1. Tell us a bit about your business - what do you do?
I'm Karen Douglas, a digital illustrator and newbie surface designer; my business is Comfy Marmalade and I design colourful, retro-inspired and eco-friendly cards, prints, calendars and stickers. I launched CM in late 2018 following a somewhat chequered career - theatrical stage manager, theatre press & marketing officer and town clerk! I've always been a creative person but I'd never considered digital illustration until a kind and generous friend gave me a crash course in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and lent me her old laptop to practice on. An opportunity arose for a much-needed career break which I jumped at; I used the time to hone my craft, develop a clutch of potentially good ideas and cobble together a basic business plan, and launched Comfy Marmalade with a ton of enthusiasm but no expectations of success. So far, so good!
2. What is your typical work day like and where do you do your design work?
I'm not sure there is such a thing as a typical day! I work primarily when the kids are in school and sporadically in the evenings. During lockdown it was tough but I managed to keep going, thankfully. Sometimes its fun stuff like designing new cards and prints or product photography, but a lot of the time it's finances, website updates, social media, e-newsletters and the like. When you're a one-person band everything falls to you and no two days are the same! I work in CMHQ (aka our spare room) or sometimes in our living room with the dog snoring on the sofa. Coffee, chocolate and Spotify are all key elements in the Comfy Marmalade mix.
3. How do you create your designs and illustrations - do you have a favourite tool?
I doodle a lot on scraps of paper but I create my work in Illustrator. I'm quite a 'technical' designer (which probably stems from a lack of formal training) and I enjoy creating patterns and repeats; I've tried Procreate on an iPad but nothing beats Illustrator for me. I'm inspired by colour, pattern, anything from the mid century era (I have a chronic addiction to vintage flower power crockery) and nature. I don't do subtle or minimalist in my home life and I don't entertain it in Comfy Marmalade either!
4. What’s the best thing about being a creative business owner?
Being able to be creative every day at 'work'. I enjoyed being a town clerk but it sucked every ounce of creativity out of me and I found that I was craving an opportunity to create towards the end. I love the feeling I get when I know I've designed something really special; for me it's an actual physical reaction as well as an emotional one - kind of a fluttering of my heart if that doesn't sound too daft! - and it's the best feeling in the world.
5. What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
I suffer from Imposter Syndrome (described as the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills). I read a fabulous quote from Ricky Gervais recently, which is "the best advice I've ever received is that no-one else knows what they're doing either". Which I try and refer to when I feel the IS coming on.
6. What advice would you give other creative business starting out?
Whenever I've made big decisions in my life, either career-wise or personally, I always ask myself: if I don't do this, will I regret it when I get to the end of my puff? If the answer is yes, then I go for it. I just knew with Comfy Marmalade that it was the right thing to do. So firstly I'd say if it feels right, do it; you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I would temper that, however, by reminding them that an awful lot of running a creative business is not necessarily creative, and in fact the element of 'creating' can almost end up getting sidelined if you're not careful due to all the other business balls that you need to keep in the air. If you bear this in mind when you start out, and you're happy to proceed on that basis, you'll be fine. And I'd also say that whilst you won't be everyone's cup of tea, there will be a tribe for you and you will find it in time, just don't be disheartened if not everyone likes or 'gets' your work.
7. Do you have any exciting plans for your business in the future?
I've always got plans, it just usually comes down to time and money, never enthusiasm! I've just invested in a super-duper colour printer which is making a massive difference to my print offer; I can now print on demand rather than having to hold stock, which in turn means that I can offer new designs hot off the computer which is a hugely exciting development for me. It also means that I can offer multiple colour ways and even personalised prints, opening up new avenues and adventures. I'm also currently dipping my toes into the world of surface pattern design (designing patterns and repeats for a variety of 'surfaces', e.g. fabrics, home wares, wallpapers). I'm loving designing them, I just need to decide what to do with them now! I've just been confirmed as a partner for And So To Shop, which is a ratification of the quality of my work and has done wonders for my confidence. And next year I hope to expand my range of products to include items such as mugs, tea towels and others. I'd also love to increase the number of Comfy Marmalade stockists, so I need to do a hard push on that sometime soon. So many ideas, so little time!
8. Where can people find out more about you?
I'm on Instagram (www.instagram.com/comfy_marmalade), Facebook (www.facebook.com/comfymarmalade) and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/comfymarmalade). I haven't got my head around Twitter yet - that's also on my very long list of things to do... My Etsy store is at www.comfymarmalade.etsy.com, and my overarching website is www.comfymarmalade.co.uk; if you head over to my website and sign up for my enewsletter you get a unique code for 20% off your next Comfy Marmalade order, so it's worth a look!
Comments
Post a Comment