Hello, my name is Melanie.
Where I come from: I was born and raised in beautiful Quebec City in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. My father is an entrepreneur and comes from a rural environment. He’s a very hard worker, factual and pragmatic man. My mother worked in a hospital before deciding to be a stay-at-home mom. She went back to school in her forties and she’s worked since then. She’s human-centered and very socially outgoing. Both my parents are creative people in their own way.
School: I never felt quite comfortable there… I always felt somehow like I was a misfit. Sitting down and listening to theories have put me to sleep more than once. Despite that, I graduated from the Cegep de Ste-Foy in Quebec City with a degree in Industrial Design, and from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) with a BA in Environmental Design. At that time Industrial Design felt like the only career I could choose because the profession is a mix of creativity, business and pragmatism.
And I think that’s pretty much what defines me: a pragmatic creative.
Dream. Plan. Take Action. Enjoy. Repeat.
Work: Over the last 15 years I have focused my talents on working in the electronics and consumer goods manufacturing industries as an industrial designer. In 2005 I co-founded a design firm with my good friend Marie from FoodNouveau. We had great hits and we made some not so great decisions. After four and half years in business we decided to let go. We could say this venture was somehow a failure. Sure enough, this was a truly intense adventure and an eye-opening experience that I am not ashamed of. But it was a learning path to something better.
Now what? As an industrial designer I truly appreciate having the opportunity to imagine and create objects that I and others will see, feel, touch and use. However, like the majority of designers working with manufacturers, I am part of a whole that includes various people. At the end of the day the mass-produced pieces we design tend to be the result of compromises. While I still enjoy my profession I couldn’t ignore that internal voice, my growing hunger to create objects on a more intimate scale.
I guess life has its ways.
I was about to have my second child shortly after shutting down the company. My husband had to quit his job and found a new one in Toronto. So we moved from Quebec City to the greater Toronto area in the Spring of 2010 with our 4-year-old boy who spoke only French and our 4-week-old baby boy (yahoo!).
Listening to that voice and capturing my passion to create without compromise became a necessity as I was on my maternity leave in this new town. I have always loved creating and making things with my hands. My first solo entrepreneurial experience, and my first true job, dates back to when I was 16 years old. I created and sold dried flower decorations to boutiques. Yeah, it was trendy back then ;)
The name I chose for this new business, “Melanie Saucier à la maison” (it means “Melanie Saucier at Home”), is a bit of a running gag. I’ve been living a business lifestyle most of my adult life. Not so long ago my friends could easily picture me mixing drinks and talking design and business, but few could imagine me staying at home with kids, mixing fabrics and sewing. And my husband would probably add, “And she was such a terrible cook.” Anyone who knows the story of my carrot purée would agree…
Now that my passions revolve around photography and textile, I’ve come to develop a collection of Handcrafted Home Décor. Everything I create is based on my photography. What’s important to me in my work now is: Authenticity. Freedom. Flexibility. Humanity. Random creativity. Discovery. Experimentation.
And most of all: Being in love with what I do every single day.
I hope you’ll find something in my store that you think is useful and beautiful.
For more information about the collection, click here. For more information about my industrial design services, click here.
(Version française à venir)
