mydeco.com in conversation with Jo Faulkner.

What is the ethos behind your brand?
The ethos behind my brand is to create fun and colourful things to inspire creativity and add a little playfulness to the home! I believe strongly in eco-friendly processes and ensure that all my products are sustainable. I am strongly influenced by the practices of fine artists and illustrators, and I feel that making and selling products directly from designers is a great way for people to own a little piece of affordable art and design in their home!

Where do you find your inspiration?
I find my inspiration in Illustration of many sorts, but particularly collage and fine line drawing. In a wider context I love Scandinavian style; the landscapes and architecture of Norway inspire me a great deal! I love anything twee, clever and handmade. At the moment I have been looking at a lot of Bauhaus painting and textiles, painterly colourful geometrics, and the mix of photography and drawing in collage.

What is your most prized possession?
I have a collection of hundreds of old postcards, books and strange/stupid things that I find in flea markets from all over the world, which I would hate to lose. But if I was to choose one, I would have to say my most prized possession is a sketch that my Grandfather drew for me of my cat when I was young, which is beautiful and has travelled around with me everywhere-it is always pride of place!

How would you sum up your personal style in one word?
Chirpy.

Can you explain a little more about how you make your products?
The notebooks (and tea towels) were all based on drawings that I had done in a sketchbook I took traveling around Norway last summer. These were then developed into repeat designs, which were used for my graduate textile collection. The birds for the cards were drawn in England inspired by the countryside. The notebook and card designs are then printed and bound professionally using entirely eco-friendly processes at a press in England. The tea towels are hand screen printed by me in Scotland, using water-based eco-friendly printing inks on to cotton tea towels. They all came out slightly different, which means that each one is truly special.

What would you say is your hero product?
I would say my 'hero' product would be my Notebooks. I am obsessed by notebooks myself, I own hundreds that I have yet to draw in..! I like the idea of making something to encourage more people to draw or doodle. I also hope to develop them in the future to include varieties of paper, something more of a scrapbook. See more of Jo's design work at www.JoFaulkner.com!