It’s been one year now since I first launched Hex & Henbane; I knew I was taking a huge leap of faith starting my own brand fresh out of university, but I’m so glad I did! The response I’ve had has been completely overwhelming, and I don’t think I can put into words just how much it means to me that so many of you love what I do, allowing me to do what I love for a living.
As some of you may know, I studied Decorative Arts at Nottingham Trent, and graduated this time last year. My idea was to use my final year projects to write a business plan for Hex and Henbane, and to produce my first collection of products ready to launch at opening night of the degree show. I knew it was going to be hard work, and it really was, but I gained a lot of support along the way, not only from my tutors but from organisations such as the Art Society Nottingham and The Hive who granted me financial support to help make Hex and Henbane a reality. I’m so glad I spent my final year of uni this way, it was definitely one of the steepest learning curves and one of the most valuable experiences of my life.
Since then, the past year seems to have flown by, and now it seems a great time to reflect on how far I’ve come and what my next moves could be. I’ve been working on new products and designs, navigated my way through a pandemic (not something I ever thought I’d be doing!) and hit my first thousand followers on social media. It still seems crazy to me that so many of you love what I do, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it – at the end of the day, if it wasn’t for that level of support, I wouldn’t be in this position at all, so thank you!
One of the things I’d like to introduce is products at lower price points – I believe good design should be accessible to all, and everyone should be able to reflect their own personal style in their home. However, I also believe in selling the highest quality products that I can, made as locally as possible, and have found that striking the balance between this and cost can be tough. This is something I am working on, and soon I’d like to introduce a collection of prints alongside framed original artworks, and perhaps a line of stationery. I’m also looking into the possibility of offering wallpaper by the metre, this could be suitable for upcycle projects that wouldn’t require a full roll and could save on waste.
The history of design is also a passion of mine, so alongside working with historical themes and concepts, I’ll be bringing these ideas into a series of blog posts with the idea to help educate and inspire. Blogging is something I find myself neglecting and is probably the area that needs the most attention right now. I’d like to start sharing more of my ideas and what inspires me, alongside my knowledge of art, design and decorating – perhaps featuring some Q&A’s, craft tutorials, and more educational posts rather than just personal musings. Is this something you’d like to see? There’s already so many fabulous home, interior and lifestyle blogs out there, and I’d like to offer something a little different yet still personal to me. I’d like to get my blog into a position where it reflects what Hex and Henbane is all about!
Apologies for the somewhat rambling post – I’ve been overwhelmed with ideas recently and just needed to get them down somewhere, I think! Thank you all for your incredible support over this past year, I’m excited to see what the next one brings!
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