12th June 2012: This month's behind the scenes is with design-led greeting card designers Rosanna Rossi - our brand of the month!
What's your favourite design/piece of work & why?
After months of sketching, painting, discussing the final layout, colour ways and finishes, we both fell in love with our newest birthday card collection ‘Flora Pop’. We have a new passion for pretty illustration against a backdrop of vibrant, bold colours.
Here's Anna working in the studio with stacks of beautiful neat shelves of Rosanna Rossi cards!
Following this, we are just weeks away from launching a new collection of male birthday cards, which was so refreshing to design, as in contrast this range shouts ‘retro’, with its bold colours fused with masculine graphic designs, a complete change to our feminine side. It was great to design and we’re so pleased with the result!
What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date?
Our best sellers are the Bambini children’s birthday cards. We loved designing the range, with its colourful characters. Initially we designed ages 1-3, and when these sold out, we extended the range to ages 1-5 together with a general birthday girl and boy card. We find ourselves packing these for every order that goes out!
Which part of the process do you like most?
Anna: I love seeing our initial designs transform from paper the MAC. It’s my job to translate pencil sketches to digital, where the designs really come to life. We both love visiting our printers at the press pass stage, as following months of designing it’s so rewarding to see all our hard work at the final print stage
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Filippa: As my background is fine art, my love is painting, illustrating, and experimenting with mixed media, and then watching it evolve into its final stages.
Which part do you like the least?!
Paperwork! Thankfully we now have someone helping us two days a week, so we tend to push all that non-creative part onto them! It’s been a great help, as we now have more time to work on what we love.
What would your dream project be?
Seeing our artwork in print, and selling in the shops is pretty satisfying!
It would be a dream to see our designs featured on a wide range of quality products whether it be stationery, fabric or items for the home.
Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration?
Our inspiration constantly changes. We’re lucky enough to both have the same tastes, but as there are so many things that inspire us, it can often cause issues when it comes to designing. Our ideas change as much as the weather!
Anna: Coming from a textile design background, I’m naturally inspired by fabrics and surface pattern. I love fabric shopping and collect masses of beautiful, decorative fabric with hoping that one day I might actually make something from them!
Filippa: I love visiting art galleries, where we have a great selection of places to visit locally in the Cotswolds. Anna and I visit London on a regular basis browsing inspirational shops such as Anthropology, Liberty, VV Rouleaux and The Designers Guild.
Which is your favourite Art House Licensing artist & why?
We both love Paul Thurlby’s quirky illustrations, especially his advertising artwork, which we recently spotted advertised on some London underground stations. We’re attracted to the retro appeal, his bold palette and fun characters. Very eye-catching.
Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? (www.yellowhouseart.com – our sister site selling original artworks)
Anna: I recently moved and find myself drawn to interior accessories. I love Ken Eardley’s beautifully distinct interior ceramics. I especially love his flower designs in the two-way colours. Very retro and earthy looking, which would complement a wide range of interiors.
Filippa: Flowers are my passion, and Iove the loose approach and vibrant colours to Shirley Trevena’s watercolours.
Do you have your own work at home? If yes, which piece? Which room is it in?
Anna: Yes. My parents are both artists, and as they both worked from home, my sister and I grew up surrounded by art. Entering my parent’s house was like walking through an art gallery with walls framed with colourful landscapes, flowers and with the scent of varnish and oil paints.
Today my parents still surround themselves with beautiful artwork, and since my move, I have taken with me a selection of their recent works. In my living room hang two of my dad’s colourful, contemporary oil paintings, which I still need to frame. My mum is currently working on a large mixed media canvas for my home, which i’m really looking forward to seeing
When designing your studio, what was the most important factor?
Storage and space is top of the list. We recently moved to a studio room where we now have sufficient working, packing, design allocated areas, which has been a blessing. Our first few weekends since the move we spent assembling over 30 IKEA storage racks and worktables. Every card now slots into each of the pigeonholes, which is 100% easier during the packing process.
What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?!
In the early days we sent a second order to a company who hadn’t paid for their first. After months of investigating we learnt it was in fact a fraud. We were both upset and furious at the time, but we have since learnt from this, and know never to do it again!
What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now?
Our mood board is packed full of floral snippets taken from fashion and interior magazines, our illustrations, artwork, colour schemes, fabric patterns, geometric designs….it gets busier as the collection evolves!
What is the last book you read? Marks out of 10?
Anna: The last book I read was given to me by Australian partner who found it a good read, called My Brother’s Keeper. A non-fiction, powerful story about two surf brothers based in Sydney. He was right, it was a good read and promised myself to watch the film when I find a spare moment!
Filippa: I tend to collect an assortment of interior magazine solely for inspiration for the home and design work. I am more of a ‘do-er’ than a reader!
What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10?
Filippa and I made a conscious effort to visit David Hockney RA exhibition ‘A Bigger Picture’, at the Royal Academy of Art in March. We were amazed by the sheer scale of his paintings and his vibrant colour palette, which really jumped out at you. We walked away feeling so refreshed with creative enthusiasm.
If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be?
Anna: I was lucky enough to visit Marc Rothko’s exhibition in Paris whilst I was at University, and like David Hockney’s current artwork, I was amazed by the sheer scale of his canvases. The painting you see printed are in no way representable to the original pieces. The artworks were multi-layered with soft colour and tone, which gave each canvas a sense of depth and atmosphere. They were just amazing.
Filippa: Sadly I haven’t seen an original Monet, but he would be my first choice. I would love to visit his gardens in Giverny, France one day!
What’s your proudest achievement?
Rosanna Rossi has grown a fair distance since its launch in January 2009. Considering it wasn’t the most desirable time to start a business, we are proud to be producing lots of exciting collections, and new projects in the pipeline, which we never would have dreamt of a few years ago.
What’s been your biggest challenge?
Our biggest challenge was getting Rosanna Rossi out there with just a small collection of cards. We still have a few agents who have been with us since the start, so its great that they have confidence in our business.
What’s the main advantage/your favourite aspect about working with Art House Licensing?
It’s wonderful to collaborate with a fantastic and friendly licensing company, who understand and appreciate our style and approach. They are also great at marketing our artwork and have the knowledge to push our brand on to alternative applications.
Thank you for giving us a behind-the-scenes peek at what you do Anna & Filippa! We are so excited to see your new range RETRO ROCKS hit the shops in June. Wishing you all further success for your company and we are delighted to work for you.
