meet: penny ferguson of min pin
this week penny of min pin design is here to share some insights with us. i fell in love with her fun, soft colors and her fun shaped characters that bring a feeling of happiness to my stomach. i mean, don't they bring that to yours?! here's words from penny below.
what is your background?
my mum is a freelance Illustrator and my dad was a musician (who also drew lot and worked in a framing store for a while), so i was brought up around a lot of cool weird art and music. at university i did a year of fine art and then a bachelor of design with a major in illustration at curtin university in perth. i've always been into worlds, aesthetics, color and styles i guess. my biggest inspiration is probably all the weird, free, bizarre, magical worlds created by my favorite artists, designers, musicians.
how did you get started designing & selling?
i have always been making things and doing freelance design work but one day i just put up a couple of crafty projects i was working on onto etsy and they did really well. from then on it has all just sort of snowballed and slowly taken over everything else! but its really great, i feel like now i can just take any zany idea i have and pour it all into Min Pin.
your style is so fun! what are your influences?
oh thanks! i keep a link to Min Pin's website of all the visual awesome things that i love and definitely inspire me. it can be found here: www.woweeblog.tumblr.com.
as for specific designers/makers/artists etc, i love heaps! but ones that have really stayed with me include: Misaki Kawai, Stanley Donwood, Kirsten Perry, Shuh., David Shrigley, Patrick Kyle, Ginette Lapalme, Patrick Doherty, Abby Portner, and Manon Kündig.
i'm probably forgetting heaps but you get the drift...
what is your favorite item in your shop?
interesting question! i had to think about that! i really love the collaboration i did recently with the amazingly talented and super lovely Esther Sandler from Togetherness. we have a couple of sweet purses up on our etsy stores which are really cool. BUT my personal favorite of my designs would have to be the stainless steel Spirit Manidog necklace. he's the only metal necklace in the collection that i have kept for myself - and i love him!!!
what do you love the most about your job?
getting to work on super cool ideas and try out new things. i am just starting to discover that making the same necklace a gazillion times can be a bit of a chore! so i really look forward to the days where i get to create something new and original, whether it be a painting or a new shrink plastic piece or even a just-for-fun silly animated gif!
i must admit that i also really appreciate all the really ace people i have met along the way. after starting Min Pin i have met so many lovely people at markets and various events etc. i have also met so many talented inspiring makers and people doing super cool things that i just get so excited thinking about it! that is a really great part of the industry i guess - the great sense of community and camaraderie both local and international.
what advice would you give to makers who are just getting started?
hmm, i would say just keep on keepin' on! haha. and surround yourself with the things you love.
