Meet ilka, the pioneering female-founded design studio with sustainability at its heart
Scottish, female-founded studio ilka design takes a unique approach with their clients. “It’s a wee bit like design therapy,” says Lisa Henderson, ilka’s Managing Director. “Trying to get to the problem for a client and how we can help them solve it - while also encouraging sustainable thinking.”
Founded in 2017, ilka are sustainability pioneers in the Scottish design scene. Their story is a perfect beginning for our new Making It Count interview series.
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"Time is precious. FreeAgent has given us time"
Lisa met fellow designer and future business partner Laura Service while studying at Edinburgh College of Art. Life led Lisa off to Melbourne and Laura to Madrid, but eventually brought them both back to the same Scottish design agency. “It was a large organisation, so we were very much pigeonholed into one area. But we were quite holistic thinkers,” explains Lisa.
Recognising their aligned values and design aspirations, Lisa and Laura started working together on side projects, then pivoted to self employment before co-founding ilka studio. The name is a play on the Scottish word ‘ilk’ – because it was “beautiful and felt quite right”.
Having worked in big corporate design agencies, Lisa and Laura realised the types of projects they were most drawn to. “It became apparent that we really did the best work when it was for feel-good, do-good, sort of civic projects,” explains Lisa.
Having the right tools to support running their own business has played an important role for ilka over the years - like FreeAgent, which they’ve been using for more than six years now. “It’s a really great one-stop shop. It really feels like you can take ownership over our finances. We use it every day. Some days more than others, if I'm doing VAT and payroll,” says Lisa.
“Time is precious. FreeAgent has given us time. As a women-owned business and new mums, that has double meaning. FreeAgent is doing the hard work for us so we can focus on what we’re good at.”
Design skills meet sustainable minds
In the early days of the studio, one client in particular had an impact on Lisa and Laura. IndiNature is a Scottish company that produces zero waste construction insulation made from local hemp crops. They introduced ilka to the concept of ‘circular design’ - a process that focuses on creating sustainable products and materials that minimise waste and reduce carbon emissions.
“They really opened our eyes to the impact of what was going on in the world and where we as designers essentially had a real role and a responsibility as creators. I think that was probably the trigger in our business journey…. it sparked our curiosity into circular design principles and what that would mean for a brand designer,” says Lisa.
ilka’s commitment to circular design even led them to partner with Circular Glasgow to create the Circular Hub - a free public exhibition and event to educate the public about bringing circular thinking into their own lives.
Far from feeling restricted by leaving behind large corporate budgets, ilka is driven by the challenges that come with working with smaller and specialist clients. “It's always going to be easier to make a design look good for an organisation that has a huge marketing team and budget,” Lisa admits. “But what happens if you use your design mindset and skillset to elevate the brands that need it the most?”
That values-driven approach meant ilka needed a different growth strategy. Unlike most of their competitors, they don’t chase trophies as a way to acquire new clients. “Instead of design awards, we chose to go for B Corp Certification and invest our money and time into that,” says Lisa.
To be B Corp certified, a company must meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. As part of the process, ilka set up a sustainable pension fund and reviewed all their suppliers to ensure they too lived up to high standards for environmental responsibility and workers’ rights. FreeAgent is among those that made the cut thanks to our positive workplace culture and commitment to sustainability.
Balancing work, maternity leave and family
That’s not to say that there haven’t been challenges. Both Lisa and Laura started families in recent years. The logistics can be complicated, but they’re finding a balance between the demands of running a sustainable design business and those of their families.
Lisa went on maternity leave with her daughter a few years ago, and Laura is now on leave with her first child. The company was able to pay both of them full maternity pay for six months. “I’m super proud of being able to achieve that,” says Lisa.
"Owning my own business, I’m not tied to a desk. That allows me to be with my daughter"
And there were unexpected benefits - Laura’s absence encouraged the ilka team to grow. “We have two new members on the team, Kyle and Martin. It's been so exciting to have them on board. We care about the same things. I think there seems to be a real demand for [what we do] now and a real need for it,” says Lisa.
For ilka, sustainability doesn’t just mean using renewable energy, it also means creating a sustainable work-life balance for their team. “We've really been able to go on a personal journey with it and shape the organisation - all whilst sustaining our lives as well. At the end of the day, me and Laura are both mums now. We want to try to make it as flexible around our lifestyles as possible,” explains Lisa. “Owning my own business, I’m not tied to a desk. That allows me to be with my daughter.”
The value of community
Balancing running a business with family is easier with supportive people around you. Before Lisa moved from Glasgow to Edinburgh, she was part of a strong community of female business owners on the west coast. So when she and her family relocated, she was on the lookout for ways to connect with like-minded women. She reached out to Kylie Reid, the founder of egg, a community for female entrepreneurs and business owners. Connecting women across Edinburgh online and at in-person events, egg has even offered co-working spaces with childcare days to support working mums.
“They're good people, trying to do good things. I think they're great,” said Lisa. “Their co-working and childcare days were a total game changer. I was back at work full time. My partner works for himself as well and we were juggling childcare between us. So having those days, knowing that you've got childcare that you can trust, and you can meet other lovely women at lunchtime to chat about working? Absolutely changed my transition.”
Looking forward, the ilka team will continue to expand their diverse portfolio through collaborating with unique clients across industries. From OneRen - the charitable trust that provides culture, leisure and sport to the people of Renfrewshire - to mental health charity Tiny Changes, ilka continues to empower and educate businesses of all shapes and sizes to make a difference to the planet. “The glue that binds everything is we work with people that are trying to do a bit better, that's all. We're all just trying to do our best, aren't we?”
Photography: Luigi Di Pasquale
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