Founded in 2010, Urban Road is one of Australia's leading artwork industry suppliers that offer an extensive range of stunning, unique artworks designed to perfectly match your personality and elevate your space.
Born out of the desire to make high-quality artwork affordable for savvy art-loving Australians, their vast range of artworks and now interiors, mean that there’s something for everyone with their unique pops of colour and strokes of artistic elegance.
We chatted with the founders behind Urban Road about their story, the inspiration, and their expansion in the interiors industry.
What was the main goal when starting Urban Road?
Back in 2010, I noticed several things about the art industry that clearly made it difficult for everyone to access beautiful pieces, without breaking the bank. Two of the biggest pain points for a lot of Aussies were that wide-format printing was wildly expensive, and not only did oversized artwork also cost a bomb, but it was nearly impossible to find.
With these things in mind and my passion for creating and appreciating beautiful art, I decided to start Urban Road. Since those early days, we have evolved and grown exponentially, and I couldn't be prouder to see it. We've been able to expand our range, through which we offer a large variety of products. While we now offer various interior design pieces, including homeware and furniture, our passion for art is still our priority. Creating and curating pieces that we know our customers will love is what truly drives us to keep growing and moving forward.
How would you describe the Urban Road aesthetic?
Much like art in itself, the Urban Road aesthetic is ever-evolving. It moves with the times and appreciates up-and-coming trends, but our roots remain grounded in a sense of timelessness.
It's no coincidence that our name fits in with this aesthetic and the values that we bring into every element of our work. Design is an ever-moving, ever-changing journey, and its innovation will never come to an end - much like a long, well-travelled road. With our name, we're constantly reminded to travel down this road of design innovation and creativity, and that makes us excited and eager for what's to come.
You offer such a large range of artworks! Where do you get your inspiration for new collections from?
We've been creating and curating art for over 10 years, so it's easy to wonder how we constantly bring new ideas to the table! We have three main sources of inspiration when it comes to creating new art collections, and each one has never failed to bring something new and fresh that we know our customers will love.
The first inspiration source is from seasonal colour palettes. Each year presents itself with the same seasons, but there are always new colours that trend within the interior design scene. Using these colours, we're able to create artworks that we feel best match the overall look and feel of the season, giving our customers the perfect addition to their home. With various subject matter included in the art, people can also hang these artworks all year round.
Old masters of art from long ago are our second source of inspiration. Picasso, Matisse, Ceznne, Gauguin, Olsen- there are endless classic artists that we love and admire that inspire some art styles seen in our artwork. It could be something as simple as line work or colour theory that gives us that lightbulb moment and acts as our muse to create timeless pieces.
Our third source of inspiration is looking at interior design trends of today, and of course from the past. Flipping through vintage magazines and immersing myself in design periods throughout history is a favourite pastime of mine, and it's something that greatly influences Urban Road art. Blending new and old is also important for keeping things fresh and interesting in our artwork.
You founded Urban Road in 2010 with a focus on artwork, what prompted the decision to expand into decor and homeware pieces?
As with any growing business, there's a desire to expand and provide a range of products that can appeal to and excite a growing audience. It's no different with us at Urban Road. We felt a strong desire to expand, and the best way to do that was by introducing products that complement our wall art.
Bringing cushions into our range was the obvious first step for us. Cushions are the perfect accent piece for wall art, as you can pull through similar tones, shapes and patterns to create a cohesive look in a room. Wallpaper closely followed cushions, as we realised the infinite possibilities for creating beautiful and interesting designs that can instantly transform a space, including wall murals that act perfectly as a feature wall.
From there, we figured, why not just create the whole room? We envision our customers being able to create an entire space using our products, where they can translate their personal style into a whole room, making it uniquely theirs. Our passion for interiors, and just a desire to make all things beautiful, gives us the drive to continue creating more and more pieces.
If you are looking for affordable and contemporary designs, we’ve got you covered with our curated selection of Urban Road artworks and interior pieces.
Now available to shop online, as well as being on display in our Sydney and Melbourne showrooms.
Love, Life x
