Tigers, bears, unicorns and dogs? How on earth are these related to interior design you ask? And for that matter, how does this jungle of animals become a décor collection?
Here at White Moose, everything starts with our Founder and Creator, Colin Hutson. We could talk all day about product research and keeping our finger on the pulse of upcoming design trends but really it all comes down to animal instincts.
Inspiration comes from many places for Colin, read more on the story behind White Moose and where Colin draws his inspiration from here. A connection to an internet meme, a trip into nature, or even a simple Pantone colour can spark the beginnings of a great design. Developing these into designs you can picture a movie scene featuring the actor frantically cutting, pasting and gluing all kinds of spectacular materials and pictures together into the most epic of mood boards - in a more refined manner, this is somewhat correct.
As everything comes together to form a cohesive idea each item is considered for its audience and function. A gorgeous pig money box to help a little kid save their pocket money, a set of dinosaur bookends for a child's favourite books, the perfect sized secret bowl to fit keys, wallets and change. A product that has a purpose and is created with intention connects strongly with our customers. It is something they love, cherish and interact with daily.
With an idea planted, function and audience considered, the drawing board jumps into full swing. He begins sketching unique designs that evolve as the collection develops. Again, if this were a movie you would travel to a scene right out of Jumanji, animals coming to life on paper and leaping across the desk.
The hardest part however is yet to come, when to say no and who moves on to the next stage in the process. Think The Voice or X Factor.. or for you Big Brother fans out there “It’s time to go…” then we have to say goodbye to one of the designs which just didn’t quite make the cut. (yes we said who, in our office all our designs are named and loved like their living counterparts, like Rory the Rhino or Otto the Octopus). As the designs are added or axed a visualisation of the collection evolves.
Progressing a design to the next phase is one of the most exciting parts - sculpting the moulds! Each sketch is handcrafted from clay emerging into its 3D form. It’s rolled and pressed, prodded and poked, scraped and scratched until every intricate detail and element has been refined. As each sample is tweaked, revisions are made until the entire collection stands together, a cohesive realisation of a unique idea.
The idea was formed, designs sketched and the clay models sculpted, the samples are now ready to be transformed into the pieces our customers will adopt into their homes. These samples are cast into their moulds from which each White Moose product you see is hand poured and painted.
All our curious creatures and detailed sculptures then journey to our White Moose HQ in Melbourne where they are ready to be adopted into loving homes, filling them with the iconic style that is White Moose.
