Chat with Sara and Alessio of ILIÜI

I think I am more excited about this little interview than any others I have done in the past!
This clever pair create really beautiful products using recycled materials which is awesome but I think the thing I like the most about them is… them! They are a beautiful Italian couple, living in Spain. Their english isn’t perfect but I think it just furthers their cuteness. I did change a few words so Sara’s answers would read more clearly but I tried to leave a little of that natural broken English in their too. Anyway, enough from me. Here’s Sara… 

Tell us a little about yourselves. Who are Sara and Alessio?
We are an Italian young couple (Sara Guida: 32 years, Alessio Nobili: 35 years) living in south of Spain, Costa Blanca area, in the countryside in a little village of craftsmen: Gata de Gorgos, since 2007. Two years ago we decided to leave our every-day-job, to began an our own project of work & life: ILIÜI.

Have you guys always been creative?
We think that someone who is creative is creative since they were born, expressing their creativity in everything they do. The point, for a creative person is understanding HOW to use its creativity… in the right way!
Anyway, both of us love to explore different crafts.
I (Sara) studied at the Institute of Art in Rome (specialising in Industrial Design), and then fashion design in Milan.
Ale isn’t a designer or carpenter by profession, but he always loved making things and… TOOLS!

What does an average day look like for the Iliüi team?
We wake up at around 7:30-8:00, together with our 3 Czechoslovakian wolfdogs. After a coffee, a spoonful of pollen, a glass of fresh-fruit juice, breathing fresh air of the morning, and contemplate the landscape… we go to our work-place! I work in the 1st floor of the house, in a light filled, closed balcony with 19 windows. Alessio works on the ground floor, where he has all types of tools 🙂
We don’t have a “standard” day-type, as we have to manage many other things during the week that are not drawing or making lamps! We have to answer lots of emails, taking pictures of new products, writing invoices, packing products, making labels and ordering materials.
And, of course, as we live in the countryside… we spend some time to also take care of our plants, playing with our dogs, and making things at home (like… repair something, making some furniture, cutting fire wood for winter..!)

Have you always had an interest in recycling/upcycling?
Yes, we both love Nature, so, taking care of the environment has always been important for us.

You guys offer several products in your store but the items I love the most are your lights!
What made you think of turning tin cans into lights?
I had the first idea of lamps, after I found lots of empty cans by chance when I was walking home after a kung-fu lesson in Alicante city where we used to live.
So then, I discussed the idea with Alessio and he made the very first lamp prototype in September 2013.

Your designs are so sleek and stylish.
Do you think your time in fashion helps you to identify upcoming trends?
I do think my fashion study and time working in fashion does influence our lamps (and of course into all the rest of the products) I think it also comes through in the kind of pictures I take, the colour of the paint I mix for each piece. In the key-words I choose for the description of the items and in the graphic I created for our shop in Etsy and our official web site.
Its not my time in fashion that helps me to identify future trends. The feeling for what comes next.. is something I always had (actually, also my grandmother has the same feeling!) not something I learnt. But I did learn to analysing upcoming trends and work out when to action an idea. That’s very important in order not to waste a great idea at the wrong time.

Of all of the items in your store, which is your favourite to make?
We don’t have a favourite to make really. We put same passion and care into every piece we make. 🙂

Do you have any advice for people looking to make money selling their handmade goods on etsy?
We’re quite new in the Etsy-world, but we can share what we have learnt this year.
1. Choose your words carefully.
We speak 3 languages – English, Spanish and Italian –  so we need to be careful when writing the title of each product and colour descriptions, because that’s the key to being discovered by customers.

2. High quality pictures.
Use natural sun light, and some photo of details, the right selection of colors ( to-set-the trend and inspire people!) …. and … putting your logo on them (even if subtle or small) ……. it’s something VERY important to promote your brand.
Images speaks louder than words.
And nowadays, a good image that has something to tell… can go round the world…. very fast!!!

3. Tell your own story through your products.
Be honest to who you are and express that through what you make. You customers will see this and build a stronger connection with your products.

Last of all, if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Alessio : PIZZA ! (but the Milanese – al trancio one : much thicker than the classic pizza crust)
Sara : a PASTIERA NAPOLETANA (a cake, made with ricotta cheese and wheat,  a Naples’s tradition)

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