“We design and make homewares for people who love the wild outdoors”
Superfolk is an Irish design studio established in 2011 by the husband and wife team of Gearoid Muldowney and Jo Anne Butler. Our studio is based in County Mayo, in the west of Ireland where we live with our three young children.
Our lives are rooted in the wildly beautiful landscape of the west coast of Ireland. The rich, raw colours, textures, and patterns of each season are woven into everything we do and create. This connection and respect for the environment inspires and informs how we live, raise our family, and work. Everything is created slowly and thoughtfully with an understanding that we are nature, not separate from it.
To know, to love, to protect is a guiding principle in all that we do. We use our skills as designers to share the beauty and cleverness of our natural world. We do this in a bid to push others to get outdoors and ultimately to be moved to protect our natural environment.
OUR TEAM
Our studio and workshop are led by Jo Anne Butler, an artist and trained architect and Gearoid Muldowney, a designer and maker.
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Designer, born in 1983 in Ireland. Lives and works in the west of Ireland.
The founder of Superfolk Gearóid Muldowney is a skilled designer with a strong understanding of materials, craft and manufacturing processes.
He holds a degree in Craft Design from the National College of Art and Design, Ireland and the Lahti University of Applied Science, Finland (2005).
In 2010 he undertook a short work placement with the award-winning Norwegian design studio StokkeAustad. Gearóid was the winner of the Inaugural ‘Graduate Award’ from the Crafts Council of Ireland in 2007 and received the 'Future Maker Award' from the Crafts Councils of Ireland in 2011. Gearóid's work is held in the permanent collection of Farmleigh House Estate /Office of Public Works Ireland.
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Designer, born in 1982 in Ireland. Lives and works in the west of Ireland.
Jo Anne has over 15 years of experience in architecture, art, design and curating. Her work spans work with public institutions, private clients and brands and includes exhibition design and curating, colour and styling, illustration, and installations.
She has worked with the Irish Museum of Modern Art on the redesign of interior spaces, major exhibitions design and visitor experiences and was co-curator of Ireland at Venice in 2018. Her design work with Tara Kennedy is included in the publication ‘Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks’ (ed. Fintan O'Toole).
In 2014 Jo Anne joined Superfolk as Creative Director.
Jo Anne is originally from Mayo and a graduate of University College Dublin (Master of Architecture, BSc Architecture) including studies at Arkitektskolen Aarhus, Denmark in product and furniture design. She also has a BFA (1st) in Sculpture and History of Irish Art and Design from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin.
“My work has always revolved around empathy, simplicity and a love of colour”
Superfolk has featured in The Guardian, The Financial Times, Monocle Magazine, The Irish Times, The Sunday Times, Elle Decoration , Wallpaper* and more.
