giraffe World.

A pilot animation is under way with the characters' voices supplied by both professional actors and Ingrid's friends and she is in talks with soft toy manufacturers, a maker of children's lunch boxes and a French company that makes porcelain miniatures to go inside Epiphany cakes. There could even be Giraffe World pasta shapes.

It is now that her networking prowess is really coming into its own.

One of the key things she has learned is to have a good lawyer.

"You need someone who knows what they're doing when it comes to property rights and contract agreements. I would never sign away my control," says Ingrid.

"I have it written into every contract that I must be involved every step of the way because it's my baby, my creation.

"I'm now in a position where I'm looking for some capital investment or funding partners who recognise the immense potential of Giraffe World and would like to share in its creative challenge and success.

"It's a very exciting time. I have never wanted to stay as a small, local business and now I can see the very real possibilities and the opportunities to create a classic product."

* Ingrid is a member of the Entrepreneur's Forum.