Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Sauer.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always believed in the influence of good design. Guten Co. was started after I finished art school to see if I could use my hard skills to make a living producing well-designed items. I started small with producing lines of ceramics and through many changes, a few different cities, and a handful or workspaces, the business steadily grew. Now after five years in business, I have been able to scale production, grow my team and reach more people with Guten Co. products. The constant push to create new work while maintaining current demand keeps my design skills, creativity, and level of craftsmanship sharp.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I run into unexpected challenges daily! Since Guten Co. is a multidisciplinary studio, you never know who is going to inquire about a specific project you haven’t tackled before. But beyond daily challenges, the greatest struggle has been scaling a business that was built as a one-woman artist operation. When you’ve built a brand around items that are all made by the designer, it’s difficult to decide how to stretch your production capacity beyond what one person can achieve in one day. I found that bringing on production assistants and training them in the specific techniques I use has opened Guten Co. up to so many more exciting opportunities that I could never have delivered on without those extra hands.
Please tell us about Guten Co.
Guten Co. offers well designed usable ceramic items for the home and wearable ceramic jewelry. We are proud of the consistency of the goods we put out as well as their quality and longevity. The brand is known for a clean, minimal aesthetic with a limited color palette of matte neutrals and pops of blue and terra cotta. We love to use design elements like handles and spouts to create unexpected silhouettes and exaggerated forms on our usable pieces. People usually smile when they see a hairpin mug or earring style that we’ve made because it’s not something they’ve seen before – and that’s such a fulfilling feeling!
What is one of the proudest moments of your career?
It took me two years for Guten Co. to be my full-time job. The day I quit all my night and weekend jobs and it registered that I had built something that fully supported me, I was incredibly grateful and proud.
Pricing:
- Ceramic pieces, price range $28- $118
- Ceramic earrings, price range $68-$82
Contact Info:
- Website: www,gutenco.com
- Phone: 830-456-6661
- Email: sarah@gutenco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gutenco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gutenco/
Image Credit:
Guten Co.
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