meet the maker: anabela of fieldguided (& 5 questions)

It must be a given by now that everyone is pretty familiar w/ the highly seen everywhere totes by toronto brand fieldguided, & now anabela & geoff have just released two much  anticipated new totes, along w/ an amazing new lookbook (probably no surprise i  i am a big fan of the beautiful inked model too).

 please  check out the new leonard cohen tote & zodiac symbols on marble tote in their bigcartel shop, before they all sell out. 

all q+a c/o anabela, all photos c/o fieldguided, model c/o lynlea combot, photos c/o effie watt 

what is your occupation?

I work in a library by day.

what is your astrological sign?

Capricorn.

what is your spirit animal?

I took an online quiz that said swan ("Swans are idealistic, open-minded, and passionate") and I like the sound of that so I'll go with swan! 

why is supporting independent makers/designers so important to you personally?

So many reasons! First of all, as Brooke said before, buying things is inevitable in this style of economy, wouldn't the world be so boring if the only options we had were big-box stores and the mall? Others have said it before me, but independent makers and designers usually do their best to source materials that are of the highest quality and ethically sound. I really resent that so much of what we consume is so mysterious, and I resent that we are often tricked into buying things we don't want in our lives (e.g. "nature" being slapped on the label of a beauty product that is made of 98% toxic chemicals). There just seems to be so much more transparency in the independent world, and I really respect people who do their best to share their unique talents with us. I could prattle on!

can you explain in some detail the process for making your pieces?

There isn't too much to it... one of us will have an idea, we'll talk about it, sit on it for a few months, and then finally one day sit down with InDesign or Photoshop or a piece of paper and sketch it out. Sometimes a design will come immediately, sometimes it will go through draft after draft. Once we have a screen, Geoff prints our totes on our dining room table. That's about it!