Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Meyer.
Hi Robin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I knew I wanted to go into a visually creative field when I entered college. I wasn’t quite sure how this would translate into a job, so I let my interests be my guide. I first studied Illustration at University College Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The campus was a small fishing village on England’s southwest coast, a perfectly picturesque place to incubate creativity. The first paid gig I secured came as a summer job designing souvenirs for a tourist shop in Flam, Norway.
After completing my bachelor’s I spent a few months freelancing for various editorial magazines in London. I knew I wanted to do a master’s before full-time entering the workforce, so when the letter came that I had been accepted to the Fine Arts program of La Complutense in Madrid, Spain, I jumped at the opportunity. Upon completing my education I returned stateside and started applying for design positions in NYC. The first places to hire me were fashion companies, both clothing, and home. Eventually, after a few months of hustling and freelancing, I settled into a full-time design position for a bedding company.
Mass Market design is quite different from the boutique craftsmanship I engage in today, but I loved it. It taught me the trade, how the industry worked, and what you needed to get set up. I still remember the pride I felt the first time I walked into a big box store and saw something I had designed on the shelves.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Yes, of course, there have been struggles. When I first started I did many art shows to get my name out there. They can be very physically tough, setting up, taking down, traveling, packing, etc.
Even when I had my son I was still doing them, I would just take him along in a carrier, set up a pack-and-play, and nurse him in the booth! When the pandemic hit I had the opposite problem of many businesses, my orders grew exponentially. I had to readjust, buy extra equipment and scale up to meet the demands. A good problem, but not without its growing pains.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in the surface design of textiles. Most things I make are used in the home, wallpaper being my popular product, but they are also made into fashion items such as scarves. What I’m most proud of is the quality and eco-friendly aspects of the products I make. Textiles can be very toxic to the environment. Excess inks from screens and rolls (that are poison) are washed and drained into our water system.
My company has only ever used non-toxic water-based inks and I print digitally which creates no slough off into our water system. When a cartridge is empty I send it back to the manufacturer where they recycle them.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My husband deserves quite a bit of credit. Im not sure I would have ever thought to go into business for myself had he not suggested it. When we first moved to Minneapolis I continued freelancing for a few mass-market home decor companies in NYC I‘d been with while living there.
One day my husband said, “You know, you’ve designed product lines for other people for quite some time, why don’t you try designing one for yourself?” The idea stuck. I also found the owner of Oh Baby! Mary Laurer is very inspirational. I interviewed with her for a position as a printer in those early Minnesota days.
I was amazed by her story and what she had been able to create. I thought to myself, maybe my husband is right, I can do it! As fate should have it, Oh Baby’s sister store Que Sera is now one of my clients.
Pricing:
- $5 8″w x 10”h wallcovering sample
- $100 24″w x 10’h Peel & Stick Roll
- $100 24″w x 10’h Traditional non-woven roll
- $10 8″w x 10”h fabric sample
- $75 54″w x 1yd fabric (2yd minimum)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.robinannmeyer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robin_ann_meyer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinannmeyerllc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinannmeyer/
- Youtube: @RobinAnnMeyer
Image Credits
Autumn Lee, Lindsay Bjerke, and Lilu Interiors
