How do you know when you’ve found a good creative partner? Is it when you trust them implicitly, share your work equally, and consider their criticism worth more than another person’s praise — or is it something even simpler?
“We just get on,” says illustrator and designer Zanna Goldhawk, who co-owns Papio Press, an illustrated accessories and stationery shop, with Harry Marshall. “I really enjoy being with Harry and working with him every day. I think he’s one of the only people that I would let look at my work and say, ‘That’s not right,’ and not be offended. I really trust him and value his opinion.”
This duo was inspired to open their Etsy shop when they were still illustration students at university — thanks to a guest lecture by illustrator (and Etsy success story) Sandra Dieckmann. “We kind of just thought, If she can do it, why can’t we?” Zanna says. “That’s when we really started the shop properly.” Harry adds, “And when we realized it could be an actual way to make a living.”
Now, only one year out of school, the pair run a full-time design business from a pair of desks in their shared living room, surrounded by prints from fellow illustrators, as well as vintage William Morris floral prints for inspiration.
You know you’ve found a good creative partner when you’re so in sync you’re compelled to spend the rest of your lives together, and this duo is currently planning their wedding. “Because I’ve seen how good Harry is in the business, I trust him completely in all aspects of life now,” Zanna says. “I think it’s just made us stronger and closer.”
Tell us about your artistic backgrounds — have you always been creative?
Zanna: I was born in Cornwall, and I grew up surrounded by nature and the sea, which I’ve always found to be a point of inspiration. From when I was really small, my mom used to put pens in my hand, sit me down, and get me drawing, so it’s something that kind of runs in my family.
Harry: I’m from Nottingham, originally, and moved to Cheltenham when I came to study illustration. I think my whole life I’ve been quite creative, to be honest — I always knew that was the direction I wanted to go in.
What was it about illustration specifically that appealed to both of you?
Zanna: I think for me fine art sometimes felt a little bit too…free. I liked to make things look like what they were — I was more into drawing than painting. Also, my grandad used to be a comic strip illustrator, and I kind of liked the idea that I was following in grandad’s footsteps.
Harry: I studied fine art originally, and then when I did my foundation course in Nottingham I was pushed down the more illustrative route. That was the direction I enjoyed, because there’s a lot more narrative in illustration, in my opinion — with comic books and children’s books and that kind of thing. I think there’s quite a significant movement with illustration that’s happening at the moment; it’s becoming a lot more popular than it used to be.
When it comes to the work in your shop, is some of it Harry’s and some of it Zanna’s? What do each of you bring to the table aesthetically?
Zanna: Our styles have merged in the last year. When we started, you could tell who did what; it’s gotten to the point now where you don’t really know. Any animals that are watercolor painted, those are usually ones that I’ve done. There are lots of pieces of artwork where I’ll do that and then Harry will jump on the print after me and paint some flowers in behind them. It can be a mix of both of us, which I think is quite nice because it really makes it a team thing. Lots of it is both of us together.
I remember my mom said to me when me and Harry first got together, “What happens if one of you becomes a famous illustrator and the other doesn’t? Will there be some jealousy or difficulty in your relationship because of that?” We’ve found a way around it, working together.
Tell us more about your process.
Harry: At the moment we’ve been working on a new series of prints which center around some sort of animal that’s completely surrounded by florals in a very similar style. So the way we would go about that, for instance, is Zanna would paint the animal in watercolor and then hand it over to me. I would then scan it into the computer and draw the flowers around it.
I do my work almost entirely digitally — I just find it a bit easier and prefer using a tablet as opposed to a traditional medium. The flowers that I use are not necessarily flowers that actually exist in the real world. I’ll sort of take different kinds of flowers, mash them together, and slowly change them over time. And I chop and change them in different prints.
Zanna: When that’s done, we lay them all out and have a look at them and say, That would look good on a notebook, or That would look good on an iPhone case. We try and do a few animals that we know from experience will be popular, then throw in a few wild cards to see whether or not people like them.
Harry: In the first year or so, foxes were incredibly popular.
Zanna: Endless foxes.
Harry: We just sold foxes and foxes. And that was all we could sell. But now we’re selling a lot more unicorns and sloths. It’s interesting to see those trends change with time.
Have animals and nature always big inspirations for you? Do you usually work on a collection with a specific theme, or just draw whatever captures your imagination at the time?
Zanna: Up until we both went full time, we were mainly doing whatever took us in the moment. But since we’ve been taking the business a lot more seriously, we have meetings where we sit down and talk about what we think we should do, and set ourselves briefs and projects.
