Joe and Alice opened Form Shop & Studio down Humber Street in
November of 2017 and run a successful business selling design led gifts and
prints. They didn’t, however, start there.
Both Alice and Joe began with full time jobs, and in their spare
time they sold Joe’s illustrations online and in local markets. Their
supportive attitude led them to begin to sell other artists work on their
stalls and in Joe’s words, ‘it kind of just grew from there!’
They began renting a garage at the end of Humber Street and
selling the prints from there on weekends, still managing around their
full-time jobs. Joe reflects, ‘It had no running water, we had to put lights
in it and the doors just opened up, but it worked and it was good through the
summer cos we could just open the doors and that was it! It was just a little
cubby hole where we could put prints up on the wall, but it did the job!’
Moving into that garage was a step they both felt nervous about,
and it was around this time that they made first contact with Creative ENRG.
Alice remembers, ‘We were trying to find out if it was just even a viable
option to do for us, cos we were running everything out of our spare room up
until that point. So, it’s that scary first step that you just want to talk to
somebody about and just check that you’re doing everything right and setting
things up like getting the right insurance, all the things you don’t really
want to think about cos it’s not the fun side of setting up a business’
This level of support has helped them push through to the shop
they currently reside in, in the centre of Humber Street. Alice continues, ‘Yeah
cos you can tell your family and friends what you wanna do and that’s kinda the
first step to be like, ‘Oh, I think I want to do this! I think it might be a
good idea!’ but then having an impartial person to say, ‘Right, well you need
to do this and this, this plan needs this tweak here’ and then it just makes
you feel a bit more secure of your decision,’.
They now stock over 200 separate artists and suppliers and work
full time on their own business with a regular rotation of art and prints,
which has all been established in the last 3 years. The quick rise hasn’t left
them light headed though, as their regular meetings with their business
advisor, Trevor Ward, has kept them informed and in the know. Joe comments, ‘The
biggest help was just sense checking things! You know, making sure you’re not
mad and that what you’re doing will actually work, and checking the steps that
you need to go through to do everything, you know to make sure that you’re
actually setting up a business right,’.
Form sells contemporary prints in screenprint, risograph, giclee and
lino for a range of tastes, they also stock cards by independent designers and
artists. While Joseph is a Graphic Designer who also enjoys making electronic
music, and Alice is a fan of good museum gift shops and messing about with
scissors, you can find their individual work for sale online and at the Form
shop.
Artist Website: https://heyform.co.uk/
For more information about Creative ENRG visit our website
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