Homegirl London pays homage to Mini Moderns. This business is all about patterns and creating something new to be cherished by the whole family. It all started when Keith Stephenson (left in picture) and Mark Hampshire (right in picture) bonded over a mutual view on ascetics and the same sense of humour.
Their initial collection was snapped up by Heal’s in 2006 and it’s been going great strengths since then. They love a bit of mid-century modern design and are influenced by iconic TV shows of the past and the 1951 Festival of Britain. Their creations include an interesting range of décor delights like wallpaper, paint, fabric, rugs, cushions, bags, mugs and stationery – all with interesting patterns and colour ways.
Aside from making their own spectacular products, they also produce commissions for the likes of the Courtauld Gallery, Southbank Centre and London Transport Museum Shop. I caught up with the duo to find out more …
Q: Tell me about your design backgrounds.
A: Keith worked as a textile print and graphic designer for various fashion companies ranging from jeans wear to cult fashion brand Red or Dead for several years. Mark had worked in television and had also created his own interior designer-maker business selling his collections through Heal’s. So our experience was very broad.
Q: How did you meet?
A: We met at a branding agency in the mid-nineties – we were always put together as a team for projects and always knew we worked well together with a similar aesthetic, a similar approach to projects and, most importantly, a similar sense of humour!
Q: Why set up your business?
A: We always felt that some of our skills were not fully utilised in the branding agencies where we worked, so we left our full-time jobs and set up an independent branding agency specialising in retail and lifestyle brands. But we were determined that we should not be pigeonholed by job titles, studio output or types of clients. Due to this flexible and collaborative approach we were open to more leftfield project offers like the wallpaper design commission from Places and Spaces. After this first collection we decided to do our own range with a totally different approach and for a different market – thus Mini Moderns was born.
Q: Why call the company Mini Moderns?
A: When we started Mini Moderns we realised there was a gap in the market for cross-generational interior design. Most family-orientated home wares were a bit twee – so we wanted to create a collection of prints which could be used in children’s rooms or equally successfully in more grown up parts of the home. We chose the name Mini Moderns as it summed up this approach. We also liked that it suggested ‘small modern things’ which could appeal to everyone. We have moved on since then, but we have found that our name is now just accepted and that our products speak for themselves. It also has a friendly and approachable sound to it.
Q: Where are you based and why?
A: We are based in Camberwell, South East London. We have a three-storey live/work unit in a collection of 15 mews properties populated by people working in the creative industries. Downstairs we have a double height studio, which serves as a meeting place, library and warehouse for our product ranges, with a mezzanine space for our desks and computers. The 2 floors above have living space and a small roof terrace. When we bought it 10 years ago the building was really good value for the space we have – and as we’ve expanded in to home wares we haven’t incurred warehousing costs. The house is also flexible enough to let us photograph all our collections in without expensive studio hire. We also have great photographers next door who help us out too.
Q: How many people work at your company?
A: There are now 3 of us. Charlotte joined Mark and myself just over a year ago – which has been brilliant. Our paths crossed at her university where we had set a number of projects. Our roles are fairly flexible, with Mark and Charlotte taking charge of the retail part of the business – but we all design the collections and also have a laugh which is really important when you are a very small team.
Q: Describe your design style.
A: We often describe ourselves as ‘soft modernists.’ As predominantly pattern-based designers, we create fun patterns that fall in to collections with strong narratives or concepts behind them – the past 3 have been ‘Folk Rock,’ ‘Day-Tripper’ and ‘The Buddha of Suburbia.’
Mini Moderns Wallpaper Pattern Examples
Q: Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
A: Inspiration for the designs and collections come from various sources, whether it is collective childhood memories, our collections of printed ephemera, various vintage textiles and mid-century graphics – it all goes in to the design process and comes out at the other end as a Mini Moderns original. We might, for instance, draw inspiration from the opening titles to a sit-com we watched as kids. The success of the collections is that they are eclectic – 1950s influences sit happily with 1970s inspired designs and contemporary themes and colour ways with 1980s post modernism – and sometimes all in one print design!
