In Midtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Joelle & Justin Arawjo have created a multi-disciplinary artistic phenomena: Fennec Design.
Together the duo design and create a multitude of thoughtfully hand-printed textiles, prints, and home goods, recently expanding to include hand-crafted jewelry by Joelle. Their print shop and design studio also offers a broad range of services to businesses, individuals, or organizations.
At the heart of their business is their commitment to happy people and a happy planet. They practice this in part through using non-toxic water-based inks, ethically produced apparel and environmentally conscious paper goods for all of their products.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Joelle Arawjo, co-founder of Fennec Design, to chat about their journey thus far.
Â
ECOBAGS:
Sustainability can be challenging for businesses of all sizes, what inspired you and Justin to put people and planet first when starting your business?
Joelle: It’s funny because we both just sort of feel like it’s not something we had to ponder much? We just did it.
The desire to run our business as sustainably as possible was just an extension of how both of us were already living in our personal lives.
It never really crossed our minds that we would do it any other way, so it’s just been a filter through which we made all of our decisions since day one.
ECOBAGS:
From concept to creation, how long do you and Justin, on average, spend on a collaborative piece?
Joelle: We tend to be expedient and pretty prolific. There have been times where we’ve gone from sketch to final product listed on the site in two days. Sometimes it may take a week or more, it mostly depends on how many different things we are juggling that week.
As an illustrator I tend to like to draw in big concentrated blocks, and so will usually finish an average sized piece in 1-2 sittings. Because we do all of our production, photography, and website management in-house we can operate like a pretty well oiled machine.
What has been the most challenging?
Joelle: We really enjoy finding ways to cut down on waste that are creative in nature! Things like our Mystery Box project that use up our leftover inventory and supplies.
Or our Recycled Ink Special which we offer to custom print clients where they get a discounted print rate for shirts that use an ink color that we make from combining together all of our leftover inks into a single tub.
We run misprint sales where customers can acquire slightly misprinted items at a discount and then we donate stuff like hoodies and sweaters to a group that gives them to the unhoused during the colder months.
We also work hard on the sourcing side to make sure our packaging and supplies have an eye toward sustainability in production whenever possible. It can be frustrating when we can’t find the right thing at the right price point but we try to relish the challenge.
I’d say what we find most challenging is actually the limitations of our printing process. As a print shop we specialize in working exclusively with water-based screen printing inks which are much better for the planet and the printer, but they also come with a unique set of disadvantages as they are fussy to work with and require a real learning curve to print with at a high level.
It’s always felt like a worthwhile trade off to us, but there are days (especially dry days in winter) where Justin is muttering under his breath because ink keeps drying in his screens.
ECOBAGS:
Fennec Design has taken some exciting steps this year, including expanding your team to include a third set of hands in the print shop.
Are there any fun new projects on the horizon for 2025 that you’d like to tease?
Joelle: It’s funny because we actually brought someone on to help because we knew that 2025 is going to be a different kind of year for us.
I’ve been dealing with ongoing issues with both of my arms due to congenital abnormalities in my spine. As you can imagine it isn’t great to be struggling to grip a pencil or work for long stretches of time in my line of work, and so I will be undergoing the first of a series of surgical interventions in the first quarter of the year.
Knowing that I would need to take a step back to convalesce (three months of bedrest, woof!), we brought on an extra set of hands to help.
While it isn’t exactly the way I’d hoped to grow or what I imagined for our business in the new year, it’s been a real lesson for us in learning to be flexible and to make space to rest in the midst of the chaos.
Right now our big project is making sure we have systems in place so I can step back while the business stays healthy and functioning, but we are hoping we can build on those changes once I’m back to do even bigger and better things!
Â
