Sarah, could you tell us a bit about your business?
S: I’m the founder of Evermore London. I started the business about ten years ago, which feels like a lifetime ago. We make and sell candles, incense, soaps and diffusers. We’re sold globally, in lots of independent shops in the UK, as well as in the US, and we’re about to launch in China. Everything is made and packed by hand by our team downstairs. We have a big focus on sustainability and craftsmanship.
How did the business start? How did you get into making fragrances and candles?
S: It all happened by accident. I was working in a corporate environment and wanted to do something more creative. I bought a candle-making kit online and was shocked by how bad the ingredients were. I did some research and made it my mission to create more natural and sustainable products. It went from there.
Ric, tell us about your design practice...
R: I started POST just before Sarah started Evermore. I actually begged her not to quit her job when I set up the studio because I wanted one of us to have a regular salary, but she didn’t listen. It all worked out though. I’d worked at a number of different studios across London, helped build a team at my last job, and then decided to do it for myself. We’ve been going for just over 11 years now. We work across brand identity, publishing, signage, art direction and digital design. We’re a typography-led studio with a focus on clarity, craft and purpose. We try to articulate all of that as beautifully as possible.
What’s it like running these two different businesses under one roof? Do you collaborate, and if so, how?
S: We do collaborate, but we try to keep things as separate as we can. We’re in the same building and quite close to each other, but we do our own thing and try not to overlap too much. That said, we do cross-pollinate with clients, which is really handy. If we have a private-label client for hotels, restaurants or brands that needs design services, we pass them over to Ric. Likewise, Ric might have a client looking to develop a fragrance and he’ll hand them over to us. It works nicely.
R: There’s been more of that cross-pollination in recent years. We try to keep it as professional as possible. It’s very easy when you work together as a couple to start talking about home stuff - what’s for dinner, have you done the shopping - but the staff don’t want to hear that, so we have to rein it in!
S: We keep that to a minimum. We’re in the same space but on opposite corners - we couldn’t be further apart. Is that by design?
R: By design, of course.
Sarah, tell us about your favourite scent that you’ve created.
S: My favourite is Ember. It’s a really bass-heavy, enveloping scent with spicy notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. It feels quite Christmassy without being overly seasonal, so it’s nice to use all year round. It’s a cosy scent, perfect for dark evenings when you want to hunker down. It’s also one of our best sellers.
Rick, what's a favourite project you’ve worked on.
R: Publishing projects are still really important to us as a studio. They’re not the most profitable, but they’re the ones everyone wants to work on the most. We were lucky enough to be commissioned by the Norwegian Tourism Board to create a coffee table book about North Norway. Over three or four years we made multiple trips with a photographer and writer, met people, visited places, and crafted a narrative and journey through the whole region. The result was a 400-page hardback book that won a couple of awards last year. It wasn’t the goal, but it’s a nice accolade to have.
Could you both tell us a little about the clothes you picked? What drew you to them?
S: We’re both drawn to earthy, neutral tones - we’ve both gone for brown today. I love this T-shirt. The quality is excellent, it’s really thick cotton with a relaxed, loose fit, and I like the high neckline. I’m also really into dark indigo denim at the moment, worn with the sleeves rolled up.
R: This is such a nice fit for spring. As I said, I like everything to be utilitarian. I could wear this casually in the office or under a jacket for a meeting. It’s funny — I’m almost buying clothes now with the idea that Sarah will probably borrow them. We’re sharing quite a lot at the moment, so I’m sure she’ll end up wearing this too.
