We (that is: myself, my husband Paul and my business partner Jeroen) are the people behind the INKE label. I started the company in 2004 after presenting my work at the yearly expo of Gerrit Rietveld Academy graduates. As a young mother and aspiring artist, it was quite a challenge to combine maternity and completing my portfolio for graduation. My love for pattern design and the need for decorating our newborn son’s nursery with no budget at all, gave the inspiration to create large animal-cutouts from pieces of old retro wallpaper I had laying around. And that’s how the “Behangbeesten” (Wallpaper Menagerie) designs came about.
After refining the concept, I decided to present my first collection of wallpaper silhouettes at the graduation expo, which is attended by international press, magazine editors, artists, stylists, buyers and so forth each year… And then things got crazy.
The designs sparked a lot of interest and were featured in many influential publications over the following months. So to keep up with all the challenges, I took the step of starting a company in order to scale up and bring my designs to the public. My husband Paul resigned from his job to take care of the production side of things and shortly after, Jeroen joined officially to help dealing with clients, suppliers and retailers from all over the world.
And now, after many years, I am very proud of the fact that our Wallpaper Animals, Wallpaper Trees and other designs are eye catchers in nurseries, kids rooms and even grown-up interiors all over the planet. This is an incredible experience and provides the drive to keep creating unique and original designs. All made on human scale with focus on sustainability and recycling.
Inke Heiland.
Studio/Postal Address:
INKE VOF
Semmelweisstraat 3
2316DK Leiden
The Netherlands
(visiting only by appointment)
Contact
T/F: +31 (0) 71 542 33 99
info@inke.nl