FK chats to super creative team, Tony & Yen, of Melbourne based label Skimming Stones. Discover their wonderfully fun designs, at the upcoming Melbourne Markets!
Tell us a bit about Skimming Stones and what products we can expect to discover?
Skimming Stones is a title of a song by Boards of Canada from Scotland. 2 minutes and 9 seconds of weird and wonderful sound scape of electronic music that manages to capture those timeless moments when we are free and happy and just enjoying the little things. And it’s those little moments that add colour to our lives. We try to capture those timeless moments in our work. It’s very easy to over design, and our work are simple and never tries too hard to be different. Our products stand the test of time and the designs are carried across a range of greeting cards, prints, tea towels, cushions and badges, all hand screen printed and loving hand made.
Who are the team behind Skimming Stones and what are their roles?
Skimming Stones is just the two of us, and the people who inspires us. We do everything every small home business goes through. We devote a lot of our time to creative thinking, designing new products and making them happen, but we try not to loose track of the more important things and people around us. We both design, print and make our own products.
What inspires your work? and what keeps you motivated creatively?
Inspirations to us comes in many shapes and forms, from the simple things to the beautiful world around us. Growing up in England and living in Canterbury has enriched us in numerous ways. Many years of working in design and advertising agencies in London, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Melbourne has trained our design thinking to apply meaning and purpose to our work instead of just doing prettiness. Prettiness is good, but prettiness with meaning is even better. Trends expire and look dated the moment something new comes along so we don’t follow them. We enjoy making things and that’s the philosophy behind Skimming Stones. All our products are handmade and done with ecological sense. We get a lot of fulfillment and motivation when our retailers agree with our products.
What is your creative workspace like, and what inspires you about your surroundings?
All our work is done in our humble studio in Wheelers Hill, Victoria. It isn’t the trendiest part of town but it’s our home. Our studio is only a little space, barely big enough to swing a cat, but it’s where we have our computer, the sewing machine, my bike and where we do our screen printing. A little more space with an ocean view would be good, but we’re happy with what we currently have. Our thoughts and ideas are with us where ever we go, and our humble studio is where we turn those thoughts and ideas into lovely products.
What challenges have you faced starting your own label, and what are some things you love about it?
Initially, we didn’t have any ideas on how to begin and what to expect and what people would think of our work. Taking the first steps was the hardest. Long term commitment to anything requires many leaps into the unknown and hurdles to overcome along the way, but we live and learn. Getting through those initial stumbling blocks and learning from it is most satisfying.
What can we expect to see from Skimming Stones at the upcoming Melbourne Markets?
We are always exploring and playing with ideas and designs. That’s the fun part of any creative process. It is only after many stages of trial-error-refinement that a new range is born. With autumn upon us, we are currently designing our range of linen scarves that reflects our range of designs.
