Urban Spark - Interview with Designer Nikki Strange - by Nookie
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Urban Spark is.......?
a UK based accessory company started in 2008 by Nikki Strange and Nikki Bruce. Their current line Jules offers a wide rage of jewellery, from necklaces to brooches. I Love their line because it has that mystery touch that make their pieces unforgettable.
How did you start designing?
Initially we started compiling moodboards and collecting imagery, anything that inspired us really. Nikki Bruce will often find stuff of creative value on the pavement. We have a lot of junk in our office because of this! Once we’ve established a theme, we get stuck in with sketchbooks, and try and create as many designs as possible. With each collection we organise small parties to let our customers decide which designs go through to samples. Hopefully once we are a bit more established we can do this on a larger scale and really become a company that makes designs for their community of customers specifically.
Where do you get your inspiration?
The first collection inspired by the ocean (the old Portsmouth coast) is called “Jules”. We named this after a picture book that inspired us of the classic Jules Vern tale Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (a tad cliché of us but we loved it). The second collection hoping to come after Christmas ready for summer, “Rosa”, designed by Nikki Bruce is inspired by gardens. I myself am currently developing a new collection about exploration and theming jewellery pieces on inventors and historical photography that I find of interest. This collection will follow shortly after.
Tell us more about The Jules Collection
Myself and Nikki had different inspirations when looking at the ocean. Nikki Bruce was fascinated with sea creatures such as sea urchins and starfish. She was interested in creating pieces inspired by the natural beauty found under the sea whereas I was more interested in ship wreck stories, treasure and trinkets lost in murky waters. This was my inspiration for incorporating mirrors and pearls.
A favourite piece?
Nikki Bruce’s favourite piece is the starfish bracelet because of the way it sits on the body and how beautiful it looked on one of our models!
My favourite piece is the ribbon embellishment necklace as I was interested in asymmetrical jewellery and wanted to create a piece with lots of different features.
Who are your ideal customers?
I guess we would say our ideal customers like the little things in life. That they enjoy good quality products, and beautifully packaged jewellery. We hope that when they receive it they feel like a little thought has gone into it, a little personal touch. Our models (Hardip and Maddie) reflect our customers, real girls! When the models came to the photo shoot we wanted them to do their hair as if they were going on a night out and not really change their normal style at all. Hardip had tattoos all up her back, stomach and legs, we loved this because its her own style.
How do you see Urban Spark in 10 years?
Traveling from festival to festival, selling jewellery from an ice cream van, with music blaring from the speakers!
Along the way we want to really focus on getting our Urban Spark community running, to learn and find out what our customers want from us, giving them more control.
Read more from Nookie at http://fashioninmyeyes.blogspot.com/
a UK based accessory company started in 2008 by Nikki Strange and Nikki Bruce. Their current line Jules offers a wide rage of jewellery, from necklaces to brooches. I Love their line because it has that mystery touch that make their pieces unforgettable.
How did you start designing?
Initially we started compiling moodboards and collecting imagery, anything that inspired us really. Nikki Bruce will often find stuff of creative value on the pavement. We have a lot of junk in our office because of this! Once we’ve established a theme, we get stuck in with sketchbooks, and try and create as many designs as possible. With each collection we organise small parties to let our customers decide which designs go through to samples. Hopefully once we are a bit more established we can do this on a larger scale and really become a company that makes designs for their community of customers specifically.
Where do you get your inspiration?
The first collection inspired by the ocean (the old Portsmouth coast) is called “Jules”. We named this after a picture book that inspired us of the classic Jules Vern tale Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (a tad cliché of us but we loved it). The second collection hoping to come after Christmas ready for summer, “Rosa”, designed by Nikki Bruce is inspired by gardens. I myself am currently developing a new collection about exploration and theming jewellery pieces on inventors and historical photography that I find of interest. This collection will follow shortly after.
Tell us more about The Jules Collection
Myself and Nikki had different inspirations when looking at the ocean. Nikki Bruce was fascinated with sea creatures such as sea urchins and starfish. She was interested in creating pieces inspired by the natural beauty found under the sea whereas I was more interested in ship wreck stories, treasure and trinkets lost in murky waters. This was my inspiration for incorporating mirrors and pearls.
A favourite piece?
Nikki Bruce’s favourite piece is the starfish bracelet because of the way it sits on the body and how beautiful it looked on one of our models!
My favourite piece is the ribbon embellishment necklace as I was interested in asymmetrical jewellery and wanted to create a piece with lots of different features.
Who are your ideal customers?
I guess we would say our ideal customers like the little things in life. That they enjoy good quality products, and beautifully packaged jewellery. We hope that when they receive it they feel like a little thought has gone into it, a little personal touch. Our models (Hardip and Maddie) reflect our customers, real girls! When the models came to the photo shoot we wanted them to do their hair as if they were going on a night out and not really change their normal style at all. Hardip had tattoos all up her back, stomach and legs, we loved this because its her own style.
How do you see Urban Spark in 10 years?
Traveling from festival to festival, selling jewellery from an ice cream van, with music blaring from the speakers!
Along the way we want to really focus on getting our Urban Spark community running, to learn and find out what our customers want from us, giving them more control.
Read more from Nookie at http://fashioninmyeyes.blogspot.com/
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