As a young illustrator my fantasy included working on select assignments, doing children’s books, and having a studio creating products. The last part of the dream has finally come true with the The James Yang Store.
The store was created with my partner Sean Henry who has Wall Street experience and is in charge of business and manufacturing while I focus on creative. Joining Cafe Press or Society 6 did not appeal because of the lack of control over the final product. I have also never been a fan of aggregate sites where you can get lost among many artists. The two person model is my preferred approach because of the potential for growth and speed which decisions can be made. If partners have the same goals and drive, amazing things can happen. Sean and I are scary compatible when it comes to our plans. Advances with ecommerce and printing have made it possible to turn ideas into products and make them available in days when in the past it took months. We are not reinventing the wheel. We are using the tools available to do things well. Creating products is exhilarating. I’ve been waking up early designing products before working on assignments. Sean and I both brainstorm and then he searches to see if the process and numbers make sense. Many products die because we are not happy with the quality. The experience of creating products has also been a positive influence on my illustration.
Bill Gates has quote we like to keep in mind : “People overestimate what they can do in a year but underestimate what they can do in ten.”
The store has shocked me with how much fun it is to apply my design sense to objects. Hopefully we’ll be around long enough to see if Gate’s quote is true.
