We have been great
admirers of the lovely British stationery line Sukie for quite some time.
It’s very unique and very beautiful, like discovering a rare edition
of the most amazing children’s book from another era. Their use
of simple illustration, recycled materials and interesting details (like
little secret pockets) have won them fans around the globe, many of whom
have bugun their own Sukie collections. These are items to treasure!
Recently, as fredflare.com’s latest Sukie shipment was sailing
across the pond, we had the great priviledge of chatting with designers
Darrell Gibbs and Julia Harding.
Can you tell us about how you started
Sukie? What was the first product you made?
Our first product was the Hand Made Rescued Note Book. I came up with
the concept while I was at the Royal College of Art in London. I have
always collected paper that I can draw and print onto and I decided to
make sketch books out of some of it. I had all these books made from
discarded artwork, used envelopes, paperwork, paper bags, paper wrappers...
and each book has what it was made from printed on the front cover. They
ended up looking so nice that I thought they could be turned into a product.
Habitat (big UK home store) saw the books at my degree show and, after
a few meetings, they ordered about 12,000! Julia and I said we could
do it for them and the beginnings of Sukie were formed.
How old is Sukie now? How would you say your work, your business and
your lives have changed since that first item?
Sukie is now 4 years old. The biggest changes since starting Sukie were
that Julia left the safety of her job to set up the business with me
after I left college. We have been together for 11 years and, since starting
Sukie, we have also been working together, which we love. Running your
own business is stressful but creatively we basically do whatever we
want!
Many of your products have travel themes.
Where are your fave places to travel?
Our favourite places at the moment are NYC, Chamonix in the French Alps
and Corsica.
We've also noticed that nature is a big theme. Can you tell us about
that?
We love old children’s books on nature with trees, birds, insects
and such. The whole nature collecting thing appeals a lot to us.
Who are some of your favorite designers?
We love Josef Frank textiles, Eames design and furniture, Robin and Lucian
Day furniture and textiles and illustration by Jasper Goodall and David
Foldvari. (Those last two also happen to share our studio space.)
Tell us a little bit about life in the UK. What are some of your favorite
shops?
Mainly rain and quite windy here in Brighton on the coast. If you’re
in London check out Magma Bookshop and their toy store Playlounge. If
you come down to Brighton visit Pussy Home Boutique.
What kind of music do you listen to when you’re working in your
studio?
Our recurrent playlist consists of Roots Manuva, Taskforce, Polar, Q-Tip,
Beta Band, Blackalicious, White Stripes and the Pixies.
What would be your advice to our readers who have dreams of starting
their own stationery company?
Start small, target the best stores and magazines and don’t expect
it to happen overnight. If you love what you are doing and it is commercially
viable, it CAN be done.
Any advice for couples who live and work creatively together?
We used to live and work from home which is not the best setup as you
can never ever get away from work. It didn’t help that our apartment
was so tiny and we shared it with our cat who would sit on keyboards
and wet art work! We now have a studio so when we go home we don’t
take work with us. We don’t tend to argue at all so that helps.
We have worked out a working system, too: I do a new design, Julia
gives me constructive criticism (which is difficult to take, but Julia
is usually right!) then I modify the design a bit and everyone is happy!
What is the origin of the name?
Um... Julia's childhood cat.
Okay Julia and Darrell... It's time for our SPEED ROUND! FAVE COLOR:
J: green
D: orangey red FAVE CANDY:
J: Choc
D: olate! FAVE BOOK:
J: Current fave is A Little Friend by Donna Tart
D: Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut FAVE FOOD:
J: Italian
D: Italian FAVE MOVIE:
J: Betty Blue and The Game
D: Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door (short comedy), Goodfellas and If
