I love my shop
AMY CROW RUNS FORGE FORWARD, A VIBRANT BOUTIQUE AND EVENT SPACE FOR DESIGN LOVERS.
Where is it? 709 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, Queensland.
Describe Forge Forward in a sentence. Forge Forward is a contemporary design space in Brisbane that hosts local and international creatives with a graphic design focus.
What goes on there? We’re predominantly a boutique retail store that stocks independent artists and designers. We also run workshops and events with creatives. (Our favourite thing to do is hold events like our MINI MALL market, where we pack out the space with stuff from local makers.) Every so often, we host feature artists who take over a wall and a window, display their work instore and run workshops. Forge is also home to my hair salon, LOST SALON.
Talk us through your products. We love apparel (I design all of our in-house clothing ranges) and prints, whether they’re digitally printed, screen-printed or risographed. We stock small gifts like candles, sticker packs, pins, patches, keyrings, accessories and jewellery. And we also produce our own semi-regular newspaper, FORGE WORLD, which is my pride and joy. We encourage creatives to submit written pieces around themes of mental health, self-growth and development. I love laying out people’s submissions, and I love the back page of the newspaper, which is full of fake advertisements that my friend writes and I design.
Tell us about the space. It’s always changing, and most of the furniture is on wheels for that reason. Having a modular space means more flexibility and the ability to house different work, artists and events. Even though I’m an artist, murals don’t work for me, so a lot of the art on the walls are paste-ups that I design and can easily update or add to.
What were the biggest challenges of setting up shop? When I first started, I had a very different business model, which wasn’t as sustainable as our current model. The decision to engage directly with independent artists and designers to buy their work has proven to be more effective. Other challenges included attracting the right audience, and it took some months to bring the design personality into the space. We repainted the furniture and it immediately became a place for creatives.
What’s your personal connection to design? I’m a multidisciplinary creative who combines illustrative skills with design to create a range of products. One of my brands is FUTURE = FEMALE (a staple at Forge), which I began at the end of 2017. It started off with a few shirts I screen-printed in my garage, then people started messaging me to buy them. They’d deposit the money and I’d drive around Brisbane delivering t-shirts. From there, I started running small pop-ups stocked with friends’ products. I found out I was good at selling work for other creatives, and it made me really excited to see fellow designers make money from their efforts.
What do you love most about the shop? That it’s a happy place. Everyone who comes in immediately smiles, and I like that their experience is a joyful one. Our mission is to have fun.
Any plans for the future? I’ve had a RISO printer for most of the year and am excited to set it up as a service for artists to use.
What’s the best thing about what you do? Flexibility and creativity. There’s no one above me telling me what I can and can’t do. If I want to make something for the space, I can; if I want to change something that isn’t working, I do.
Where can we find out more? Online at forgeforward.co or on Instagram at @forge.forward.