2019 // Our Year in Review

2019 // Our Year in Review

We know it’s February so perhaps we’re a bit late to the party with a year in review. However, after spending a long January (does it get longer every year?) working on Neon Gray’s plans for 2020, we realised how important it is to reflect on what we accomplished in 2019.

Firstly...

In February we wanted to start the year fresh so we spruced up our studio a wee bit. This turned out to be super handy later on as we launched more and more new products throughout the year.

Before in Autumn 2018

On the Neon Gray Blog - Our Studio in Autumn 2018

After in February 2019

Neon Gray Blog - Neon Gray studio display

In April the sun came out for a wee bit and we had one of the busiest months in our studio, so many of you popped in to say hello. We even had the studio door open which by Scottish standards is a BIG deal.

We kicked off our summer with our first ever Neon Gray Giveaway in June and we had a tremendous response to it (who doesn’t love a freebie!). In the end, Louise and Elaine each took a set of our 4 coasters and 4 placemats. Thanks to all who entered, shall we do another one in 2020?

Neon Gray Blog - Neon Gray Giveaway competition

In July we had our first mini-heatwave in Scotland and we also launched four new designs which had been requested by quite a few of you, specifically our East End and Southside Flat designs. They were a hit and went on to be one of our best sellers throughout the year.

Neon Gray Blog - east end flat new designs

In August we had a fun weekend in London and I fell in love with the cute streets of Chelsea.

Neon Gray Blog - Chelsea flats london

After all the fun in the summer, we headed off to Skye for some downtime, stopping off to visit some of the locations we’ve used for our collections including Rannoch Moor and Glencoe. I loved the mesmerising sand at Staffin Beach.

Neon Gray Blog - Staffin Beach

In September we got all our new coasters and placemats into the shop, did any of you grab one?

Neon Gray Blog - new design doon the watter kelpies

In October we asked you guys for feedback on what you would like to see from us and calendars were one of the most popular suggestions. So we started planning them with a target to release them by Christmas!

Neon Gray Blog - Calendar design

For Halloween, we also got slightly obsessed painting pumpkins in our signature colours and decorated the studio in spooky pastels.

Neon Gray Blog - Halloween Pastel Pumpkins

Some of you might have noticed that for the month of October we took part in Sam Burgess’ Small & Mightly Instagram Challenge. It was great to share all the stories and adventures behind Neon Gray. If you want to check them out please head over to our Instagram.

As the end of the year approached we had our calendar design ready for November and a lot of you lovely people pre-ordered them for your Christmas gifts.

Neon Gray Blog - Calendar design neon gray

On November 17th our studio turned one! It was such a milestone for us and we had a 20% sale event to celebrate. You can read more about it on our post here.

Neon Gray Blog - Neon Gray's first birthday.

We wrapped up November with a BALTIC weekend at the Etsy Made Local Fair in the Briggait. Despite losing feeling in our wee toes we had lots of fun getting to meet new customers and catching up with a lot of our old ones.

Finally...

In 2019 alone we welcomed over 3000 customers from all over the world including the USA, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy, Finland, South Africa, Switzerland, Egypt, China, Denmark, Israel, Australia, Taiwan, Austria, Sweden and Thailand. 

In fact, we had such a hard time keeping track of you guys that we decided to track you all with our Neon Gray visitor map which is displayed proudly on our studio wall.

Neon Gray Blog - Neon Gray's shop map

Neon Gray Blog - Neon Gray's shop map

Throughout the year you guys sent us so many lovely words that left us with a wee lump in our throats:

"I have given these as gifts to friends & family - everyone has loved them!"

"Always receive the best quality products and Lesley's customer service is the best”

We’ve decided that the best thing about 2019 was the support and love we received from our customers who have shopped with us both online and in our studio. You guys are THE best and because of you all, we can continue to create fun-retro inspired products in 2020!

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