INTERVIEW WITH HELLO GERONIMO + GIVEAWAY

scandimummy-hello-geronimo

As you might know I love featuring creative and inspiring female entrepreneurs here on the blog. There’s so much talent out there and it seems that a lot of women feel a need to create once they become mothers. I’m very excited to welcome Vicky Kieldsen, behind design studio HELLO GERONIMO, as my next guest interviewee. She’s brought along an exciting giveaway, too. If you missed the previous one where I chatted to the lovely ladies from children’s wear brand Lala & Bea you can find it here.

HELLO GERONIMO is a modern design studio working with collage and print to produce a range of greeting cards and wall art, with a focus on bright colours, varied textures and beautiful applique. Based in South London, HELLO GERONIMO was founded by Vicky in 2011. Following a career in interior design she was inspired to bring her own ideas to the print market and started on a creative journey. So from its beginnings as a stall at Marylebone market, HELLO GERONIMO has grown into a constantly revitalizing business, supplying collages, prints and greeting cards to a range of retailers as well as selling directly online. Among the business’ original and most successful products are the Button Maps, with the world’s countries rendered in 3D badges and buttons. HELLO GERONIMO has recently broadened its range to include Christmas cards, greetings cards, and prints aimed at nurseries and children’s bedrooms.

scandimummy-geese-christmas-card

Scandimummy: “Vicky, welcome to the blog. I love the simplicity of your designs. Where do you take your inspiration from?”

Vicky: “I suppose I have a personal preference for clean and modern design, so my work naturally reflects this. After going on maternity leave, my son definitely inspired me to do some ranges that appeal to parents that want something both stylish and kid friendly. We’re well known for our textures and surface embellishment, and now I’m enjoying exploring new ways of using materials like felt to add something extra to our prints and cards.”

Scandimummy: “How did you end up choosing the name Hello Geronimo?”

Vicky: “I knew I didn’t want to use my name for the brand but I really struggled to find a good alternative. I kept going back and forwards with names that were quite specific to the button pieces I launched with, but that felt too limiting. So I was flicking through a magazine one day and someone’s surname was Geronimo (what an amazing surname!), and it just stuck with me – so then I added Hello for a more rounded name.”

Scandimummy: “I know you started out selling your art work at a market stall. What have you taken from that in transferring your business online?”

Vicky: “Straight after that initial market stall in Marylebone I took a leap of faith and applied for a stand at Top Drawer at the last minute. I’m not sure I appreciated the enormity of it before I did it, which is probably a good thing in hindsight! I had a really good show, so my first proper orders were actually to trade and I spent time focusing on that area of the business and making all the pieces that had been ordered. So it took a while to get my website up and ready for direct sales, and it’s a constant work in progress. I then expanded to selling through Not on the High Street, so I probably went about things back to front compared to a lot of people! I definitely think you need to have different strategies for different areas of your business. What works for trade, might not work for selling directly on your website for example.”

junepopup-59-copy

Scandimummy: “Who would be your dream celebrity client and why?”

Vicky: “I sort of want to say Kim Kardashian, purely because of her online notoriety and brand influence!! But in all seriousness, I’ve always thought Claudia Winklemen and Lauren Laverne have a great sense of style, and I like to think that they’d appreciate my work. They’ve managed to maintain their personal style during parenthood and I bet their kid’s rooms and wardrobes are super cool!”

Scandimummy: “Where do you see yourself and Hello Geronimo in five years time?”

Vicky: “I’d love to see the brand widely recognised and stocked in some major retailers, as well as further cool independents. I’ve always got loads of ideas and not enough time to do them all, but we’re working hard on rolling out some great new ranges which I hope will be a success with customers.”

Scandimummy: “And lastly what does the coming months hold for you?”

Vicky: “It’s a really busy period for us, we’ve launched 55 new products in the last 7 months! We’re just about to move house and studio to Tunbridge Wells, followed by Top Drawer again in early 2017 where we’ll launch even more card designs. I’ve been experimenting with jewellery for over a year now and will be looking to get that off the ground next year. It’s a bit of a departure from our existing ranges, but is inspired by some of the beautiful embellishments we use, it’s really exciting!”

scandimummy-hello-geronimo-competition

As promised at the beginning Vicky is kindly giving away one of her beautiful party animal nursery prints to one lucky reader. There are five different ones to choose from. If you’d like to be in with a chance, please follow the directions in the Rafflecopter widget. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

** If you liked this giveaway why not check out the other’s running right now? **
 Terms & Conditions:
  • The closing date is 00:00 am UK time on Sunday the 20th of November 2016
  • The prize is a Party Animal print of the winner’s choice. Colours and style may vary from pictures above. No cash alternative.
  • The competition is open to UK and Ireland only.
  • Entrants must log in and follow the directions given via the Rafflecopter widget.
  • By entering the newsletter subscription service on http://www.hellogeronimo.com/ you agree to the brand contacting you in the future
  • All entries will be verified.
  • The winner will be chosen at random using Rafflecopter.
  • The winner will be notified within 5 days of the closing date. The winner must respond within 28 days of receiving the email  to claim their prize.
  • The prize will be dispatched directly from the brand.
  • The competition is not affiliated with Twitter, Instagram or Facebook
The Pramshed
Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

10 thoughts on “INTERVIEW WITH HELLO GERONIMO + GIVEAWAY

  1. I just love the clean style from this brand. I’ve had my eye on one of their wall maps for my sons room for a while! Great to learn a bit more about them. Thanks for sharing on #fortheloveofBLOG

  2. Those prints are gorgeous! And who wouldn’t want Kim Kardashian as a client 😉 Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next Sunday

Comments are closed.