Cremacaffè Design is an Italian company that produces beautiful handmade cases and stands for a range of much-loved hardware. We asked Elisa Andretti & Andrea Milana, the founders, to take us through what their roles entail.
Name?
Elisa Andretti & Andrea Milana
Place of work?
Job?
Elisa: Designer
Andrea: New Media Designer
How long have you had the job?
Since 2014. We launched the webshop during Helsinki Design Week and moved back to Sicily shortly after that.
What does a typical day involve?
Three times a year we do long term planning, which then breaks down into our weekly schedule. This might be a day for photo shooting, a couple of days for prototyping, evenings for taking care of our media channels, and mornings to do a lot of hand finishing before shipping our products.
Highs of the job?
Creativity, freedom and fun.
It feels great knowing thousands of our products have a home in studios across the world. We also love connecting with the people who support us, who are often talented artists. We love making stuff with our own hands.
Another perk is taking a day off to go to the beach and being close to family.
Lows of the job?
Stress! When you are carefully balancing a small business of your own you can’t just call in sick. So that….and seeing cheap copies made of your designs.
How did you get the job?
We quit our previous jobs…
How can we get your job?
Be patient, work to do your own thing, which can come in an unexpected form. Do not listen to destructive criticism. Remember, it’s not a good sign if peers and relatives understand immediately what you are up to.
Who are the people who’ve had the biggest influence on your career and why?
A culture, more than people to be honest.
We lived for a few years in Finland, studying (Elisa, Creative Sustainability at Aalto University) and worked there (Andrea & Elisa, Genelec, Aalto University).
We loved how everywhere you would find design to make your lives easier. There was such an everyday pleasure seeing forms that made sense, stripped to the essential and there to connect you to what you care most for in life.
What gave us an edge was to experience this as outsiders and then merge it with the Italian playfulness and handcrafting culture.
What’s the one bit of advice you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?
Give it your 100%.
When you don’t get the kind of quality you want, do it yourself. Do not postpone important decisions. Start small and let it grow patiently. Take care of your health.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your career to date?
Well…not choosing carefully our collaborators; this can damage your brand, and be a waste of your time.
Other than that, ours is a small operation, and we enjoy that you can’t really fail big – correcting our strategies requires more an effort of imagination, than the costly procedures required in traditional mass production.
How would you like to see your industry develop over the next five years?
It would be nice to get consumerism, that comes with all the plastic and ugly products, out of the system for good.
We would like to see small businesses flourish and connect all over the world, bringing to the industry imaginative products and a more creative atmosphere for music-making.
See the range of Cremacaffè Design products available on the Attack store.
For more information visit the Cremacaffè Design website.