Some of that is based on what we’re selling a lot of at the moment — trends with specific animals and things like that. So we might put up a print of a sloth and then sell an unexpected amount of them, and at the next meeting we’ll say, Right, we should do more things with sloths. But I also think, when you have all the freedom in the world to paint whatever you want, you just do what makes you happy. And I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful in the world than nature and plants and things like that.
What have been some of the most exciting moments or biggest creative achievements thus far?
Zanna: In business, I think one of our biggest moments came when we did our first calendar pre-order last year. We thought we would probably sell 50 of them, so we put up a pre-order for a month. Then, on the day we had planned to send out all of the calendars, we realized that Harry would have to work at his part-time job, and I was going to have to take all the calendars to the post office on my own without any help.
By then, we’d gotten nearly two hundred pre-orders. And I’m quite small. And the post office is far. And we don’t drive. So we spent all of that Sunday before packing up these orders, and I just remember sitting there that evening and thinking, I don’t even know how I’m going to get them there.
I have this giant fluorescent pink suitcase from when I first went to university, and I remember trying to pack all of these orders into this suitcase that’s bigger than me. Then I had to have another bag of them resting on top of the suitcase. And I had to walk it through Cheltenham High Street, which is like a ten-minute walk. I just remember walking along feeling simultaneously ridiculous and so proud of myself that I had sold this many of something that we weren’t expecting. So that was a pretty big moment for me, I think.
Harry: Working with the Natural History Museum was another huge one for us.
Zanna: That was through Etsy — they did an open call for people to design products with the Natural History Museum and have them sold in their gift shop. We were chosen for that, which was amazing. We got to go up to the Natural History Museum and have a private tour, and then we did three different illustrations and got them printed across seven different products: wrapping papers, notebooks, pocket mirrors, lots of prints, and pencils. It’s always really cool the first time you see your products on the shelves of somewhere that’s actually, like, a big place that lots of people go to.
I know you put a lot of thought into the manufacturers and materials that you work with. Can you tell me a little bit about that, as well?
Zanna: We try to get everything printed in the UK, on recycled papers, and we use a range of different printers. There’s one up in Leeds that’s run by someone only a couple of years older than us, actually. He’s done a really good job of it: Everyone there is paid a living wage. One of our other printers is the greenest printer in the UK, so everything they do is like super-recycled eco-printing.
Harry: Even their inks are vegetable-based. They’re really cool.
Zanna: Our prints are printed on this really nice paper that’s made in a mill in Somerset. When we started, we said to ourselves, Let’s just try to support as many UK small businesses as we possibly can with our UK small business. It’s cheaper, as well, if you don’t have to get stuff sent over from other countries and pay customs and tax.
Harry: Things arrive a lot faster as well. And my dad is the printer for our calendars, so it’s nice to keep some of it within the family.
Will you be experimenting with any new products or processes in the year ahead? What can we look forward to in the next phase of your work?
Zanna: We’ve been making all this new artwork for the last three months and none of it’s online yet; as an illustrator or any kind of artist, you always grow and change and improve, and we feel like all the new work that we’re doing is really the next level of our work.
Harry: We’ve done so many new prints and sets that will be going to print in the next couple of weeks, which will be really nice. And because of the success of our calendar last year, we’ve designed three for this year, which we’ll release in a couple of months. One of them is a risograph calendar; it’s nice to try some different processes rather than getting everything digitally printed.
Zanna: What I’m most excited about is the rainforest calendar we’ve created with Rainforest Concern. They’ve given us information about all the different animals that they help protect, and we’ve tried to incorporate as much of that as possible into each of the illustrations. And ten percent of the profits for the rainforest calendar will be donated to Rainforest Concern. We’ve been wanting to do something like that ever since we started, really. It feels good to finally be managing that. We’re hoping it will raise a lot of money and awareness for them.
Follow Papio Press on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
All photographs courtesy Papio Press.
77 comments
Sue from SuesAkornShop said 4 years ago
I love your shop! Congrats on the feature.
Megan from MegansMenagerie said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Congratulations on the feature!
Francine from HomespunHeartofMine said 4 years ago
Wow...Zanna & Harry...the blending of your talents has created such lovely designs!!! Congratulations on the feature and many blessings for your continued success in the future!!! :D
Lesya Harrison from HappyDollsByLesya said 4 years ago
Adorable shop! Congrats on the feature!
Cathy from msbijouxbeads said 4 years ago
Love the to do lists, great feature!
