The New Beginnings Moth enamel pin by Shannon Talbott will be sent out as a special gift to everyone who participated in our Mastermind Group Program this session.
Photo courtesy of Shannon Talbott.
It’s always nice to have a memento from a special experience, a souvenir that can serve as a tangible representation of what happened during a particular period. That’s why we wanted to send a special something to all of our Mastermind Group participants as they finish up the program.
In our second round, we had 72 members in 16 Mastermind Groups! Meeting online every other week, these groups were places of encouragement and vulnerability, companionship, and inspiration. Such a special experience! So we chose a special enamel pin for all participants. This session’s pin is designed by Shannon Talbott and is entitled New Beginnings Moth.
Today, we’re sitting down with Olivia to learn about her process of creating this beautiful pin design.
Here’s Shannon:
Shannon Talbott used to work in the fashion industry in New York City before striking out on her own. “It’s a tough industry with lots of very long work days so it’s maybe not as glamorous as it sounds, but I really loved it,” she says. “Just like with so many other creative fields, there’s something special about being a part of the entire production process and seeing an idea come to life. I’m glad that I started a business where I still get to be a part of seeing my designs come to life, but in a bit of a different way.”
She began her career doing fashion illustration. She shared her sketches on Instagram and some of them caught the attention of a few designers in New York. “I got a few illustration gigs from it and when I moved to Nashville for my husband’s career in music production, I had hoped to expand my career in fashion illustration,” she said. The enamel pins, including the moth, were initially a freebie included in packages that contained prints of her work. “I chose a moth pin because it symbolized a transformation in my life. That pin really resonated with my customers and they ended up wanting more and more pins. Suddenly the fashion illustration work felt out of place and I ended up rebranding myself. I actually feel like my customer base freed me in a way.”
“Once I was able to start being creative without any boundaries, everything really took off for me.”
Talbott says there are certain limitations that come with designing pins and it took some getting used to at first. “With pins, there are limitations to how thin the lines can be and how detailed they can be for the size – all of which I tend to be known for pushing the limits of.”
She had to get used to doing flat illustrations without any shading and being very purposeful with her linework. “I think the advantages are that you can really play around with the details – you can do enamel filled areas, solid metal areas, recessed metal, or even a cut out and play with how to use these in your design. The attention to details can really elevate a design.”
Overall, she says her floral pins are her best sellers. “I spend a lot more time sketching the flower designs than any of the others in an effort for them to look as soft and relaxed as possible for a pin, so I like to think that’s what sets mine apart from the crowd,” she says. Her bug pins also consistently do well and she says this may be because so many people appreciate the beauty of bugs. “Creators often shy away from them because they’re considered to be kind of icky or scary in real life.”
Going forward, Talbott is hoping to bring in lots of new products in 2022 including more jewelry items and perhaps even expanding to clothing, starting off small with hats or beanies, and maybe even bringing in some stationery items, too.
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Thank you so much for this beautiful pin design, Shannon!
