Local Label Love: Wallfry

Picture this – the perfect nursery or play room for your little one, the centrepiece being some original artwork hanging on the wall designed by Melbourne mum-of-three Kylie Jackson. If you haven’t seen these cute and colourful “wall art for small fry” prints, then have a peek. Picture perfect.

Name & business: Kylie Jackson, WallFry

What do you create? I create art for children’s spaces. We have a range of bold, modern prints and offer customers the option to customise their artwork to co-ordinate with their space.

WallFry’s woodland animals with quotes

When did you start? I first started painting artwork for children back in 2008 when I was pregnant with my first child. We were living in Dubai and couldn’t find anything suitable so created my own. Not long after that WallFry was born and it has grown from there to become hugely popular.

Your wall prints are colourful, cheerful and/or inspirational. Tell us a little about your creative process: In the beginning I was hand painting all my designs on canvas, so there was a lot of waiting for paint to dry before being able to move on to the next step. Now I sketch each design by hand and scan it into the computer where I am able to digitally colour it and add all the finer details. It’s a bit of a mixed bag trying to pinpoint exactly where the inspiration comes from. Most of the time I have ideas for my own children’s rooms or for a friend’s child, and I will create something for them based on that. Other times I have designs in my head for months before I finally get a spare moment to sit down with the sketch book – and it takes a while to make it from sketch to finished design. There are a couple more Australian animals still sitting in the sketch book waiting to be made into finished prints. One day it will happen!

WallFry’s world & Australia map prints (set of 2)

What’s the best thing about having your own business? Being able to do something that you love for a living. I have such wonderful customers who send me photos of their amazing rooms with the artwork in place and find it so rewarding and humbling.

The worst? Long hours and a lot of work, but I am not complaining and wouldn’t trade the flexibility for anything.

What’s been your greatest achievement? WallFry has been featured in lots of publications and websites which is always great! I do always also feel proud to have been able to go from being a pregnant mumma painting some pictures for her new baby to the success that WallFry has become.

Australian animals feature in some of WallFry’s latest designs

Do you have a favourite print? I will always love the safari animals and dog series of prints because they were among the first designs and still so popular. I am also really loving the Australian animal series with meaningful messages I have recently released. I think these ones will have to go on my baby girl’s wall.

What is the most popular with customers? The inspirational typography series is hugely popular because it co-ordinates with pretty much any style of decorating and the colours are fully customisable. It really appeals to a wide range of people. The world and country maps are also a great seller, maps are very on-trend and people love being able to combine appealing artwork/décor with something a little bit educational.

Children’s decor and bedroom styling ideas feature prominently on social media, websites and in magazines. What are your suggestions for updating the look of a child’s room on a budget? Consistency tends to be the key to any great design – you don’t have to purchase heaps of expensive items to make it work. It can just be a matter of co-ordinating colors that you carry throughout the space. DIY is always great too if you are that way inclined or have the time. My best tip though is to purchase timeless items that will grow with your child. This takes the cost out of having to redecorate every couple of years as your child gets older. One of the philosophies of WallFry’s designs is to have artwork that will appeal to babies, children and adults. Artwork that is cute without being ‘cutesy’.

The modern alphabet & numbers prints by WallFry

What’s next for WallFry? I am always designing new prints and series, so you can expect to see a few different WallFry products launching in the next few months. We also have a couple of other ideas in the pipeline – we have written and illustrated a children’s book, for example, so we are finalising that before we approach publishers.

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