We're in a sharing mood...

We’re six months on from our official launch at the Luxury Wedding Show (have you read our post on that one?!) and we thought we’d share our humble experience of launching into the big, wide wedding industry, not because we like talking about ourselves (well we kind of do, but that’s not why) but because we really wondered how everyone else got started and whether our experience so far is par for the course. You know how it is, you have a few drinks, slam a few tequilas and before you know it you’ve formed a business. Or, is that just us (we’re sure it’s not)?

So, we learned a few lessons along the way. First up, Lesson one...

We guess every business starts with a good idea – well, we hope ours did. Emma got married, had some beautiful photographs and one of those great big old albums, but wanted something a bit more ‘her’. She’s a writer by trade (we’re sure you know this by now, she bangs on about it all the time), so wanted to include some of her pesky words with those gorgeous images. Try as she might, the photobook options were too inflexible (ever tried adding words to those things?!) and impersonal – she’s a princess, so when she says I want ‘teal’, she want teal, not light blue. Sam is a graphic designer (when she wants teal she wants Pantone 3155), and we had worked together a couple of times. We chatted a bit in a conversation that shall henceforth be known as Albumgate, had those few drinks, slammed those tequilas and Illustries was born. Today we’re creating beautiful, bespoke memory books that reflect each very individual couple, combining a written love story with some creative design in a true one-off.

Now that’s enough about our books, we’re not here to sell them to you. We just wondered if all you creative people out there went through the same kind of agonies in birthing your own ‘babies’, the same highs and lows, the squealing with excitement moments and the times you despair that it will ever work out? In our day jobs, we’ve both worked on some huge brands. But when it’s your own? Different story. One of the things that gobsmacked us was how hard it was to come up with a name. Illustries was up there pretty early on (it’s short for Illustrated Histories) but we went round the houses for DAYS, trying out loads of other options (some were truly awful, ‘Dreams of Your Past’ anyone?) before ending up back where we started. Illustries it was – the thing that swung it for us was mocking up a logo and seeing how it looked as a real brand. Actually that’s a lie, because we had two possibles and in the end we all but tossed a coin and went with one. 

Our first lesson: it’s amazing that sometimes it isn’t the decision you make that is important, you just need to make a decision. 

Sam's amazing artwork

As we blogged last week, our talented Head of Pictures, Ms Samantha Neal (we like calling her that, she sounds all professional), isn't just a succesful graphic designer and she isn't just the creative genius that makes our Illustries all beautiful. Nope, she is also an artist (conquering the world one pretty picture at a time!), and has created an elegant series of unique works.

Each piece features silhouetted shapes, cut from crisp card and arranged to appear three-dimensional, with minimal framing, such as her signature acrylic box frames. Individual works are made to order with great care and attention to detail and themes range from her original butterfly configuration through to botanical arrangements, love hearts and birds. Pieces can be designed to match a specific interior scheme and personalized as a gift to mark a special occasion. Her original collection has been available from independent galleries and the hugely popular www.notonthehighstreet.com/alilia for a little while.

But, she is ever expanding, and has just been named as one of eight Heal's Discovers artists and designers for 2011, creating a brand new and exclusive range just for the high street store (which happens to be one of her favourite ever shops). Sam's artwork is now available in store and from Heal's. As Emma is writing this, she gets to name her favourite: The silhouetted butterflies, dragonflies and flowers cut from a reproduction of the 1951 Stanford’s Map of Central London, 'In a Flutter, London'.

Well done Sam, Illustries is proud of you!

All images courtesy of Heal's