New Designer - Coulson Macleod

Coulson Macleod was formed in 2009 by Mark Coulson and Hannah MacLeod. It’s a UK-based art business specialising in the design and production of handmade, typography-based, artwork printed onto natural and reclaimed materials including wood, metal, stone, fabric, and recycled paper. In 2011 Coulsen Macleod were finalists in the Small Business of the Year in the East Midlands Women of Worth Awards.

"We were contacted by the Jamie Oliver Foundation to create a bespoke piece for his fundraising event A Big Night Out With Jamie last year. Our artwork went into the silent auction and raised £1,100 with the final bid going to David Ellender, Global CEO of Fremantle Media. Jamie wrote to thank us personally and gave us a signed recipe book. We’re creating a new design for them again this year."

"And one of our biggest supporters and a very regular customer is CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, Kevin Roberts. He wrote about us on his blog KR Connect."

How did you start out as a designer?
Well I’ve (Mark Coulson) been a graphic designer for almost 25 years. About eight years ago I started my own design company, which I still run. Two years ago Hannah and I were talking about art for our own home. We simply couldn’t find anything that we liked and could afford. Seeing a gap in the market, we decided to start up Coulson Macleod. As it was a side-line business to start with we didn’t invest any money into it, just our time and passion. I design. Hannah does the marketing. We’re a great team.

What motivates or inspires your work?
We see ourselves first and foremost as designers, rather than artists. So, not only are we interested in the printed image, we're also just as passionate about the material our artwork is printed on. We tend to have great ideas in very uninspiring places – driving up the M1 – or at 3am. We both have notepads by the bed and we’ve been known to share our ideas in the dark.

What are your future plans?
We have more plans than time or money will allow. When we very first started the business, we talked about our desire to give a helping hand to local design students. Obviously we needed to have built a name for ourselves first. This year we were invited to a degree show, and saw student work that we knew we could make commercially successful. But we’re still a little way off from fulfilling this dream.

How do you create your products and how long does it take you?
Some designs come together very quickly. One of us has an idea. The other loves it. It can be designed and a sample made within a week. Some ideas require months of tweaking. Everything is designed in-house; both artwork and frame. We’ve found some amazing local artisan companies who then hand craft the pieces for us. They’re specialist craftsmen; and we’re proud to be supporting them.

Your ambitions – where do you hope to be in five years time?
When we first started out I (Hannah) said that I wanted to have New York, London, Paris, Tokyo under our name. We’re now stocked in Milan and Oslo. So we’re getting there. I totally expect to be a recognisable brand name. Globally. Recently I’ve mentioned the business name during a couple of conversations with strangers, and they knew the name Coulson Macleod. That gives me a huge thrill.

In 2010 Coulsen Macleod were finalists for:
• International Trader of the Year in the Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards
• Best Online Business in the Mumpreneur Awards
• Shortlisted for a High Growth Business Awards in the Business Mum Awards
• And won a Gold Website Award in the Mumpreneur Website Awards