I design a beautiful custom print of your family tree to help you celebrate family ancestry. Your order contributes to two donations: £5 goes to Fertility Network UK to support those struggling to start or grow a family, and another £5 goes to National Trust to plant a tree for the generations to come.
– COMMITTED TO FAMILIES –
Because each family is unique, I believe that each family tree design should be unique too. I allow the characteristics of your own family – such as the number of generations, the number of family members in each generation, and how everyone is connected – to create a distinct pattern with branches, foliage and animals. This family tree makes a thoughtful sentimental and keepsake gift for so many occasions: wedding, anniversary, new home, new baby, new parent or grandparent, birthday, mother’s and father’s day, sympathy… There are countless moments to cherish and celebrate family ancestry. I also believe that everyone has the right to the support and choices needed to start a family of their own. So I donate £5 of every custom family tree order to Fertility Network UK, who are there for people experiencing fertility problems. They were there for my partner and I during our challenging journey through egg sharing. We are now the proudest parents of the cheekiest three boys (including identical twins), and have helped make another couple happy with the arrival of their twins! We were incredibly lucky but we know that for many, the journey towards starting or growing a family can be very trying with little emotional, practical and financial support as they navigate their limited options.
– COMMITTED TO TREES –
The family trees I design are inspired by my own observation and awe of trees, their structures, and their social lives. I find it incredible that as trees age, expanding their trunks, branches and foliage, they witness and nurture our society's generations, past present and future. It's also wonderful to recognise the social life of trees, how they grow as a family and community (forests), looking after the youngest and most vulnerable trees around them through their root systems and the vibrations and scents they emit. We have so much to learn from trees and how they thrive as families, and we have so much to be thankful for as they enrich our ecosystems for the generations to come. So I donate another £5 of every custom family tree order to the National Trust, which is enough to help the charity plant one tree. Trees contribute the oxygen we need to survive, they also improve air quality, reduce flood risk, provide a rich habitat for wildlife, help control climates, and future-proof the wellbeing of our future generations.
– HOW IT ALL BEGAN –
The first spark of an idea for this shop probably goes all the way back to 2012 when I designed a family tree print as a Christmas present for my dear grandparents. I come from a massive family. Creating a tree for 27 great aunts and uncles, 10 aunts and uncles, 61 cousins, and 5 brothers and sisters was no easy feat. I also come from a family of designers. My grandmother was a fashion designer, both my parents were interior designers, and my brothers and sisters are a creative mix of graphic designers, architects, fashion designers, animation designers and film directors. And finally my parents believed in re-wilding approaches, so my siblings and I spent a lot of our childhoods armed with the freedom to explore, connect with and draw inspiration from nature wherever we lived and travelled. So I put two and two together. I drew on my love of family, my observation of trees, and my talent for designing complex visualisations to create Design My Family Tree. The idea has been mulling over in my head for a few years, and I eventually decided to set up shop in 2018!
– MORE ABOUT ME –
This shop is a little pet project that I am very passionate about. The rest of my time I work as a social designer, innovator and charity director, creating or amplifying interventions for complex social and environmental challenges. I live in a lovely little 100-year-old cottage in Greenwich, London with my wonderful husband and three little boys. Our neighbourhood is surrounded by beautiful ancient woods.
– PARTNERS –
Fertility Network UK: A charity for anyone who has ever experienced fertility problems.
National Trust: A UK conservation charity that looks after nature, beauty and history for all to enjoy.
Eltham Digital: An independent family-run quality printing business.