In the sun - Map studio

There are so many beautiful things for sale and we have great (female) artists and illustrators in our little country. I'm so happy that I was able to include many of my favorites in my collection. In the coming months I will always put one of my favorite brands in the spotlight. How? Nice interviews, new collections and packaging sets, cool photos and of course the best offers .

The first rays of sunshine are for Willianne from Kaartstudio

From the first time I saw her wrapping paper, I was in love. It was the elephants with balloons. I had already built up quite a collection of gift wrapping paper, but these wrapping sheets were so different from usual. That was the start of an enormous Map Studio collection. Of course, that immediately became the first brand that I would sell in my webshop. I now not only sell her beautiful collections, but she also turned out to be a very sweet friend. Want to know more about Willianne? Read on quick!

How did you start with Kaartstudio?

"As a child I was always fond of drawing and making cards. I made my own cards, put them in a container and during birthdays I went around with this collection and sold the cards to family. I then used the proceeds to buy new materials So it was always there.

How did it really come to be this way? I was an art director at an advertising agency, but had wanted something different for some time. Ultimately, I quit my job there to give myself time to discover what I actually wanted to do. At the time I was thinking about having my own advertising agency. But then came the first lockdown. I felt that in such a crisis it would be impossible to intervene. So I let go of the idea for my own advertising agency.

When it was my son's birthday and, due to corona, he could not celebrate his birthday, I asked all the children in his class to send a card. This was responded to en masse. The mat was full, so nice to see that it made my son so happy. I thought: I have to do something with this. I then designed a card set specifically for the lockdown, with sweet texts, especially for grandmothers, grandfathers and people who were currently not allowed to receive visitors. I threw the set into a What's app group and it quickly sold well. So good that I decided to start an online store. I started designing and opened an Insta account to give my cards more visibility. It's been two years now, but I still think it's the best thing there is!"

What was the first illustration you put on the map?

"The first cards I designed actually had no illustrations. They consisted of a background and a sweet text. The first real illustration I put on a card was the little elephant with balloons."

How is a design created?

"I design in collections and therefore first think of a theme. The inspiration for the subjects and themes come from everywhere, but especially from nature, I like to walk. I also follow the trends in the magazines and on Instagram, so I know what is going on. As soon as I have come up with the theme, my head is immediately full of ideas for illustrations, colors and what everything should look like. I then look for photos for a mood board. Based on that mood board, I come up with a color palette of about 10 colors.

I then draw the illustrations with pen, ink and fineliner. I scan these and then color them digitally, with colors off or matching the color palette. With these digital illustrations I then create the patterns for the gift wrapping paper, cards and all other designs."

What do you enjoy drawing most?

"Animals with fur, that's wonderfully playful to create."

Which product or series is your favorite?

"That is still the spring collection from last year. With the young animals in pastel colors. What makes this collection extra special for me is that in this case the flowers have been painted by hand with acrylic paint."

Which product would you rather quickly forget?

"The posters of the forest animal collection. There was a lot of demand for them at the time. But once released, they were barely sold. This was really an error of judgment. Another collection that I want to quickly forget is the water collection. This was also requested, so I felt obliged to do something with it. But once I got started, I discovered that it didn't work well and that I couldn't figure it out. In the end, only one card from the series ran very well. The rest didn't work at all."

Which product would you really like to add to your collection?

"I would very much like to add suitable items, such as pencil cases and pencils with my own design printing, to the collection."

Your style is very recognizable, you can see that there is manual work behind it. Do you ever draw or illustrate in a completely different style? Would you like to go very abstract, for example?

"Yes, certainly! I am secretly already working on a completely different kind of collection. But it is still in the early stages and it is not yet certain how and what it will be."

When did you know; I have something beautiful in my hands? This will work?

"The moment I released the first animal set, I immediately thought: people are really going to like this. This is going to work! And it did."

What is your dream for the coming years? Your greatest professional wish or goal?

"More awareness and larger circulation for the paperbooks. I think these are very cool to make, but they are also very labor-intensive. I would love it if this really became something big. I would also like to be at more major fairs, where I can display my products in a beautiful way."

I make one or more packaging sets for each Card Studio collection, using your collection(s) supplemented with suitable items from other brands. Is there ever something that makes you think: How strange or ugly?

"No, not at all! I actually really enjoy seeing what you do with it. You really have a sense of color and combination and come up with combinations that others would not easily think of. This also makes other people think, from: Oh, that's possible too! You can see that the sets have been put together with so much care and you look at the collections so differently that you also give me ideas."

Also impressed by Willianne and her fantastic creations?

Good news! You will receive a 15% discount on the entire Kaartstudio collection until October 16. You do not have to do anything for this, the discount will be deducted automatically. For orders above €15 you will also receive unique Map Studio items, which cannot be purchased separately. You don't have to do anything extra for this either, the more you order the better the extras. Happy shopping !!

Love,

Bianca