Today I fell in love with a bear. His name is… well, simply, bear… and he’s the handmade creation of New Zealand designer Minu. He looks like he’d be super fun to take on an adventure or snuggle up with at nap time. I’m digging his simple features and contemplative facial expression. As you can see from the picture below, he’s also very good at hide & seek!
Minu is an illustrator, toymaker and artist with a background in commercial design and architecture. She works with various textiles and has a fondness for storytelling. She describes her illustrations as “snapshots of strange and magical stories, triggering shared memories and handing the story back to the viewer for him or her to complete the tale”. I love this idea, as it speaks to the true essence of independent design.
As well as her sublime bears, Minu also creates a range of artwork and accessories. Here are a couple that caught my eye. These prints form part of the Lilu Series and are a limited edition of 26 prints. Each one is hand printed, and signed by Minu. You can also find the Lilu Series in mini stuffed cotton canvas prints, as pictured below.
Minu is based in Wellington, New Zealand but happily ships around the globe.
[...] Many thanks to kidindependent.com for their lovely feature of The Bear Minu… unBEARably smitten! [...]