A working mother of two, Erin Minckley founded Relativity Textiles with a pipedream to make a day job for herself creating textiles. With a background in education and print manufacturing courtesy of an MFA in Fiber and Materials Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she succeeded in growing her brand to an international reach by the time she hit her fourth year in business. In 2020, Minckley set out to help other artists become profitable from their art by writing a book entitled Artists Who Thrive, available here. Learn more about Erin Minckley and her textiles in today’s Maker Monday.
Alebrijes- The goal of Relativity Textiles is to be inspired by the rich history of textile traditions around the world and bring foreign cultures into your everyday life.
Andrew Joseph: What is the most important element in a successful interior design?
Erin Minckley: For me, I have to think of a room as an artwork. There are basic principles of a good composition. Scale, color, texture. Like painting on a blank canvas, there needs to be harmony between all the elements in a room. The look and feel of a room comes from aesthetics but also the emotional quality. I often ask my design clients “What type of feeling do you want to have when you enter this room?” This gives me an idea of what wallpaper will go with their vision. If they say spa-like and relaxing, I won’t use bright colors or large-scale motifs. If they say “Full of personality and fun” I will go wild. I like having a mix of both types of clients because there’s truly a wallpaper for everyone and every feeling.
AJ: How do you stay creative and inspired?
EM: I love to travel. As a busy single mother, I rarely have time to sit down and watercolor or write. I relax in little bits of time when my kids are away or after they’ve gone to sleep. Sometimes there is no time to be creative because managing my business and home life by myself is such a daunting job. So, every spring I take a trip to Mexico and give myself some time to create. I take photos, write and paint. This is a really rejuvenating time for me because Chicago is cold and depressing in the winter, and I always feel immense gratitude for the warm weather hiatus. Unfortunately, like everything else in business, we have to learn to put art-making on the calendar. Setting aside time to design a new collection comes once a year for me. The creative process is never linear so I have to try out a lot of new stuff before I settle on the ones I’m actually going to print. Inspiration comes from reading books about other women who have succeeded at business, from my creative community in Chicago and trolling Pinterest for historical examples of textiles from other places around the world.
Chameleon- By way of textiles, the hope is to connect the dots from East to West, to pay homage to the makers of the world and to diversify the imagery seen in our modern vernacular.
AJ: What is the most important skill for a successful designer?
EM: I just recorded a podcast about this actually, and it might shock you to hear my opinion. Math. I think being good at math is the most significant difference between a successful designer or artist and those who are struggling in their business. Math is good for so many things. We have to track our time, budget for spending, calculate the area of a room or the width of a cabinet or how many wallpaper rolls to order. I have a little calculator that I keep next to me at work and I use it all the time. I have Excel spreadsheets with algorithms for my break-even point so I know what I need to sell to be profitable. I have cheat sheets for how to measure any room for wallpaper. Pattern design is completely mathematics. These are all things that I use math for every day.
I think there is a lot of shame about not being good at math. But, just like golf, you have to practice if you ever want to get good at something. Learning your accounting software, asking tradesmen how to measure, and stop relying on others to do it for you. This is where mistakes can happen. Math is a necessary evil, so we have to make friends with it if we want to thrive.
AJ: What is your favorite thing about being a designer?
EM: I love what I do. I was drawn to printmaking in art school and patterns as a way to express our culture and identity. Translating pictures with meaning into products has been like solving an intricate puzzle. Running a wallpaper and fabric business means that I have new challenges and clients every day. It’s fun to work on so many unique projects and have so much variety in my job. I don’t think I could ever go back to doing work for other people or monotonous tasks. I love to paint and listen to books on Audible. I get to be with my own thoughts and create. I rarely plan what I’m going to do until I’m already in the mix. I have a huge mural coming up that I tried to sketch out a few times but nothing inspired me. I think I am just going to wing it! This is not something I could do in any other job. I am confident that it’s going to look great no matter what. And it’s that ability to have a vision that so many people envy.
Marhaba – Recognizing the scarcity of culturally appropriate representations in the wallpaper industry, Minckley identified a market void and seized the opportunity.
AJ: What would your dream project or dream client be right now?
EM: I just launched this new program called the Relativity Collective. I’m recruiting other artists who are interested in growing their own textile brand from the ground up. I’ve helped two artists already to become the CEO of their own textile line and it’s so inspiring to be able to include their textiles on my website. I would love to partner with an experienced interior designer who lives in a major metropolitan city. He/she would have a love of travel and color. They’d want to launch their own line of products and would leave it up to me to bring my expertise to the table. I’d create the art for their patterns and we would come up with custom colorways. I would love to work with someone fun, easily excited, trusting and graceful. Since what we do is build long-term manufacturing partnerships, I’d want it to be a client who works with me for many years to come. This would be a dream to find such a person.
AJ: Best advice you’d give your teenage self?
EM: Stay focused on the version of you that you would love to be. Fitting in is not the point of life, in fact, the ones who fit in are boring. Express yourself however you feel like. Show up every day with confidence because someday these kids who surround you will message you on Facebook and say they always wished you could be friends, but you were too cool. It’s the outliers who people secretly admire, so be yourself. You have gifts and they are magical. Nothing is wrong with you. Share your love of art with as many people as possible and you just might make a difference in this world.
AJ: Can you tell us about a design trend you are excited about?
EM: I am seeing a lot of wallpaper borders coming back! Let’s do it. I’d love to design a collection of trims for use as decorative borders instead of trim molding options.
Her latest venture in Fall of 2022 introduced a fabric collection, followed by a rug launch, adorning floors with captivating patterns. Relativity Textiles now fully embraces every part of an interior space, transforming it into a unique canvas for one-of-a-kind art. Inspired by the rich history of global textile traditions, the brand aims to bring foreign cultures into everyday life. Through textiles, they strive to connect the dots from East to West, paying homage to makers worldwide and diversifying the imagery present in our modern vernacular. Recognizing the scarcity of culturally appropriate depictions in the wallpaper industry, Minckley identified a market gap, giving birth to the brand’s mission. Having led her on adventures akin to that of an anthropologist, explorer, or photo journalist, Erin traveled the globe, immersing herself in luscious visual stimulation. She brought back the essence of each place, allowing family and friends to experience it firsthand. This journey paved the way for their tagline, “Bring the World Home.”
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