Meet Juliana Naso | Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Juliana Naso and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Juliana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a creative person, I was always craving a life with artistic freedom. Moving to the USA made me dive into my creations – the origami lampshades- that I began as a side job in Brazil.

Starting my business was a challenge that put me out of my comfort zone and made me learn and develop new abilities.

The main intention was to balance family life, artistic freedom, and financial income. And bit by bit as the Studio Pleat gets more mature I hope to achieve my goal.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
“LIGHTING SCULPTURES” is how I named my pieces. They are made on-demand in a slow and manual process that requires patience, time, and love. It takes repetition and technic to transform a flat sheet of paper into 3-dimensional form. One of the highlights of Studio Pleat is the modern aesthetic and the use of sustainable materials, such as paper, wood, and LED light.

What sets us apart is that, besides the online products, we also develop exclusive creations: pendants, floor and wall lamps in various shapes and sizes tailored for interior designers’ project needs.

What I’m most proud of is launching the STUDIO PLEAT, just starting something new without knowing the outcome is exciting. All the energy that I put into the process of building the brand, the models, and the photos is an amazing and creative energy and it thrills me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For a week-long visit, I would save two days to visit the museum of fine arts, especially the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building the collection is amazing!

I suggest a slow and relaxed walk around the sculpture garden to take pictures and admire good art, and also have a coffee or even lunch at the museum and the restaurant.

Every time I have a visitor I reserve time to go to the Rothko Chapel, which is my sacred place in Houston. After we could go for a walk around the area have a snack under the huge trees, and then go to the Menil Collection.

The Discovery Green park is a great place for the kids and adults to have fun, on summer time children can play in the splashing water and on the playground so don’t forget their extra clothes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family has always been supportive. However, I have a special gratitude for my brother, Kadu, that was my partner in my first lamp business in Brazil.

Although the news about moving to the USA caught us in the middle of the launching process he kept it all going. In the end, we closed the shop there but this was a great opportunity for me, and I took a lot of learning from this venture.

Since I was not in product sales, I had to educate myself in that field. I always suggest to my creative and artistic friends these two tips:
The books by Seth Godin, especially The practice. I’m a fan of his work and podcast – don’t miss one! It gave me a lot of goods insights and changes of perspectives about sales.

And also an online course by Monica Rodrigues Lima on Domestica is good for those who struggle with pricing their artwork, understanding marketing, and managing the financial part of the job.

Website: www.studiopleat.store

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiopleat/