About being a Designer: A Creative Business Decade in review

So as we’re wrapping up for the holidays and getting close to the end of a busy and productive year we are reflecting on all projects we’ve worked on. All new collabs we started and things we created. And with the end of the year coming close, so is a decade coming to an end. A great reason to take a moment and look back of ten years of being a creative professional.

It was in 2011 when I started Little Smilemakers Studio. So you can imagine a lot has happened business-wise these past ten years. Ten years ago I was still working for a design agency in my hometown, which has a lot of prestigious design agencies by the way. My city is famous for its graphic design Academy, which I also attended, and prize-winning designers. (yeah I did win a grant once) But I was still working for a boss back then and the graphic design industry was stresses with the bad economy print production was nothing like it used to be. I worked at design agencies before but 10 years back I worked for a company that specialized in back-to-school products, which is an annual thing here in The Netherlands: kids picking out their new school gear: backpacks, notebooks, pencils and everything needed for a new school year. It was during the job I started making print designs for these products. Budgets were tight, but I didn’t want to buy off stock and miss out on the creative part. So I created illustrations and prints at night and started my own stock library.

The step towards being a girlboss
Setting up my stock portfolio was the foundation of my next step towards being an independent designer. I already had a base-income. And making surface pattern designs for stock was a big blue ocean back then. There was no apple print: so I made an apple print. There was no elephant design, so I made an elephant design. These old print designs are still selling to businesses all over the world today. They became the first stock-available surface pattern designs.
But my creations were vulnerable too. The original vectors were easy to download just for a few bucks and there was little protection for the designs available on stock. Many designs were used commercially but never payed for properly.



The signature collection
When I started the studio in 2011, it was time to focus more on my business to business approach. My business started to grow rapidly. Since I was filling up that blue ocean with my print designs everyone knew how to find me and I never had to look for work. Since then it’s been such a fun ride. I’ve been collaborating with new business owners, guiding them through the process of finding their visual voice with logo design, branding and print designs. We’ve created trend reports; there are so many businesses we work with that just don’t know what’s going on on the market trend-wise. We love being guidance for our clients that have no idea where to start when it comes to design & their company.
For the past ten years we've worked for some amazing clients. One of my fave must be a collection I created for one of my favorite retailers on the market in Belgium. Did I mention I studied in Belgium? This was THE place for accessorizing: and I was approached to create a new fall collection of women’s accessories, home wear, textiles and sewing supplies. I loved how this collection turned out.

A little behind the scenes
I also got to attend lots of fair trade shows, and talks. Did a bunch of interviews and videos. Some were fun. Some totally embarrassing, since I am not much of a public speaker. In one of the interviews, I was asked what inspired creating a new collection. I talked about seed. A lot. For a long time. Not good! FYI seed in Dutch means ‘sperm’. So yeah. I talked about sperm. So that was a nope.

Maturing the business
But having a laugh is part of being a designer. Most work turns into ‘could have done better than that!’ after 5 years, into ‘how did I ever make that?’ after 10 years. New skills, trends, and inner work (the biggest reason) are all influencing creation. For me the past 10 years have been an ongoing path to growth both professionally and personally. This has also led me to take things to the next level with the business. Finding a new space, taking on clients that match our vision and values. I can proudly say our studio has matured. I have some amazing colleagues who help me with the not so creative stuff, so I can focus on designing more instead of sending out mailings and doing numbers.
So I am so happy and humble and love where we are now. These 10 years have been such a blessing. So many steps closer to what feels good. So many opportunities. Awesome collabs and lovely people. And I am so looking forward to what is to come.

What is to come
As of next year, I’ll be moving to another city. That means moving the studio. First I’ll be settling into a new place and then take the next step towards finding a new space for the studio. Exciting things to come! Now it’s back to work. Make some cute print designs for nursery textiles. Thank you so much for your time supporting me and my company! And we wish you Happy Holidays.

Little Smilemakers Studio Moved // New Address

Finally we're all settled in and ready to focus on work again instead of scoring that perfect ochre carpet, shopping for some lush green in one of our local shops in our new street, or searching for that perfect cabinet to hold the printer we only use for doing taxes. Anyway it is back to work again! And we have moved into the best place to do so.

The new studio is located within an old swimming pool building. The facade has it’s original Art Deco detailing and signing from 1920. Back then the swimming pool was the largest in-house pool in Europe. But it closed up in 1995. 5 years ago De Nieuwe Regentes opened it’s theater doors. There is a main stage, built above the old swimming pool. Under this main stage area is the 'under water' area, still in tact. With it's old tiles and diagonal floor. This is an area for presentations and also used for art exhibits. You can still see the showers and changing rooms, original details are still there, making the place one of a kind. The building has transformed into a cultural hotspot and new parts were added to the old structure.

"4 years ago, I started doing volunteer work in the theater. Working from my home was driving me bonkers and I needed to be around people. I work as a volunteer, behind the scenes on our kids mornings. And I love being around the creative buzz that is constantly going around. So when my colleague asked me if I would like to move into the building with the studio everything screamed YES!"

We are working in the old changing area that is turned into three offices. As you can imagine, working inside of a theater can be hectic. Suddenly a woman starts to sing opera, practicing for her performance later that day. Kids run around finding their way to our weekly toddler concerts. Watching dance rehearsals during lunch break. Every day is different. And that is exactly what is needed to keep creatively inspired.

Feel welcome to visit us in our new office! We have a great tearoom to host and meet up with clients and some proper coffee to get you through the day. Or check the the website to see what's going on in the theater.

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // Memphis Style // July 2017

It is so exciting to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection of design or a series of illustrations for our clients. But with finished fabric designs it is even a bigger surprise to see what customers create. To see how final products evolve when people put their own creative energy in there is amazing.

If you browse around on Etsy or Instagram for some kids fashion or home decoration you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers prints. Most creatives with small home based businesses sell their projects via internet and tag us via Instagram. So we see some amazing things pop up in our feed every month. We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other creatives all around the world to work with. So here is our monthly blog post that features some creative results from Russia, The Netherlands and the United States. This month we selected a our top 3 Memphis products, turned into the most gorgeous items. Kids fashion, nursery accessories and have you seen those baby booties? There was so much to choose from! We have selected some cute baby shoes, shirts, leotards. And we have a link to our Society6 shop, if you would like to add some Memphis to your home. This is our top 3 July selection.

1 // Tiny Little Cactus - Adorable Baby Booties
Krista visit our shop in The Hague to get her hands on some of our Memphis fabric. She became a fan of our designs and a week later she ordered a whole lot more of our fabric via Spoonflower. When we asked her to tag us in her social media posts, because we are curious what peeps make from our fabric, the most wonderful items popped up. We love anything cute and love this local webshop filled with crafty stuff and everything Kawaii. For this months “Made with” we selected her adorable little baby booties in our trending white Memphis print. Soft sole shoes, perfect for your little ones tiny feet. Seriously, things don’t get much cuter than this! We love these fresh colorful booties, but if you prefer our darker Memphis designs: She also has the black Memphis designs available in her shop. If you are looking for some baby shoes or if you are a big Kawaii fan like we are check our her website. Such a perfect new born or baby shower gift!



2 // Mami’s Little Muse - Baby & Toddler fashion
We haven been following this shop for a couple of years already. Isis is one of our regular customers and has made some cute fashion items for little ones over the years. For this month’s post we selected some of her newest rompers and leotards made with our Memphis fabric. We love how she mixes and matches colors and prints. Isis started her little shop after giving birth to her preemie daughter. She could not find any clothes to fit her tiny new born baby girl. Her little muse Kaili inspired her to start dreaming about sewing a whole wardrobe full of clothing for her. And her husband, sensing her determination, came home one day carrying a brand new sewing machine. With all it bells and whistles, it wasn’t long before Isis preemie was the most stylish kid in town with a dressed overflowing with handmade outfits in all the colors of the rainbow. Now she has expanded her collection by adding cool boy designs too. her shop is fresh, fun and colorful. And her items all have a little something special. if you are curious just take a look into her Etsy shop.

3 // LU Kids - Cool boys and girls
Our Memphis designs haven been travelling all over the globe and even in Russia you can find a cool range of kids wear. LU Kids offers trendy fashion items and accessories. This Moscow based shop offers shirts, pants, shoes, everything for your little ones wardrobe. But they have also reated some cool accessories. Shoes, hats, backpacks. An entire series of back to school Memphis prints is released this fall. For this new collection LU Kids has used organic cotton and eco-friendly printing, water-based inks on natural and synthetic fiber textiles. No additional chemicals are used in the printing or preparation process. That is something we just love to hear! Many of our customers are choosing a more conscious approach so we really wanted to list them in our top 3 this month.
Curious about their new stuff? Visit their webshop.

Home decoration & Accessories
We usually only feature handmade items and licensed products in our monthly Made With post. Because this month is a little different that our usual posts we also wanted to add a link to our Society6 shop. Where you can find fashion accessories, bedding, and als sorts of fun items to decorate your home with. If you want to add a little Memphis to your home. Go take a look. We have a whole bunch of other designs to choose from too.