DeUno from DeUno said 4 years ago
Lovely design themes! Congratulations on the feature!
Barbara Gable from CrazyLovely said 4 years ago
What a great story! Your work is brilliant. Best wishes on the upcoming marriage!
Victoria Rusyn from vintageUKRfamily said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Congratulations on the feature!
Amy Gunderson from amysfunkyfibers said 4 years ago
Loved seeing your process- beautiful work and designs. The best to you and your success!
Georgia from JewelMeShop said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! I love your phone cases! Congrats on the feature!
DivineOrders from DivineOrders said 4 years ago
GLORIOUS! Congrats on the feature. Thank you Zanna & Harry for sharing your creative adventures, wonderful designs and terrific arts with us. - Peace.
Dorothy from JewelrybyDorothy said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Congrats on the feature!
LivingVintage from LivingVintage said 4 years ago
Wonderful story and designs. All the best. Congrats!
Rhonda Stubbs from RhondaCorner said 4 years ago
What great colors and designs. Love your story and your shop. I wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors.
Theresa from whimsy52 said 4 years ago
Beautiful story! Thank you for sharing! Inspiring & romantic story! I favored, tweeted & facebooked! Thank you again for the beauty & upbeat story for all of us to read! Congratulations!
Lemonada Designs from LemonadaDesigns said 4 years ago
Great style and beautiful shop! Congrats and More blessings!
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Congratulations on the feature ♥
Kashuen Collectibles from Kashuen said 4 years ago
I like to do the art work digitally too. Beautiful shop. Congratulations on the feature.
Cassidy L. from DotsAndString said 4 years ago
Wow. What beautiful work! Congrats on the feature!
Sujata from TreasuredMemoryLane said 4 years ago
Lovely designs and beautiful color pallets! Congratulations on the feature!
AnitasPottery.com from potterybyAnita said 4 years ago
Wow, what NEAT stuff! Love that you fill the whole page with designs that really work well with the main subject! CONGRATS on being Featured and wish you much success! ♥♥♥
Mary Jo and Rachael from SouvenirAndSalvage said 4 years ago
How wonderful that you found your inspiration to start up a shop from another Etsy seller! Even better that you get to partner up together and continue this journey as husband and wife soon. Lovely illustrations. Best of luck to you both in all future endeavors!
Teerasak Borkam from TribalAndHarem said 4 years ago
coollllll
Gwynne Collins from DaysLongGone said 4 years ago
I love your art and the colors used in each piece. Beautiful! Congrats on your feature! Thanks for sharing your story, too!
Sherri from ButterflyFeetDigital said 4 years ago
Beautiful work, congrats on your success and your upcoming wedding especially!
Debra Gilstrap from 1225VintageStreet said 4 years ago
Great feature very inspiring and such beautiful work! Much continued success!!
Judy W from JudyHandmadeCreation said 4 years ago
Awesome shop! Congrats on the feature! :)
ClassicMemories from ClassicMemories said 4 years ago
Lovely shop. Congrats on the feature.
accentonvintage from accentonvintage said 4 years ago
Beautiful work! Congrats!
Nicole from KarmaCodeOne said 4 years ago
I enjoyed reading your story ~ You have a lovely shop and style. That ten percent of the profits for the rainforest calendar are donated to Rainforest Concern is terrific ! It says a lot about you and contributes to positive action. Cheers to much continued success :)
Theres from MoonyWool said 4 years ago
Congratulations on your feature!
Michael Robinson from CarvedAccessories said 4 years ago
I like the iPhone cases, they look awesome. keep doing your thing!
Niki from JandEdoodles said 4 years ago
Love your story and all of the thought you put behind each illustration. Congratulations on the feature and all of your success!
TropicalGarden from TropicalGarden said 4 years ago
Beautiful work! Congratulations on the feature!
Alisa from HandStitched100 said 4 years ago
professional ! Congratulations on the feature!
Danielle from DELIAWorkshop said 4 years ago
Your illustrations are gorgeous! Congrats on having your shop featured!!
Anthony and Lori from CraftyGranniesPlace said 4 years ago
We absolutely love your designs! We especially love the message your sending with regard to the Rain Forest....especially the Animals!!! Wishing you the best for the future....
Soap Sista Peters from CHEROKEEWEAH said 4 years ago
Wow! What an awesome story. First, love the gorgeous red hair, love the couple cohesiveness story, love the love and Love those prints! I used to visit the National History Museum as a kid as a school trip, what an honor! Congrats on your feature!
