Hemming & Willström - interview and giveaway

While I do enjoy writing about designers worldwide, it's warms my heart even more if I can write about designers from my own homecountry. The design duo Isla and Greta are two Finns that had one ultimate idea, to combine work and fun. This is how it all started..

"At one party evening we listened old C-cassettes and got jiggy with the tunes. The feeling was great. All evening we laughed and listened to the great hits of all times.”

You don't even need to say more. Isla and Greta weave their current collection from cassette tapes. You heard it right, they use the C-cassette tapes together with cotton yarn to create a fabric that they use for their designs. While wallets are the main attraction on their site, you could get your very own C-cassette pillow case as well from the "Unique" section (hurry!).

If this wasn't unique enough already, all wallets have their very own "Wallet ID". You can get a wallet woven by sweet tunes of Diana Ross, Gloria Estefan, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean.. what a list.

http://www.hemmingwillstrom.com

So Isla and Greta. First, I can't help asking, are these really your real names or are they actually too good to be true?

Yes, they are our real names indeed. Maybe fate wanted to bring together two eager designers with cool names. Also the fact that we both are insanely interested in C-cassettes might have helped the fate just a little bit. Our names aren't typical Finnish names and who knows; maybe one of us has changed her name to something better. There just might be a clue to this one on our website!

You would think that there are both ups and downs working together as a design duo. Do you feel you complete each other? Is one's strength the others weakness or are you both good at the same things?

Although we work well together we are like night and day. We have different opinions about Everything. Starting from the font color on our website to the way we write our emails. And because we always have different opinions, we decided that we need an official 'Arguing Day'. Most people just rest on Sundays but we argue. On Sundays both have the liberty to tell to the other every little thing that has been bothering during the week. And on Mondays the air just feels refreshed! That’s our secret to working so good together!

Like our personalities our strengths are also different. Greta likes graphic design. She's always working on some fun drawing or some other graphic project. Isla is our sewing master and she sews all of our wallets. Our products we design together.

Lets say one would like to have a wallet custom made for them, with a special music artist in mind (an artist whose music is available as C-cassettes naturally, unless you start working with CD's). Do you take custom orders?

It is possible to customly make a wallet from tapes sent to us. Or you can ask, if we happen to have cassettes of your favourite artist in our material collection. It's also possible to make somekind of small alterations by request. For example changing the colour of the zipper or lining is possible and can be included to the price. Our aim is to create products just for the customer's needs.

You would think that a C-cassette tape is not the easiest to work with. What happened the first time you tried to include it in a fabric, was it all success from the beginning or have you ever felt you're trying to do something that won't work out?

When we first time saw cassette tape as sewed fabric, the first thought was: "Oh it's so shiny!"

But it has taken a lot of time to get to this point where we are now. The product development part of this collection has been quite long. It has been a true salvation for this project that there are two of us. Because during this project we both have sometimes had some lack of faith towards it. And when the other one of us has a 'down phase' going on, the other one can cheer the other one up with her own enthusiasm. The positive response of customers and seeing our products ready makes all the effort worth while.

I'm personally a little disappointed that the insanely cool C-cassette bracelet is not for sale. You were kind enough to give us instructions how to make one yourself, but you're not planning to include this piece in your shop collection? For the lazy ones, you know.

The bracelet was designed last year when we started to use cassettes as a material. Weaved Wallets were designed later, so the bracelet is very precious for us as being our very first product made out of cassettes. We have got really much positive feedback about the bracelet, but we don’t have time to make them at the moment. The reason is that making bracelets is MUCH more time-consuming, than making the wallets. So we made a decision to concentrate now on the wallets but we also wanted to share creating instructions of the bracelet with everyone who likes it as much as we do.

But there's some good news for the lazy ones if you are patient enough to wait until May! Because in May we will graduate from Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. After that we'll have all the time in the world without the stress from our thesis and we can make a few bracelets for the fastest! Send us an email if you are interested!

You're already accepting ideas for your next design theme. In what direction do you think your designs will develop, is it only about accessories or is it possible that you might expand into the apparel industry one day? With that said, looking forward to the C-cassette dress!

Yes, we are accepting ideas for our next theme! We would be thrilled if one morning we could see our e-mailbox filled with suggestions about our next collection. Suggestions can be colours, moods, materials, almost anything that inspires you! Thus, to all readers: Please send them, Thank you!

We are expanding our present collection and the next product from C-cassette fabric will be an Envelope bag! It will be a glamorous accessory that girls want to take with them for a perfect night out.

The bag is currently under development and we can’t wait until we get it ready for use! Our aim is to include it in the collection and our website, on the Collection page, during April. But if those bags haven't appeared to the website after a while, the reason is that Greta has kept all of them for herself! A girl can never have too many bags!!

In the future the collection will be wider, but still made mostly of recycled materials.

Our intentions are that in addition to the accessories the collection will include clothes and interior textiles with colorful prints that we both love.

Isla and Greta were kind enough to offer one wallet for a giveaway. The giveaway is open for worldwide residents and they will send the wallet directly to the winner. Giveaway question could not get easier than this.

As upcoming designers they want your feedback on their site and collection. Is it something you didn't find on the site but think should be there? Do you want to share an idea for the next design theme? What do you like about the site or is there something you dislike?

Feedback is extremely valuable for all business owners, so drown them in that please.

The winner gets to choose one out of the four currently available wallets on site. The value of one wallet is €38. If you want it now and can't wait to see if you win, then there are instructions on the site how to order.

Place your feedback in the comment section below - last day to enter is Sunday 12^th April. If you're a resident of Finland, it's ok to comment in Finnish instead of English if it's easier for you. Best comment wins; it could be a fun one, or a creative one, or well said constructive criticism. I leave it to the judges Isla and Greta to decide who is a worthy winner (winner will be contacted by email, so be sure to leave your email as well). It could be anyone!

No extra entries available, but you are more than welcome to write about this in your own blog or shout out about the giveaway on Twitter. Only one comment per person!

Good luck!

This sweepstake is listed on The Prize Finder - UK competitions and Sweepstakes Advantage - The Largest Directory of Free Online Sweepstakes.