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Hamburg-based illustrator and tattoo artist Ines Häßler, known as Frau Ines, thrives on creative variety, courage, and her local artists community.
“Creative exchange, contacts, and the community factor of the scene are extremely important to me and have had an impact on my career,” says Ines. That scene in Hamburg includes creative projects run by Ines and her local artist’s collective: Hey Du, their art shop and Ines’s tattoo studio, and Live Art Club, their “cheerful, refreshing” drawing classes. “I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't been open enough to everything the city and the people have to offer me over the last few years,” Ines says.
An active artist from a young age, Ines studied a variety of creative professions during her school years before landing on what felt right: design. “But after only a few years of agency experience,” she says, “I realized that my heart was much more attached to what I do outside of working hours and less to working with big brands and clients. So at some point I just had the courage to start my own business and work full time as an artist.”
Learn more about how Ines balances her variety of projects, how customer feedback influences her design decisions, and how Squarespace helps her communicate her brand.
Using creative variety as a motivator
There are a lot of different arms to Ines’s brand operations: from scheduling tattoo appointments, online shop fulfillment, and illustrating new art, to her responsibilities in Hey Du and Live Art Club. For some people, it can be a lot to balance their time and energy between all of those different moving pieces—but for Ines, that variety is one of the driving aspects of her career.
“The variety in my everyday life is what keeps me creative and active,” she says. “The worst thing for me would be to do the same thing every day. I love switching back and forth between different projects, working with different people, and achieving common goals. So, my job always feels like a hobby.”
“But of course it is often challenging,” she acknowledges, “especially in times of pandemic or when several deadlines from different parties come together. This can be really stressful and sometimes too much. Here it is up to myself to find a balance.”
“In the end, however, the feeling of self-realization always prevails,” Ines adds. “Sometimes it's still crazy that I can call what I do a job. But for me it's not just a job—it's a passion.”
Using customer feedback to test new designs
Ines’s designs show up in a variety of ways: from merchandise like prints, mugs, patches, and fake tattoos, to the (very real) tattoos she inks on customers. Between her tattoo shop, her own online store, Hey Du’s brick-and-mortar and online stores, and Live Art Club’s store, Ines has a variety of places to sell her art. So, how does she decide which designs to sell where?
“I always try to find the best possible medium for a design,” Ines says. “Not every design works as a tattoo on the skin and not every tattoo design works as a print. It often depends on the subject and the illustrative detail density. But most of the time it's probably the experience with people that ultimately makes me decide which design works where.”
That experience with her customers is a key part of her process. “Currently, I am in a phase in which I try out different designs with different techniques. At Hey Du, I have the opportunity to get direct feedback from my customers and go into conversation. This is a good chance to test new items. So it often happens that I try out new products or new techniques offline first. If that works well and/or I get requests through the social media channels, I know I can produce a larger print run and put it online.”
Using Squarespace to save time and communicate
For someone who values variety in her creative career, Ines especially appreciates “the variety of tools that Squarespace offers.”
“Having a website—an online business card where people can get information, get in touch, and stay up to date—is super valuable for an artist like me,” she explains. “Through the website I can communicate everything that makes up my brand.”
“That's why the most important features are the ones that are the most important for my customers: a contact form, terms and conditions, the online store, and of course various visual display options—and all that on one platform.”
“With the online store, for example, I love the intuitive backend and the widely thought-out options, like the automatic email notifications after an incoming order or the automatic creation of receipts. It saves me so much time, which I can then use for the creative process.”
Trying to build your own artistic career?
Here’s the advice Ines has for you:
“Be courageous. Courage and self-confidence in your own work is elementary to starting a business at all. Since I started working for myself, I have always listened to my gut and accepted and tried out emerging opportunities, offers, and feedback. Courage always pays off, even if fear or uncertainty holds you back in the beginning. That's how I learned what gets me ahead, what I enjoy, and what is useful for my career.”
“Stay in conversation with other artists—to exchange ideas, to ask questions, to accept criticism, and to take advice from experienced people in the business.”
“Always be diligent. You have to create a lot of junk to eventually create something great.”
Inspired by Ines’s story? Start building your own brand on Squarespace.