MELISSA CARTWRIGHT

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Mellifera Bees

From Beekeeping to shoe design, to historical costuming, Melissa Cartwright is a woman of many talents. We have recently fallen in love with her creative entrepaneural spirit and want to share with just how wonderful she is.

We asked her 10 questions about their work, likes and inspirations.

1- How did you begin your career in design? 

I was the kid that was given used gift wrapping, toilet paper rolls and twist ties to add to my overflowing “materials bin’. I loved creating and making stuff. Once I learned how to sew I’d make outfits for my sister ranging from bathing suits to figure skating costumes, which she gracefully wore. It seems natural that I would go to art school where I learnt the fundamentals for a career in art & design. I’ve worked in costumes shops, as a shoe designer and most recently on my beekeeping & honey venture.

2- What inspires your creative process?

Most things in the creative field; Architecture, fashion, art, product design. Ideas and stories, seeing things from a new point of view. Falling asleep in the sunshine!

3- How do you see your work evolving in the next 5 years?

Lately I’ve been day dreaming of a Mellifera tea & honey Cafe.

 

4- How does the Vancouver culture and lifestyle inspire or effect your work? 

I love being able to put down my work and meet a friend for a walk, or swim.

My work goes parallels the weather sometimes a lazy sunny day other times a torrential downpour.

5- Whats your style? 

Comfortable and unique, often with a lot of colour. I love garments that are hand made and one of a kind.

6- Artist you admire? 

 I admire the creative people in my everyday life but I also love Alexander McQueen, Gaudi, Bjork, Daphnes Guinness, Tilda Swinton, among many others.

7- Favorite place to travel and why?

Hmm, I’m not sure if I’ve found my favorite place yet, but I love Barcelona and Buenos Aires as far as cities go. I’m always searching for a quiet warm beach to take nap on.

8- What are you reading?

I have a half finished book in every room of my house mainly ‘how-to’ books, but next to me at the moment is Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Blink’. In addition I have 2 magazines in rotation including one on beekeeping plus one outlining ’100 new scientific discoveries’.

Listening to?

The knife, Rosin Murphy, Amalia Rodriguez

9- Last meal before you die and who would it be with?

Ice cream sundaes with Freddie Mercury.

10- Where will you go from here?

Outside for walk, its a beautiful day out there!

11- Draw yourself as a lamp.

JACKIE ELLIS

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BEAUCOUP BAKERY & CAFE

One of the most enchanting and delicious cafes in Vancouver! Go and visit Jackie and her amazingly tasty treats at Beaucoup Bakery & Cafe (2150 Fir Street, Vancouver BC).

1- How did you begin your career?

I decided I never wanted to look back in life and regret anything. So I shut down my design business for a year and went to pastry school in Paris.

2- What inspires your creative process?

Seeing anyone doing something beautifully, intelligently and thoughtfully. I love cross-inspiration.

3- How do you see your work evolving in the next 5 years?

I haven’t looked that far ahead! But I can see myself using the knowledge I’ve gained from my passion for food and combining this with teaching or travel.

4- How does the Vancouver culture and lifestyle inspire or affect your work?

Vancouverites are voracious foodies! They love eating and I love feeding.

5- What’s your style?

Classic with a twist.

6- Artist you admire?

Writer Anaïs Nin.

7- Favorite place to travel and why?

France, of course. It changed me.

8- What are you reading? Listening to?

I’m always (slowly) reading a few books at a time: The Little Prince in French, The Diary of Anaïs Nin and The Art of Eating by M.F.K Fisher.

9- Last meal before you die and who would it be with?

Oh, asking a food lover what their last meal would be is DANGEROUS! I would start with my grandma’s dumplings with cucumber salad, then a really good pasta with meat ragu, and finish with Alain Ducasse’s Baba au rhum from Benoît in Paris. All paired with wine and all my closest friends and family.

10- Where will you go from here?

Anywhere I can imagine!

11- Draw yourself as a pastry.

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Mark Wickstead

“I love you more than you can possibly imagine”

If you have walked by our store front windows this month, you may have noticed our glass plastered with love. Mark “Sparky” Wickstead has been collaborating with the lab this holiday and sharing his many talents.

We asked him 10 questions about his work, likes, and inspirations.

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LISA TANNER  & CAITLIN BUTCHER

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YSTÄVÄ

Ystävä, finnish for “friend” is the collaborative efforts of Lisa Tanner and Caitlin Butcher.  Their keychains are sold here at the lululemon lab.

We asked them 10 questions about their work, likes and inspirations.

1. How did you begin your career in design? 

C: I grew up immersed in the arts as well as music. I was always really into fashion illustration and eventually I wanted to be able to realize the designs that I was drawing on paper. I enrolled in the fashion design degree program at Kwantlen in 2005. There I was introduced to textile design, which was a perfect marriage of my arts background and my interests in fashion. When I studied in Helsinki I was able to explore various textile design methods, which only furthered my interest.

L: My background in fine arts, specifically painting, collage, and sculpture led me to pursue fashion design as a way to translate creativity into a flexible career. Since I was a child I’ve always loved textiles and making jewelry. I attended Kwantlen for my Bachelor of Fashion Design, during which time I lived in Helsinki on exchange, a move that had a huge impact on my design sensibility and goals. I returned to Helsinki after graduation for a year of working freelance and travel. From there I came back to Vancouver to pursue further design positions and develop my own projects.

2- What inspires your creative process?

C+L: We started spending more time together in Helsinki where we were very inspired by bold colour, clean lines and Scandinavian simplicity. When we both got back to Vancouver we wanted to work together on projects influenced by our love of Scandinavia and mutual love of colour, textiles, and interesting materials. That’s actually where the name Ystävä came from; it translates to friend in Finnish.

