Today Creative Minds travels to Southern Israel to meet with Elisheva, a designer and maker of objects that aim to bring the Mediterranean spirit in your house, with a minimalistic and industrial flair. We spoke about her travels and inspiration, the importance of having a blog as a designer or artisan and even more! So read on to learn more about Elisheva and her beautiful Etsy shop Loop Design Studio.

• Let’s start with a bit about you and your background. How did you get into designing?

I’m Elisheva, an industrial designer. I live with my husband and our three children in the Israeli countryside. I got into designing through my love of art. I was always into crafts and I studied art in high school, but I didn’t really see myself making a living as an artist. I decided to study graphic design and at the time I was taking art classes at a community center. My teacher told me I should look into industrial design. Up till then, I had never even heard about industrial design, and once I dove in I knew that’s what I should be doing.

• Can you share the story behind Loop Design Studio? How did your love for homeware begin?

When growing up my family moved a lot – we never lived in the same house for more than two years. I grew up in Israel and in the US – moving between the two every other year – it was crazy but I loved it:) My mother would bring all of our stuff with us to make every house feel like home. I loved organizing the house with her, I was always drawn to objects that made me feel at home. Once I finished university, I worked for a while for a handbag company, but I knew I wanted to design homeware. There aren’t any local companies here doing what I wanted to do – so I thought why don’t I just do it on my own? That’s how Loop Design was born.

• You are currently living in a small village in the Israeli countryside, how does your way of life affect your designs?

Having a small business in a remote area I quickly learned that production will forever be the hardest part. I can’t rely on manufacturers so much – there aren’t many small scale manufacturers in Israel, and they are all so far from me. I need to be able to produce everything on my own, and have everything be scalable in terms of how much I manufacture. That’s why I started working with wood which deeply influences my designs. Also, I think the amazing views here are so peaceful and that inspires me to really strip down my aesthetic to the very basics – natural is always the better way for me.

• Your designs combine natural materials, with fresh, modern aesthetics. What is the process of designing and making one of your objects?

Having three kids, and especially my youngest who’s just a baby makes it impossible to have a good thorough process. I basically need to sketch in my head. I usually use long drives for this – that’s when I work out my designs. The concepts are fairly easy for me to come up with, but it’s the details that take up most of my time. Once I have a clear vision I’ll quickly make a model and lately I’ve discovered  that looking at a photograph makes it much easier for me to assess my design  than to look at the actual model – so photographing models and even sharing them on social media is a great way for me to see if they will work.

• You are mostly using wood and felt for your homeware, are you planning to experiment with even more materials in the future?

I feel like I haven’t begun to scratch the surface of these materials and their potential, so I’ll probably stick on them for a little bit longer. But I will let you in on a little secret – I’ll be introducing metal designs pretty soon:)

• On your beautiful website, you have a Blog much like ours! Do you think it’s important nowadays for designers and makers to share their stories and ideas?

It’s super important!! People really connect to your story, and they want to know who they are buying from. But you need to find the right balance. I used to blog weekly, and it was pretty a personal blog too. I would blog in Hebrew and my blog did quite well and got a lot of press. But eventually I felt like the blog was becoming the main part of my business, and I had to put so much work into it. I needed a break from all that sharing! So I decided even though it was doing well, I would close that blog and write a less personal one. That might not have been the best decision business wise but I’m so glad I took that break. There is so much pressure nowadays to share everything, but it all has to be beautiful and so well curated too – it’s quite a lot of work and a bit draining. In the end, it’s all about balance and finding the right one for you. Nowadays, I’m mostly on Facebook and Instagram, and slowly getting back into blogging. I’ve decided as long as I enjoy it I’ll continue – but I take breaks and try not to be too hard on myself.

• Where can our readers find Loop Design on social media?

On Instagram @loopdesignstudio and on Facebook and  Pinterest 

Thank you so much for having me!!