A Story Behind Each Piece | Jo Brimble | Episode 712

Jo Brimble | Episode 712

Jo Brimble through Brimble Studios wants to bring a smile to your face with unique, illustrated, functional, ceramics that have characters who take on a life of their own. From merpeople soap dishes to a strong man butter dish, these designs hopefully make you chuckle because everyday objects deserve a bit more personality.

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I know when we are starting a new venture we think, I hope I can do this. But are you surprised that you are actually doing this?

(Laughter) Yeah, definitely. I guess when you start out, like you say, it is about, I hope I can do this. And I guess for me I had to be a bit more like, I can do this. I can do this. (I can make this happen. And that is kind of what drove me. But then when it did happen, that surprised me. (laughter) Okay, it’s doing alright. I had my first sale, that’s great. Then people would say, Oh I really like this. And, Wow, this is amazing! Yeah, this last year, in particular has been when I have really gone for it. The response from people, I have just been absolutely overwhelmed with. So yeah, I think there is a part of you that kind of gets you through. I have to do this. And it ‘s definitely going to happen. I guess because you have to have that kind of determination. Well, I had to anyway. And then the reality of it actually happening has been amazing and a real surprise and just been really exciting.

What’s one thing you are surprised about now that you are actually running a ceramic business that you didn’t expect?

Oh, that’s a good question. Maybe the best answer to that is just people’s reactions, like how much people enjoy the things that I do and all the lovely messages. Actually, I guess it’s how lovely my customers are. Not that I expect people not to be lovely but I guess I always thought when you run a business, and I’ve worked with other businesses, that people, you know, you always have some people who are disgruntled and I am sure I will at some point, but I will have to say everybody has been so lovely. And I don’t know if it’s the sort of people that want to buy from small businesses and buy from an individual, and like you said before, Going along for someone’s ride and enjoying the process and then development….maybe it is the sort of person that like that, will obviously be the sort of customers that I have. Yeah, I think that has been really surprising, just how lovely people are.

Are you full-time now?

I guess I was fortunate in a way because , well I say fortunate, I got made redundant from my job. It was just over year ago and the job I did before was really specialist, I was a trend analyst. So I worked with what things are going to be on trend, color direction for the season, all that sort of thing, So I did that and I was playing around with clay and things like that as well. And then when I got made redundant I had a redundancy package and because my job was so specialist if I wanted to continue doing my job, I guess I would have had to move countries or at least go to London. And those weren’t options for you with having a young family and everything. So I guess I was faced with a decision, I could go into something new and obviously start my way from the bottom and work my way up or I could give this a go. And so I decided to do that basically.

Are you willing to ship anywhere in the world?

Yeah, pretty much, as long as I can, yeah. Definitely.

So how do you handle shipping for international sales?

So everything is obviously through Etsy, so they deal with currency differences and things like that. And then I send most stuff through Royal Mail, which goes everywhere. But if it gets too expensive or too heavy I can use other carriers.

As a former trends analyst, what do you see the trends of ceramics now that you are in a ceramic capacity and selling online? What are the trends that you see in the ceramic world?

I think ceramics has had such a renaissance, I guess, and I think that there are so many different layers of different trends and I think the most interesting thing is that there is a huge macro-trend for skilled, kink of like crafted items that aren’t mass produced and that have their own marks of hand-making. Because within that we obviously have the internet and digital-ness so everyone has gone back to the appreciation of more crafted things, like days-gone-by items. So I think that will continue to evolve and grow and I think ceramics within that is obviously really important. I think that is why we have seen this massive revival.