3- How do you see your work evolving in the next 5 years?

C+L: We would like to expand our product line to include bags, jewelry, clothing, additional accessories, and many more large-scale installations. We are also very interested in designing our own prints to be used for clothing and bags.

4- How does the Vancouver culture and lifestyle inspire or effect your work?

C+L: Many artists, musicians, and retailers have taken it upon themselves to create independent venues and events such as galleries, markets, pop-up shops, and shows, which is a source of continuous inspiration. Vancouver’s a really great place to be right now as there’s a surge of this kind of DIY activity and the community is very supportive.

5- Whats your style?

C+L: We’re into mixing quality investment pieces with vintage, tons of print and colour, crazy socks, and bright coloured sneakers.

6- Artist you admire?

C+L: Sonia Delaunay, Marimekko, Jennilee Marigomen, Kandinsky, Klee, Rothko, the Bauhaus movement, to name a few.

7- Favourite place to travel and why?

C: Budapest is one of my favorites. The architecture is beautiful there and the antique markets are a dream.

L:  Copenhagen is like the Paris of Scandinavia. It has a relaxed, bohemian feeling yet it’s also extremely innovative and cosmopolitan. My time there was full of long lunches of aquavit and pickled herring. I also love Budapest for the Turkish influences and bathhouses.

Both: And of course NYC, that city is just full of inspiration.

8- What are you reading? Listening to?

C: I’ve been listening to Mac Demarcos new album a lot, also the Crystal Stilts, The Growlers, Can’t and John Maus. I’m reading Murakami’s new book, “IQ84”

L: I’ve been listening to Future Islands, Peaking Lights, the new Grizzly Bear, and the new Catpower. I’ve been reading an assortment of Finnish cookbooks and working on some new recipes in anticipation of my Finnish Christmas party.

9- Last meal before you die and who would it be with?

Lisa: Kingyo with Kenzo

Caitlin: That sounds pretty good, can I just join you?

10- Where will you go from here?

We are currently working on our jewelry line, our first round of bag prototypes as well as new some installations. We are super excited for what the future holds!

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TOM CHUNG & GREG PAPOVE

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DOODIO 

Doodio is the collaborative efforts of Greg Papove and Tom Chung. They are a local Industrial Design studio that works on a wide variety of projects. They have recently completed work for the lululemon lab space.

We asked them 10 questions about their work, likes and inspirations.

1- How did you begin your career in design?

Tom: Doodio started while we were finishing our 4th year of Emily Carr’s Industrial Design program. Greg and I hadn’t really worked together until we both came back from a semester abroad (studying) in Europe at separate schools. My school in Sweden had a ping pong table that helped create a sense of community I felt lacked in Vancouver. When I got back I asked Greg if he was interested in working together and we designed and built a ping pong table for the Emily Carr Studio.

Greg: During that project we found that we worked well together and shared a similar philosophy. We continued to collaborate and bounce ideas back and forth on different projects and it just sort of led to us working together.Tom: The initial concept was that we could be hired to apply our skills to anything, i.e. Doodio, we’ll mow your lawn.

2- What inspires your creative process?

Greg: I would say, our process is influenced by humour, popular culture, internet videos, and social culture. Although we have some similar tastes, we are also very different, and can bring two perspectives to the same project. We often try to meet in unexpected public locations to discuss new projects. WhiteSpot, Elysian, Cafe Bica, Go-Fish, Granville street, and grocery stores with Wifi are some of the places you might find us generating ideas..

Tom: The thing that frustrated us most while in school was how design was taught to be a linear process that starts with a clear problem and ends with a clear solution, when in reality there is a lot of grey area. When we work on projects we aren’t too concerned about going through a defined process that starts at sketching, moves to user testing and ends in a presentation. The end result is what matters most.

3- How do you see your work evolving in the next 5 years?

Greg: I’ve seen my interests change drastically in the last 5 years, so I would imagine that they will continue to change. The work will evolve with the influences. I have liked working on a wide variety of projects and taking on new challenges, so I think that will stay a big part of the work. I really enjoy working with different materials and challenging myself to do something new.

Tom: I’ve found myself to be getting more interested in technology, hardware and concept design. If you asked me 2 years ago my only interest was wood furniture. As Greg said, we are both hungry to learn new things and move on to the next project. As a studio this means our work will always be evolving with our skills and our interests.

Greg: Vancouver has a lot of different cultures which is nice. You can always find something new and interesting. But most recently our work has been inspired by places outside of Vancouver since we both spent most of 2011 studying in Europe. I was exposed to Dutch design culture in Amsterdam and Tom was exposed to Scandinavian design in Stockholm.
Tom: I appreciate the relatively slower pace of life in Vancouver which keeps me at ease. Vancouver must also be one of the most active cities in the world. I think that’s probably rubbed off on us, I just finished a projection getting adults to get back into playing streets sports.
Greg: We both find physical activity to be a great source of inspiration. Just getting outside and doing something is refreshing and helps keep an open mind to new things. Biking around the city exposes you to things you may not see walking or driving and can generate a lot of new ideas.

5- What’s your style?

Greg: Designers can take themselves very seriously. We like to approach things with a fun attitude because it can lead to some really interesting results. Rather than finding the most logicalsolution for a problem, why not find the funnest solution or at least consider it? We are both very aesthetically driven and appreciate specific objects for various reasons. However, we also appreciate things that are different or unusual, and we think that goes for a lot of people. It’s nice when you notice something unusual and appreciate it for just that reason.

Tom: We like to let the parameters of each individual project determine the outcome. I get bored easily and try not to repeat a certain style over and over again, even if it may be to my advantage. That being said it’s hard to get influenced by the certain trend of the time. Overall I try to keep things smart and simple.