Q: What’s your fascination with mid-century design?
A: We have very eclectic taste and we draw from all decades of design. But we often come back to the creative work in print design of the Festival Pattern Group, Peter Moro and Lucienne Day from the Festival of Britain. It was such a creative period, with a sense of newness that was pervading all kinds of new design, resulting in a very British take on ‘Modern.’
Festival Porcelain Mugs, £26 for set of 4
Q: Tell me about your collections.
A: When we started financing a collection it was a big step for us and it meant we could only produce a very small range. The initial designs were launched under the ‘Playtime’ label – a nod to the cross-generational aspect of these designs and homage to the fabulous Jaques Tati film of the same name, which was a modernist comedy that seemed to fit the designs. These designs were later grouped together to form The Family Album – which was a compendium of the first wallpapers. This represented our move from our cross-generational beginnings to where we are now.
Sitting Comfortably? Buttermilk Wallpaper, £25 from the Family Album Collection
The second collection, ‘Folk Rock,’ started life as one print, which later became ‘Pet Sounds’ – still a great seller – and was followed by a number of prints inspired by the American west coast music scene in the late 60s.
‘Day-Tripper’ was our third complete collection and was based on ‘holidays at home’ or ‘staycationing.’ This featured designs as diverse as the 1951 inspired ‘Festival’ and the coastal ‘Whitby’ prints. Both these designs have become defining Mini Moderns prints.
London Mugs, Set of 6 £40 from the Day-Tripper Collection
The most recent collection, ‘Buddha of Suburbia,’ is based on the book of the same name by Hanif Kureishi with prints that take a journey through 1970s popular culture from Bowie to Buzzcocks.
Sound of the Suburbs Bone China Plate, £50 from the Buddha of Suburbia Collection
Our designs have a recognisable handwriting running through them and as they are executed in a specific Mini Moderns palette, they tend to mix and match across each collection.
Q: Which designer do you admire and why?
A: Sir Terrence Conran is someone that Mark has always admired – we went to the Design Museum exhibition; ‘The Way We Live Now’ which was an incredible voyage through 60 years of design, chronicling the changing face of the British design industry, with Sir Terrence at the helm. Mark also collects vintage Habitat catalogues – the 1971 catalogue is a particular favourite of his. I have always loved the work of mid-century pattern designers from Robert Stewart to Marian Mahler. We both love the design work of graphic designers like Paul Rand.
Q: What’s the best thing about owning your own business?
A: The best thing about owning your business is that there is no such thing as that ‘Monday morning feeling’ and although the hours can be long, having total creative control as a designer is liberating. As a small business, we do all aspects of designing, production and dispatch. Of course, designing and building the collection is very exciting, but receiving first strike-offs of lines in production is also equally rewarding. We also love interaction with our customers, who enjoy the positive attitude of our brand and we get very positive feedback both in person and via social media.
Q: What one piece of advice would you pass on to someone wanting to set up their own business?
A: When we started we were given the same advice that we would share with everyone else: ‘keep your overheads down.’ Also, be true to yourself, be original and have confidence in what you want to do.
Q: What’s coming up for the rest of 2013?
A: We are about to launch a new wallpaper design, a continuation of the Buddha of Suburbia collection. We are concentrating on promoting our brand new paint colour range. In development is a new product range, which we are working on now for a January launch at the Home Show. Nearly all our spare time is devoted to the renovation of a beach house in Dungeness which will be totally ‘mini modern-ised’ using all our products. We have always said if we can’t live with our products then who can?
If you want to find out more about Mini Moderns or buy their products check them out online at www.minimoderns.com. Credits: text by Homegirl London, images courtesy of Mini Moderns, special thanks to Keith Stephenson, Mark Hampshire and David Gorrod.