Relly from RelsFindsNapaValley said 4 years ago
Beautiful designs... I love especially the greetings cards.
JOANNA from BUSTANI said 4 years ago
Lovely ! Congratulations on the feature!
Monica from ThreeBarDGifts said 4 years ago
Great story and beautiful illustrations! Congrats on the feature and your lovely shop!
Abby from SweetBloomCA said 4 years ago
Great story and shop, I just love the style of your illustrations! Congrats on the feature, keep up the good work! ~Abby
Renee from RandMhandmade said 4 years ago
Love your story! Congratulations!!
Piper Pixie from PiperPixieDesigns said 4 years ago
Blows my mind that people can do this kind of stuff! W O W!!
Sandra Ankleknits from Ankleknits said 4 years ago
Great story, very inspirational. Your work very beautiful, you guys are so talented!
sewmygoodnessllc from SewMyGoodnessLLC said 4 years ago
I enjoy how many little details you put into your artwork! It's a visual treat! Congratulations!
unflappableproducts from unflappableproducts said 4 years ago
You invest a lot of time and creativity in your work and it shows! Congrats!
jeffgk from anotherspin said 4 years ago
love your intricate designs -great color schemes
renee and gerardo from GTDesigns said 4 years ago
Very cool product - love the uniquely made art that goes into every piece!!!
paula witmer from TrueVintageandMade said 4 years ago
So nice that they value each others opinions! Great art and eco friendly... An inspiration to all Etsy sellers to have this kind of success..
Madeleine Keller from ThoseGoodVibrations said 4 years ago
wow everything is so beautiful!! congrats on the feature! your art is wonderful.
Valentina . from Exclusive72 said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Thanks for sharing.
Olesya Bagriy from BelkaUA said 4 years ago
Beautiful story and shop!!! Congratulations on the feature!
MaryEllen Sick from SincerelyMaryEllen said 4 years ago
Amazing work! Love the iPhone cases!
Monika Moroz from NickoArts said 4 years ago
Congratulations on the feature of your lovely store and much success :)
Melissa Partridge from ColorMelissa said 4 years ago
Love the 2017 Rainforest Calendar!! Your animals are so detailed~LOVE!!
mj gm from artprintscanada said 4 years ago
Lovely shop. All the best.
Tempy from UrbanGreyWhale said 4 years ago
You guys! Congratulations on being featured on Etsy and scoring the natural history museum. I noticed your Papio Press on Instagram a while back... fantastic work!!
Melissa from adorablyimperfect said 4 years ago
Love your designs. You're very talented! Congrats!
Katrina Dzerkale from Dominna said 4 years ago
Foxes and Florals calendar - come to mama !
Hajira Gibb from HajiraKG said 4 years ago
BEAUTIFUL shop. I love every single design in your shop.
Ana R. from ongoodroads said 4 years ago
Very awesome story. I love your work and your style.
Teerasak Borkam from TribalAndHarem said 4 years ago
น่าสนใจ
Book Clutches Store from BookClutchStore said 4 years ago
Love your job and painting ideas! Continue this way :)
Roza Turowska from PERKAdesign said 4 years ago
Absolutely beautiful, love their work. Amazing talents:)
Flair Nouri from FlairPaintings said 4 years ago
I love it!! So creative! good luck with your shop :)
Theresa Grieben from TheresaGrieben said 4 years ago
Congratulations! Your products are beautiful!
Griffin Montgomery from GriffinJoyPhoto said 4 years ago
beautiful art! great feature!
Griffin Montgomery from GriffinJoyPhoto said 4 years ago
So dang beautiful!!
Suzanne Rorick from SRorickArt said 4 years ago
I really enjoyed this featured and the story behind your shop Zanna & Harry. You're both very talented!
Cathy from msbijouxbeads said 4 years ago
Beautiful designs!
Nadia B from BasicKnitwear said 4 years ago
Beautiful and talented people! Congratulations on the feature!
mariam alkaabi said 4 years ago
I LOVE WHAT YOU DO ... CONGRATULATION I want you to help me how to start my shop
Joann Hayssen from JoannHayssenDesigns said 4 years ago
I love your designs and am heading over to do some shopping!
Rosemary Lambert from cardhugs said 4 years ago
It's wonderful how working as a team has really worked for you. Congratulations to you both!
Pamela from CustomWoodWonders said 4 years ago
Amazing work! Congrats!
Renata Sponn Design from Sponndesign said 3 years ago
Very creative! I love IT!