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I came across wallpaper designer Juliet, while tweeting and was drawn to the following lampshade dilemma:
Which would you choose?
I quickly informed Juliet of my favourite fabric choices (the flamingo and the zebra of course!) and managed to persuade her to write us a guest blog post about how she got into wallpaper design! Yay!
Juliet is the director of Juliet Travers Ltd. where she sells wallpaper, fabric and cushions. I feel lampshades coming soon too 😉
Juliet Travers Ltd.
I am often asked how I got into designing wallpaper but pattern in general has always been a passion of mine. I studied Printed Textiles for Interior Furnishings at Edinburgh College of Art and after graduating in 2009 I worked as sales manager at de Gournay’s flagship store in London. I quickly learnt of the specific high-end demands for interior decoration on a global scale and after gaining the knowledge and client relationships I needed in sales and production, I felt comfortable utilising my experience in the industry and decided to set up on my own as a wallpaper designer and established Juliet Travers Ltd.
I launched with the Safari range after carrying out extensive market research before launching and African animals had not really hit the industry yet so it was the perfect niche for me to start with. My husband also grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe and as a result I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to various African countries and spend time with the incredibly beautiful and diverse wildlife the continent has to offer.
My second wallpaper collection, the Albion collection, is based on a different part of the world which is also close to my heart: the British Isles. I didn’t just want to produce what’s already been done, though, as there are already a huge amount of British themed prints out there but I wanted to focus on wildlife that both tourists and British people love. I live near Hyde Park in London and it’s the squirrels, swans, song birds and British flowers that always catch people’s attention the most. My family home is in southwest Scotland and again, one of the favourite animals up there is of course the highland cow, so soon enough, I had a new collection!
I think my style is quite recognisable in terms of the level of detail in the designs and the way that it is printed as it is something very few other companies do. During the design process I have also definitely made an effort to focus on imagery that one doesn’t really see anywhere else. Something we so often hear from clients discovering our products from the first time is “it’s so different!” and that is something that is really important to us. At the same time, though, it’s incredibly important to create designs that do not quickly date or their charm wear off quickly – they must be liveable. I want people to enjoy seeing our designs in their homes every day.
We have worked really hard to make sure that our wallpapers look like custom pieces that have been hand drawn specifically for the client in their chosen space. With using gravure printing we have managed to achieve the same level of detail, down to pencil and brush strokes, that there is on my original sketchbook drawings.
It is also really important to me to support British industries. In today’s world, a lot of companies produce their products in Asia or even Europe but actually,
…we have our own manufacturers here and if we don’t support them, they will disappear.
Right from the start, I wanted to create a brand that is designed and printed in England. It also means I have been present during the entire production process to check on quality myself and even though I may have paid a little extra I’ve now got a fantastic product made at the highest quality and our customers recognise that too.
Find Juliet Travers: