Titimadam - 70 retailers and a Saatchi commission in eight months

Jewellery makers Titimadam are a great testament for how hard work and focus can create opportunities. Partners Tiina Hakala and Adam Rowe, who started Titimadam when still in Uni, have bagged a total of 70 retailers around the world for their distinctive acrylic jewellery and a commission for Saatchi Gallery's Middle Eastern Exhibition in just eight short months.

"We've had no actual PR. It's just been word of mouth - and going to lot of trade shows", Tiina Hakala reveals.

The idea of the acrylic jewellery first started when Hakala and Rowe discovered a new laser cutter at their campus. They experimented with different designs and concluded that animals were something everyone loved and could relate to.

"We all either eat animals or have them as pets, so we all have some type of connection to them." Hakala explains.

The animals were very well received and Hakala's direct approach, sending proposals to shops and selling at trade shows and at the Brick Lane Market, worked wonders. What started as a small student venture with the help of a small loan, grew into a proper business.

Titimadam has also enjoyed a fair amount of publicity in Hakala's native Finland with features in Finnish Elle and Image magazine. And then there is the Saatchi commission.

"We sell our jewellery in the ICA shop and that's where the manager of Saatchi Gallery's shop spotted our work. We were commissioned to design jewellery with Arabic letters for Saatchi's shop as a part of their current Middle Eastern art exhibition".

The busy duo is not quite finished there. Next in the agenda is to create more animal inspired interior products: mirrors, chandeliers and lamp shades. It's safe to say; watch this space.

Enquiries:
http://www.titimadam.com
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk