About Friendly Folk
Here at Friendly Folk, we believe good design should be accessible to everyone and that color makes life better.
Why shouldn’t your everyday objects give you a boost of dopamine? We create jewelry & home goods for people that crave more color and beauty in their surroundings. Each design is rooted in research and a passion for amplifying the beauty of the smallest things. We’re obsessed with fusing nature, folk art, and midcentury design to create products you can’t find anywhere else.
Every piece is designed by us from our Los Angeles headquarters, and never rushed, creating a curated collection we believe in.
Our goal is to create unique pieces that can be treasured for years and years, high in quality and design, and at an accessible price. We value craftsmanship and stand by every piece we make.
Friendly things made by and for friendly people.
We love our customers so we believe in transparency and working together. We know good design is never made alone, and we value the power of community. We’re always welcoming feedback to make the very best things we can.
Every purchase helps fuel our passion to design and create more exciting things, so thank you so much for your support!
About Our Founder
Valerie Schwarz is obsessed with design. She studied Character Animation at CalArts, where she later dropped out to start her 10 year career in cartoons at her first job as a Background Designer on DuckTales. Since then, she’s Art Directed and designed for major animation studios and projects.
Also obsessed with learning new things, Valerie ventured into creating physical products based on her illustrations, and in 2019 the concept for Friendly Folk was born. She took her decade of animation design experience and translated it into a line of things she wish existed. The color and toy-like nature of her work is informed by her career in children’s entertainment, love of German Erzgebirge toys, and obsession with folk art (especially from her Polish roots!).
After managing teams of artists within large creative companies, she grew to love management and discovering how to conduct business better. Dedicated to creating empathetic, collaborative, human-first work cultures and understanding the powerful impact this has on creative innovation, she’s committed to expanding Friendly Folk to be the friendliest business in town.
Want to work together on making something great? Valerie (and Friendly Folk) are available for collaboration and would love to hear what you’ve got cooking! You can reach out to us here or send an email on over to the address below.
:)