An interview with Made of Tomorrow founders
by Matt Genefaas
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It’s been a while since we’ve given an update and we’ve done quite a bit recently; we’ve moved cities, got a puppy and started building a house! A big hello to new followers that have recently become a part of the Made of Tomorrow family - we truly appreciate all of you. We get asked lots of questions about our business and how it all works so we gathered up the most frequent questions and answered them all here for you to have a read!
Photography by Caleb Walsh
When and how did Made of Tomorrow come about?
Dan and I started Made of Tomorrow in 2015. We have both always been passionate about homeware we had all of this creative energy and decided to apply it to designing a range of homeware products. The products that we designed were simple things that we both wanted to have in our own home. From there we continuously developed new ranges, trying different things and designing lot’s of different products. Made of Tomorrow really found its feet in recent years, and it felt like our brand had really grown up and matured.
What’s your design process and is there anything you do to help to get the ideas rolling?
New designs and items that get added to our range are always things that we have been thinking and talking about for months, sometimes years before we launch them to the market. We always think about sustainability when designing new products for our range. Like what unique material can we use that is recycled, recyclable or made to last. We design products in 3D software to see how it will look in a room. Then we work with our local manufactures to make samples, and work out any kinks or production issues that come up. We often have to have new tooling made specifically to make our FOLD range products. While all this is happening we will be busy shooting collection images for it, including building the sets that we need and then it all comes together and we launch it! And of course the full production is made in New Zealand too.
Any advice you would give to someone thinking of starting a brand?
Make sure you are passionate about what you choose to do because it makes design/ideas come a lot more organically. Surround yourself with supportive people, and get creative, don’t be afraid to make mistakes just try lots of things, you never know what will be the next big hit if you don’t try.
What’s your favourite feature in your Made of Tomorrow diaries?
Hands down, the fact that they are made using recycled coffee cups. It’s a world's first! Each diary is made from at least five coffee cups and diverts them from going to landfill.
What’s the favourite part of your day?
Dan: I love packaging up and sending the orders! There is something super satisfying and therapeutic about it that I enjoy and look forward to doing it every day!
Matt: The thing I enjoy doing most is working on the content creation and imagery. When we shoot campaigns sometimes we need to build custom made sets and props. I love the trip to Bunnings to get all the wood we need and painting everything.
What is something not that many people know about you or your brand?
People are often surprised to learn that we do (almost) everything ourselves - just the two of us! We build, style and shoot all of our own campaigns, design every product and create and manage all our creative strategies and marketing. We don’t physically make our products ourselves; we leave that to the experts! But everything else in-between!
Matt: I love our FOLD Arch Planter boxes. They are so practical, I love the arches and having plants in the house makes any room better.
Dan: Anything brass!
You are building a house?
We are indeed! In the final days of 2020 we secured a piece of land on the Tauranga harbour. We have been busy working with architects and builders and are patiently waiting for the finally pieces to fall into place then it will be all go! We hope to move in just before Christmas this year (2021). Of course we will be documenting the whole process, you can follow our dedicated instagram here @madeoftomorrowbuild
And there is a new member of the team?
I’m unsure if she increases our productivity or distracts us but Billie, our beautiful little Frenchie is the latest member of our team/family! We got her in November 2020 and she is the sweetest little thing and she has changed our life. She loves the beach and loves to eat absolutely anything that she can get her paws on. You can see some more pictures of billie on her instagram (yes, she has her own page…) @billiefrenchbullie
