Rich Wizards
Watercolored textiles for fashion and home, designed using PAOM (Print All Over Me) platform and developed into an e-commerce platform.
The Process
sumi-e for fun
After the death of my grandmother, I fell in love with the simplistic, meditative nature of Sumi-e, Chinese brushstroke painting. I rendered hundreds of 5-minute sketches to refine my technique. It is still one of the more gratifying disciplines I keep, along with music production and aerial silk dancing.
Sumi-e begins with a meditation. Sit in careful observation of a living thing, inhaling it’s spirit, studying it’s form, it’s essence. Then, with as few brushstrokes as possible, capture the essence of the being on paper.
paper to textiles
I’d thought about selling my pieces at local craft fairs, but I liked the idea of converting my designs into textiles even more. I just didn’t like the idea of holding inventory, unsustainable production practices, or limitations in pattern repeat or application. Then I discovered PAOM. Before long I had a whole line of custom silk and cotton goods, sustainably made to order.
branding and e-commerce
Once I established the prints and textiles, I identified a few themes that seemed to repeat: magic, and whimsy. I named the brand, Rich Wizards and drew the messaging out into supporting graphics for the line.
Then I pulled together a series of promo photos featuring the most “disruptive” product line, “Flock O’Cocks”. I uploaded each product to Shopify and began marketing my content direct to consumers on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. We scored over 9,000 facebook fans at launch, and over 300 email subscribers.
Rich Wizards earned over $1000 in profits at the launch. Soon after the launch, I retired the business along with the death of my grandfather.
I still have many textile patterns waiting in the lines for new production and I’m always open to taking custom orders!