We were lucky to catch up with Justin Maylone recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Justin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
This is a question I always enjoy sharing. The word Ravnvolk was formed from words of two languages. The Norwegian word for Raven is Ravn, while the German word for folk is Volk. Roughly translates to ‘the people of the raven’. Ravens symbolize wise, all-knowing messengers and often depicted as a bird of prophecy, or protection and help. It was important I convey that message through the name, as it reflects the goal and values behind what I offer in my work. To expand a little on this, the symbol for Ravnvolk portrays a raven masked shaman in a feathered cloak holding a few tools in his hand: a scroll, a chisel, and a pencil. The scroll symbolizes the original form of the book, represents learning, enlightenment, communication, and sacred writings. The chisel represents the ability to hone and shape one’s thoughts and intentions, this is how education shapes the mind. The pencil symbolizes potential and hope, courage for the self, the ability to guide one’s destiny and fate. I’ve always had a deep fondness for symbology and connecting with ancient knowledge and spirituality, my work gives me the opportunity to make tools and aesthetics that others can connect with and convey their own communications.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Ever since I could pick up a crayon, I have sought to create things. I’ve dabbled in numerous different mediums over the years, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so with all of them. I’ve never been a ‘one medium’ sort of person. It just always fascinated me to learn how people express and use their tools and materials to communicate in so many different ways. I eventually settled into a few mediums that really spoke to me, paint and wood. Wood stood out the most because it gave me a chance to build things for myself. I was familiar with it already thanks to my father who had built a number of things during my youth. Fast forward to adulting, I began making my own furniture around my home, and quickly realized I could make things for other people. Combine this reality with my love for symbology and providing something unique to fit people’s needs…boom. One thing that has set Ravnvolk’s work apart from others is how completely bespoke many of the works are. There are many options that help clients pick out exactly what they want for their decor or ritual needs. We don’t stop at ‘here is a finished product’, we want the clients involved so when they open that package, it reflects their tastes and needs in every detail.
Something we are most proud of is our quality. A while back I unintentionally had a chance to compare my work to another’s in this field. I’ll just say, the amount of shortcuts and poor choices really bothered me. It felt dishonest and lazy. When I hand a product over to a client, that is it, that is my word and I stand behind it, all the way. I’ve never sacrificed quality for cheaper wood or poor fasteners, I’ve never, ever considered outsourcing anything for mass manufacturing. The promise I made to myself in quality is a promise bonded to each client.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Oksana and I had slowly gotten to know each other over the years, transforming from acquaintances to friends over great distance via Instagram. We had started talking and collaborating on artworks and photography together. There has always been a lot of common interests and tastes. I have always been a massive fan of her work. Eventually I commissioned her to help me bring my brand’s logo to life, that’s when I could really tell how well we meshed. After some time we realized there was something more here, and we pursued it. We met in Ireland as a sort of middle ground, she is from Ukraine and I am from the US. We had the most incredible time and got engaged there. Now we live together and she is both working on her own illustration studio, as well as supporting artist, pyrographer and creative lead for Ravnvolk. I couldn’t be more proud of how far she’s come with her work, and that I get to witness it first hand.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think a mixture of solid quality, unique custom work, and some incredible influencers/personalities out there. I know our quality speaks for itself, it’s durable and bespoke. As for custom, we’ve done some really fantastic altars, I even did a big custom Ouija board once, that was incredible. And we’ve had a long running practice of working with clients and influencers to represent our work, it’s lead to some super exposure and community support. We wouldn’t be this far if it wasn’t for those three elements combined, honestly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ravnvolk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ravnvolk/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ravnvolk/
Image Credits
Oksana @ Bloomenosta Creations