An unruffled surface...

...often hides a whirlwind if activity underneath! And that brings us to Lesson Four: it’s important to make like a swan. We are so proud of the stand set that we take to all our wedding fairs – it looks a little bit ‘different’ and we love that. But, our lovely blackboard style table is obviously made of some kind of dark matter because it weighs a ton, our bookshelves need putting together in a flat pack nightmare and every time we load the Illustriesmobile we curse the lamp, the chest, the vase and most particularly the chair (we hate that chair). We get red and sweaty, dusty and dishevelled lugging it all up steps, round too-tight corners and through tiny doors – our knuckles are permanently scarred! When it is all up, it looks great – and the hard work hides beneath a polished veneer. It’s like the ‘choice’ hotels we stay in when we’re at shows far from home – we’re a small business and we have to keep costs down, so Luxury Wedding Show, big tick, we’re there looking the part on the day of the show. Who needs to know we didn’t get to bed in a really bad Travelodge until 11.30?

The table. Bloody heavy...

We also exhibited at the Designer Vintage Bridal Fair last year, and were mighty star-struck that no less than five (count ‘em) of our favourite bloggers were there. We’ll be honest and say that we had to take a deep breath before going to talk to them, and how silly were we?! Kelly of Boho Wedding, Kat of RockN'RollBride, Amma of Beyond Beyond, Annabel of Love My Dress and Alexis of OMG I'm Getting Married were all lovely and totally mystified at how anyone could be intimidated by them. And you know what, even if they hadn’t been, we reckon you still shouldn’t be afraid to go up and talk to ‘high-profile’ people – they’re running a business or building a brand too, networking is everything. And that was Lesson Five.

Heal's Discovers Our Samantha!

Some exciting news we've been dying to share - Illustries' very own Head of Pictures, Samantha Neal, has joined seven other carefully selected designers to take part in Heal’s Discovers 2011! It's only one of our favourite shops!! Well done Sam!

 

Read on to find out what's happening...

 

Heal’s Discovers is an annual collection of inspired designs by the very best up-and-coming designers.

“Great designers like Verner Panton, Georg Jensen and Arne Jacobson don’t come along every day. Nor do they simply appear out of the ether. Talent needs nurturing and that’s what Heal’s Discovers is all about.”

Having approached Heal’s in August 2010 with a specultive email detailing her artwork, Samantha nearly fell off her chair when Design Manager, John Jenkins, called and asked for a meeting. She says, “I’d always loved Heal’s and having worked just a stone’s throw away I spent a lot of time there, window shopping, mainly. But once I left London, whenever I visited I’d always make a point of popping in for some inspiration and a ‘small something’ to take back home. So I thought if I’d always admired Heal’s style, chances are that they might like mine”

Samantha was introduced to buyer Farzana Jones and trading director Giilian Anderson in meetings at their flagship store on Tottenham Court Road, London. After Christmas came a brief to work on ideas and designs for Autumn/Winter 2011. Samantha says, “I then spent some time thinking up a series of new ideas and creative tweaks to original designs that might appeal to the Heal’s audience.”

Samantha presented these ideas, considering autumn/winter colourways, patterns and framing and three weeks later five designs were chosen. Samantha recalls, “On cloud nine several days later, I realized this is when the hard work was about to begin. I had to make my idea commercially viable for both Heal’s and myself. I had to get into the numbers and as a designer, numbers are not my strongest point – as my accountant will tell you!”

After some ups and downs on the production side (but mainly ups), Samantha provided a set of samples to Heal’s for marketing purposes and photoshoots and later delivered her first order into their warehouse by hand: “ I had to hand over a year’s worth of blood, sweat and tears, but it felt amazing!”

On 7^th July Samantha attended the special press show and for the first time the realization of her achievement dawned. Says Sam, “The merchandising teams had worked their magic and my art adorned the walls alongside products from the likes of Tom Dixon, Marimekko and Design House Stockholm. They looked stunning!”

Samantha’s five designs – all exclusive to Heals – In a Flutter London, Butterfly Wings & Hedgerow go on sale in store in August and are available online now. The official launch of the Heal’s Discovers campaign takes place during design week in September.

www.heals.co.uk