Hello !

It’s been 11 days of lock down and the voices in my head have started manifesting themselves in the living room! Yay company!

I hope you’re all keeping some semblance of sanity, and I hope that you’re all staying inside, healthy and happy! The sun is out for the first time in almost a week, so I think it’s going to be a great day!

Find this week’s free colouring-in page here!

(and a colour version below for reference if you want)

As I said last week, today I want to tell you about my story – where did I get the idea? how did all of this start? How have I had the motivation to keep going in these difficult, ever changing times? As always, please feel free to comment on anything here or suggest something you’d like to hear about next.

JoSuppose started out in December 2018 as a small project to keep me in practice with illustration. I had just finished my first year of design college and I was on holiday with the family in the bush… I was pretty bored and wanted something to do with my new found skill (Digital Illustration) that would keep me busy and maintain all of the knowledge I had learnt that year... so I started illustrating as many different bird species as I could think of. I had recently read something about the Violet-Backed Starling which sounded amazing to me and then low and behold, one drive through the bush, I saw one! How convenient! “this must be the bird I start with” I thought. I had no idea what I was going to do with these illustrations except that I was going to do them! And so, I did one a day for about a month starting with the Starling, then a Grey Lourie, then a Secretary Bird and so on.

After about 10 birds I was losing interest, until I did some work for my lovely aunt that involved smile illustrations that would be used on t-shirts and tote-bags. “a great idea” I thought, I would do something similar with my illustrations! Soon tote bags became mouse pads which then moved on to a calendar design. it was cool, some friends and family would buy one every now and then but it wasn't enough. Then… college started again and JoSuppose took a back seat, (perfect timing because now I was getting frustrated with the lack of results)

Fast forward about 6 months and many life events – I hadn’t done anything new for JoSuppose in a while and there wasn’t any interest, but I was thinking about it again. I realized then that I was a very prolific painter and I had all of these weird colourful paintings just pilling up in my room collecting dust. “Hmm”, I thought “I should probably turn JoSuppose into something that I am actively doing and having a hell of a lot of fun with rather than forcing myself to do these little illustrations that I’m definitely bored of at this point...” so I decided to turn my paintings into the new JoSuppose designs and wow this has taken me on a whole new journey in the short time since. This new direction sparked up my motivation and introduced me to the world of print-on-demand websites such as Redbubble or T-springs! Companies like these make selling art so easy (in theory). 

Once I’d changed direction with JoSuppose I realised that my branding was completely out of whack. Id created a logo which was great, but it was far too clean and precise for the new JoSuppose – Now JoSuppose was messy, undefinable, creative and definitely a lot stranger than before… and my branding need to show this. In December 2019, as JoSuppose turned 1 year old, I released my new branding into the world, and everyone loved it!

Now I spend my days marketing, marketing, promoting, advertising, and marketing – just pushing and tugging at new methods to get JoSuppose out there into the world.. and its picking up traction! I know that with time this brand will snowball and become great… I just need to keep going!

My mission for JoSuppose Is to cultivate creativity – not just in myself but in the young creatives around me. I want JoSuppose to be something that means letting go of inhibitions and just unleashing your inner messy 5-year-old. I want JoSuppose to be pure creative freedom, opportunity to grow as an artist and above all I want JoSuppose to always be unexpected. something completely new and strange and wonderful. JoSuppose.

I would love to hear about your stories and your missions! Please reply to this email with your brands – how you’ve grown them and your goals! With your permission I will share them in my next e-mail!

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My advice to you if you’re trying to start up your own brand/business/project: DO NOT GIVE UP! It can be a slow process and you might not see results very soon but whatever you do, do not give up! It’s alright to take a break but remember every little thing that you do will push you forward and make your tomorrow a little easier! Don’t let your anxieties tell you, you aren’t good enough for this! You are and only time will tell!

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The best from JoSuppose this week:

I thought I’d change things up a bit with some of my digital designs for Redbubble (kiddy sizes also available)

Sunset Cacti – My favourite of the week

Athletic Cacti – you’ve over watered your plants and now they’re running away!

Luminescent house plants – I think its time to wake up, your plants are glowing…

I’ve also started getting back into embroidery, these will all be available on Etsy very soon!

Zama – a work in progress

Bitten and Burnt – Mopani leaves from 2018

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Goodbye for now! Stay indoors and stay creative! 

Kindly,

Jo Bert

Owner of JoSuppose

Artist | Designer | Mess-Maker

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-bert-1904/