I is for Ilmostro (Interview)

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Interview with Frances, owner of the shop

all images from her site

by Lauren

1. All of your banks are robots, with a variety of designs to make them unique. So why robots?

Quite honestly my original intent was to sell piggy banks with the robot banks as just side items to add a little variety. After weeks of prototypes and testing, the pigs just weren’t working for me and I was coming to my wits end. I decided to take a breather and focus on the robots a bit instead. As soon as I grabbed the first one I saw the potential for a Rosie The Robot and my visions and creativity just snowballed from there. They took over my shop and the pigs well, they were never heard from again.

2. The aforementioned designs include Batman, Jasmine, Snow White, and even Jack Skellington. Do you have a personal favorite? Are customers able to request a specific design not listed on etsy?

 My favorite of all the robots is actually not one of the popular character bots rather the white Rainbow bot. Its simple yet vivd, I absolutely love it. I do take custom requests from customers. they simply need to send me a quick message as I figure out a timeline of when they can expect their robot to be completed. 

3. When should people place their orders so they can get a robot in time for the holidays?

I’m really pushing for customers to place any orders by the 12th of December to guarantee U.S. holiday delivery. Anything after that date will be done with just as much priority but can not be guaranteed to arrive in time.

4. Any ideas for branching out beyond banks?

 I’ve actually been working on a few ideas to sell inexpensive prints that are also character based but that will more than likely still take a few months to prepare. With endless options of robot designs I have yet to create, it may be a while before they agree to share the spotlight but I do feel inspired to branch out into other media in time!