Discover Germany | Special Theme | Children’s Universe
‘No more losing your stuff’ An innovative idea with a great deal of charm, Sticky & Sweet is a colourful online shop for personalised stickers and iron-ons for children. The sets of multiple items are not only a great gift, but limitlessly useful, as they are dishwasher and laundry safe and will cling to almost any surface including textiles. TEXT: THOMAS SCHROERS I PHOTO: STICKY & SWEET
Formerly working in the movie business, Stefanie Brauer jumped into the business of creating a trendy line of stickers when she tried to find suitable labels for her own daughter. She had imported ones from the United States, but was convinced that she could update the idea. “I had been interested in cool everyday products for kids, that not only serve a purpose, but look great and thus convince children to playfully follow their daily duties for some time.” This duty of course is trying to not lose things all the time. Brauer started her business as a one-woman enterprise, but found great partners for graphic work, illustration, IT
and production. The latter is a challenge because all stickers or iron-ons can be individualised by the customers. Included in the design choices are eight StickyMonster characters and the opportunity to put in your name and telephone number. “In effect, all the products are custom-made, which is complex and one needs to work very precisely,”explains Brauer. ‘Pretty and Useful’ – that is the core idea behind Sticky & Sweet and therefore the different-sized stickers can mark everything from a snack box to a sweatshirt, while being endlessly fun for your children. www.sticky-sweet.de
Keeping your children’s feet healthy
TEXT: NADINE CARSTENS PHOTOS: CLEVERMESS GMBH
To find well-fitting shoes, parents can use the digital measuring instrument Clevermess Kids that precisely measures their children’s feet. Children’s feet are soft and highly flexible. In contrast to adults, toddlers do not feel whether a shoe is fitting or not. Paediatricians and orthopaedic specialists therefore regularly warn of the risk that children’s feet might be permanently deformed if their shoes do not have the right size. To ensure that their loved ones’ feet develop in a healthy way, parents can use Clevermess Kids. This orthopaedic instrument offers an easy method to precisely measure shoes as well as the length and width of feet. Afterwards, parents can put the handy tool into a shoe to automatically check its space. Then, they just have to take a look on the display of Clevermess to find out whether the shoe fits properly. “Our feet carry us around all day, every day. Therefore, it is very important to wear properly fitting shoes from the beginning of our lives,” says Nicole Oberhofer, mother of two and creative mind behind 22 | Issue 51 | June 2017
Clevermess GmbH. Shortly after establishing the company based in Bavaria, Oberhofer and her team started selling their products. Ever since the Clevermess measuring tool was introduced on the market in 2015, the company has been given various design awards. “Our first production batch was completely sold out within three months,” Oberhofer remembers. “Since April, we have been offering an optimised model of our Clevermess measuring instrument. When developing this improved version, we also had our customers’ feedback in mind.” www.clevermess.de
The Clevermess measuring instrument shows the exact size of children’s feet.
How to measure feet and shoes in three steps.