The Creative Loves of >> Heute Schmidt

Welcome back to Creative Loves... Today we have textile and product designers Anja and Silke Schmidt of Heute Schmidt who are based in Cologne in west Germany. They created gorgeous silk printed products for every day life including materials by the yard and beautiful wooden jewellery. Welcome Anja and Silke!

Can you tell us about your studio space >> We live and work near cologne, Germany. We have two places to work, our office where we design, do paperworks and the sewing. It´s mostly kept in white to create a clear and calm working atmosphere. The other place is our workshop where we do the printing. This room is mostly filled with a five metre screenprinting table and the scenery is more a working atmosphere with collections of screen printing inks, screens… Even here we used to paint the room white, but the focus is on usefulness.

Have you always been creatively driven >> We both can´t remember a time not having been creative. There have been working times and educations as florist, as visual merchandiser, hobbies like sewing, painting and many more. We have tried a lot. At least Anja has been working for a design studio as art director, I (Silke) have been working for a huge interior design company as visual merchandiser. We did some projects together before and when we both decided to quit our jobs we had the idea of founding Heute Schmidt.

What inspires you >> It´s everyday life that inspires us. The way people live, the way we live. A trip to Hamburg in december has been inspirational, for example. We can´t describe exactly, but it´s a feeling that a surrounding or a situation is perfect for that moment. That´s the feeling we like to hold and translate into our products. We are both addicted to blogs that feature many topics. Design in all it´s disciplines, living, cooking and baking, travel…

Please tell us about your current Creative Loves...  

Photography >> Photisserie 

Illustration >> Sanna Annukka & Larissa Bertonasco

Graphic Design >> Birdwatching 

Home / Interiors >> Kitka & La Maison d´Anna G

Blogs >> Fräulein Text & Elephantine

Books >> Tartine Bread 

Magazines >> Kinfolk & The Weekender

Shops >> neest, R.S.V.P. & Line+Liv

What is a typical work day for you >> We have as typical work days as many probably have. we start by checking and packing orders, checking mails, drinking coffee and reflecting what´s done and what still is to do. Printing days start usually in the morning for having a whole day in the workshop and using it as good as possible.

How do you approach each project that you work on >>  Entirely new projects we start with a glimpse of idea and a brainstorming. We are happy to have the equipment that allows us to try many things from the beginning. But pencil and paper are still the mostly used tools, followed by the computer.

What has been the most interesting or exciting project you've worked on >> Every new project is exciting. The question of how it will work, how it will look and how people will react. At the moment we are experimenting with a tabletop press and a basement room full of type that we got some years ago – a good mixture of frustration and satisfaction.

In terms of your work what couldn't you live without >> We love the part of manufacturing and don´t want to miss it anymore.

What do you want to do in the future >> We are looking forward for some inspirational co-operations and of course we´d like to expand our own collection.

Where are you happiest >> In my garden (Silke) on a mountaintop (Anja)

Thanks Silke & Anja!