Where ever I’ve travelled in the world, I’ve sought out local handmade products that reflect where I’m visiting. This was the inspiration for the creation of Design Vaults, which started with the launch of the Bath Moments Collection, a range of necklaces that celebrate iconic locations in Bath.
At the moment, Design Vaults is just me. I manage the pricing, photography, product design roadmap, product placement, event planning, collateral delivery and of course, make the products! Typically, each necklace takes between 14-22 days to make. I will never be a high volume business but I get great satisfaction delivery handcrafted, individual & design led products to my customers.
At the core of the Design Vaults promise is my focus on genuinely unique, handmade and design led jewellery. Central to delivering my products to market is my focus on using local businesses who are experts in their field, as an external team that work with me to deliver different elements of my business. In this global era, I believe it’s important to not forget that local business are run by talented people who are easy to connect with, have a face to face conversation with, talking through ideas or concepts and together and working out the best way to deliver a particular element. This post is all about celebrating this virtual, local team that consists of the following amazing people:
Alice Calvert: To create truly unique artwork for the Moments Collection, I worked with a young art student to create simple, elegant drawings that were contemporary and instantly recognisable. Working with someone as young as Alice was fun & energising & I deliberately chose to work with a young student who had uninhibited talent. Alice has since gone on to study Art at University and continues to deliver outstanding work.
Chris Pate, Touchmark Studios: this independent jewellery studio is owned and run by Chris, who won an award in Bristol & Somerset for ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year 2014’. She is a qualified jeweller and whilst I initially attended various silversmith courses, I now work in the small open studio she runs each week which provides a great opportunity for ongoing learning, concept testing and a good old healthy general gossip!
Jenny Semple: A fellow mother at our local school, Jenny used to be an Art Director in London and now runs her own graphic design business. Jenny did a stunning job of creating my logo, branding and all related packaging and continues to support me – she’s dynamic and a great inspiration.
Mark Davis: The Colorworks in Bath helped identity the perfect fit for printed materials in line with my branding and have supported me when I’ve needed those typical urgent jobs!
Jayson Godridge: A huge challenge was finding a way to print the commissioned artwork with millimetre precision, in a format that I could layer into resin without the image colour leaking. Eventually, I found Freestyle Designs in Bath, who were not only able to print exactly what I needed, but also helped to convert the artwork into a printable format – I’ve hit a number of ‘walls’ during the creation of the Design Vaults range but didn’t expect my lack of graphic design experience to be one of them! The team went above and beyond to ensure the finished printed imagery was perfect.
Kellie Hindmarch: is a photographer extraordinaire! It proved no easy task to take an amazing promotional photo of me, (I’m really not comfortable in front of a camera…) but she then went on to help facilitate & manage product photography sessions with final year Bath University Students! Kellie has endless enthusiasm, expertise and has a fantastic can do attitude, which visibly rubbed off on her students.
I make everything at home, in my vault, by hand, with a clear focus on individuality and craftsmanship. It’s important to me to be able to attend school events for my young children, whilst showing them importance of determination, drive and creativity – I genuinely love what I do.
Design Vaults wouldn’t be where it is today without each of the expert people above. They’re all local, they’ve all proven invaluable in their respective field and with the continued growth of my business, I will continue to invest back in local talented businesses.
I hope that by sharing a key part of Design Vaults history and working ethos, you feel you know my business & me better. And please, wherever you can, support your local independent businesses.