FK chats to the Perth based team, behind the creative collaboration that is Made of Awesome!

Tell us a bit about the concept behind Made of Awesome and what products we can expect to discover?
Based in Perth, Made of Awesome is a collective of 6 designers who all met while studying the same design course at university. After we graduated, an opportunity came up to participate in a design market. We were all a bit shy and clueless at the time to dare do it individually, but we thought with our powers combined we might be able to wing our way through it! So we applied as a group, named ourselves Made of Awesome for fun and were pleasantly surprised by the fact that people liked our products, which includes jewellery, illustrations and other paper goods. We’re a little bit cute, a little bit romantic and a little bit whimsical, and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.

We have all taken different paths since graduating, but the collective has been a really great and unique way for us to stay connected both as friends and designers.

How was your time at the recent Melbourne Finders Keepers?
A year ago one of our goals was to travel to Melbourne for the Finders Keepers markets and make it an epic Made of Awesome road trip of sorts, so it was very exciting to actually be there for real and surrounded by such amazing talent.

Who are the team behind Made of Awesome and what are their roles?
Apart from contributing our own works and products, we don’t have super strict roles, but generally:
– Jackie acts as our project manager because she is super organised.
– Teresa looks after the numbers and business side because she’s the only one of us that can do maths and is the best at dealing with clients and customers.
– Janice is our graphics guru so she comes up with concepts for any branding or promotional materials we might need.
– Joanne is doing a law degree and thinks she’s funny so we make her write the copy. She draws a lot on the side so she also covers illustration.
– Sheryl is our lovely web expert so she is responsible for coding our online content.
– And Matt, being the only guy in the group, just drives us crazy and serves as the butt of all our jokes! Actually he does manly stuff like stall design and stock control, and he is also a brilliant photographer!

What inspires you daily? and what do you love about living in Perth?
We’re always scouring other sites for inspiration, and will often post about the cool things we find on our own blog. But we all get inspiration from different sources whether they be in fashion, typography, nature, architecture, movies or anything in life that we find wonderful or makes us happy.
The best things about living in Perth is the sun, the beaches and the absence of hook turns!

What challenges have you faced starting your own label, and what are some things you love about it?
We are primarily creatives and designers, so we definitely find the business side of things to be challenging, and we have this terrible habit of leaving things to the last minute! But the experiences are a lot of fun, and it has really opened up a lot of design avenues and opportunities for us. Having the help and support of the rest of the group is also something we value deeply, as it motivates and enables us to to do things we might not have considered or had the opportunity to do if we were on our own.

Where to next? What are some aspirations for Made of Awesome & beyond?
For now, we’re happy to keep it as a fun, side thing that we do simply for the love of design. One of our more extravagant dreams though is to one day operate a studio together where we can be in a position to do this full time, offering design services as well as continuing to sell our own goods.

www.madeofawesomecollective.blogspot.com.au