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- Putting In The Hours With Dan Climan
Putting In The Hours With Dan Climan We got a chance to speak with Montreal based painter, Dan Climan, about the journey of mastering his craft through nothing other than patience, focus and lots of hard work. With art integrated into his life in many ways but only a couple years under his belt as a full-time painter, Dan has already amassed an impressive following for his work and is one of the most humble guys we know. For him, it's all about putting yourself in a position to do what you truly love and committing more time to it than anyone else. Read through some of the best takes from the conversation with Dan below. On putting in the time... "I think the more confidence you have going into work, the better work you’re going to make." "Put your head down. Do the work. Just because it looks good or feels good, doesn’t mean you’re done. No matter what state I was in my life, whether it was design, or tattooing or painting, I know that I’ve gotten better and I know that I’ve only gotten better because I continued to do it." On painting stuff he doesn't like... "Those are the important days. I still painted. I still put in the hours." "The difference between somebody who's a professional and somebody who's on the come up is potentially just putting in the hours and doing the work? "I believe in the work so much that I’m not afraid to invest in myself" Tips On Buying Art "Only buy the art that you can’t live without. If it speaks to you and it feels a certain way, it's worth buying. I look back at art that I bought when I was younger...maybe I liked it because it was trendy at the time but I don't want to look at it in my living room anymore." "If the work is appealing to somebody who’s, like, five years old, and somebody who is sixty years old, there’s something nice that’s happening there. It’s like a universal language with shapes and colour in the content." How much money do you want to make? "As long as I can make enough to paint every day then I'm happy. Looking back to my 13 or 15 year old self, like if I could see where I’m at today, I’d be thrilled!" Be sure to follow Dan on Instagram for news on his upcoming shows, including his solo exhibit at Gallery Youn in Montreal, and keep it locked to Pier Five for more conversations with the coolest entrepreneurs, designers, artists, activists and more out there.
- U Grow Girl
U Grow Girl Who: Crystal Wood & Leha Marshall Where: Kelowna, BC Instagram Website How would you use the $10,000 CAD fund for your business? See All Winners
- Doing It Yourself With Carol Pak of Makku
Doing It Yourself With Carol Pak of Makku The canned beverage space is increasingly competitive, with hundreds of new startup brands entering every year. So, if you're going to enter, you better have something unique to say. Therein lies Carol Pak, founder of SOOL, a Korean beverages company and owner of canned makgeolli beverage brand MAKKU, who is using her experience at ZX Ventures - ABinBev's VC arm - and passion for Korean rice alcohol to offer something fresh and exciting to the North American market. Although it hasn't come without its ups, downs and dozens of learnings, Carol had some great insights to share that can be applied to any small business owner, and of course anyone looking to dip their toes into the world of CPG. Check out some of the hot topics from the conversation below. In the summer of 2023, we noticed a big shift in the brand's social presence around Korean culture. Can you talk about that? At first, I didn't know how much I wanted to position ourselves as a Korean drink because I didn't want to isolate non Koreans. I wanted to be very welcoming, very approachable, and I didn't want to pigeonhole ourselves as a Korean drink for Korean occasions and for Korean customers. So I was very vanilla when it came to our marketing because I didn't want to sway too much but I felt like that really left us with no voice. Recently we did some consumer surveys and a resounding sentiment was, we would like to see more Korean stuff from Makku, whether it's in your packaging, your story, your marketing or your branding. That really motivated me to focus more on Korean culture in general. For us, the most natural area to focus on was the Korean drinking culture, which is a huge part of Korean culture. Later we can move into other segments like food or holiday traditions and things like that. As you grow, have you made any other big shifts in how the brand operates? When it comes to our sales, before, I was relying on our distributors to get into retailers, and they put us in any account that would take our product. We were growing in revenue, and it was great in the short term, but we were seeing a lot of turnover as we lost shelf space to new brands and other promotions. If you go down to your local bodega and offer a promotion for them to buy the case, a lot of times they'll say, yes, but it doesn't mean that's the right account for us. I recently realized that while distributors are our partners, the onus is still on us to steer direction and ensure execution. Another consideration is that these smaller accounts don't provide data on the national level. So if a large retailer will put our brand into scan data, nothing will show up, even though we're in over a thousand accounts. So the investment into the smaller accounts don’t build us much credibility for the larger chains. Can you talk about scan data? What does that mean? There are national companies like IRI and Nielsen that manage this. For accounts like Whole Foods and Total Wine and these other large retailers; if your brand is selling in these stores, they'll report the sales data to IRI or Nielsen. So, when you're trying to sell to other national retailers, they can put in your brand and they can track your growth, sales and all this other data about your brand that these retailers are supplying to them. Since we're mostly selling in smaller accounts or Asian chains that are not providing that kind of data, even though we've been in the market for four years, if an Albertsons or Kroger, looked up our brand in Nielsen or IRI, they wouldn’t be able to find much data. So, it just goes to show that an account is not always equal. I’ve learned we need to rely less heavily on our distributors to be selling on our behalf and instead build a sales team and then get into the retailers that we want to by pitching them directly. Is it daunting pitching to these big retailers? I didn't dare dream of trying to pitch national accounts at first. I just thought it wouldn't be possible without any sales data but I've seen a lot of brands launch after me, like years after me, and their first accounts were like Walmart, Target, Costco. There has been a trend of Asian products in stores and product differentiation is probably helpful there, but at the end of the day, you have to pitch them to know whether you get a yes or no. We just never pitched them. That all gave me confidence though. If you get in front of them, you'll at least be on their radar. You can ask them for information on what they're looking for, what data points they need to see for consideration, when to reach out next. Until you talk to them, you never know so just shoot all your shots. We can definitely see the hustle and passion that you have for the brand. I'm sure that helps when you work on growing the brand with partners? Yes, absolutely. If you're not so passionate about what you're doing and you just think of it as a business opportunity, you're not going to last. Undoubtedly, the best entrepreneurs at every level will still have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and I think the only thing that really keeps you in it is the passion. So, if it's not something that you love and you're happy working 80 hours a week, it's going be really hard. When investors, distributors, retailers and customers are talking to you, they're looking for passion and they can tell if you fake it. That is what makes the difference between the companies that make it and the companies that don't. Make sure to check out Makku's website to find out where you can pick some up and keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews with entrepreneurs and small business owners coming soon!
- Aiori
Aiori Who: Andrea Wong Where: Toronto, ON Instagram Website How would you use the $10,000 CAD fund for your business? See All Winners
- Creating Your Identity With Jun Arnaiz of Neutria
Creating Your Identity With Jun Arnaiz of Neutria Creating Your Identity With Jun Arnaiz of Neutria It's not uncommon to find creatives venturing out into their own startups but it is a bit more unique to see them dive into the realm of health and natural supplements, a space that is highly competitive with mass-pharma and can take years of R&D and approval. So, what does it take to dive into this world? We sat down with Jun Arnaiz, a longtime friend and man of many talents, to learn a little bit about it. Jun got his start in the Toronto-nightlife scene, rising up as one of the city's best club videographers by night, while experimenting, formulating and testing supplements by day. As he got deeper into the nightlife world, his sights set onto DJ'ing, which has now grown his name even further as a certified nightlife double threat; but he didn't forget about the pharma. In 2023, Jun and his business partner Andrew Daye launched Neutria, an all-natural supplement brand rooted in ancient herbs and remedies to help those eager to excel do so in a clean and sustainable way. Jun has a lot to say about breaking down barriers to follow your passions. Read through the conversation below! Jun, you seem to have your hand in so many pots and never shy away from opportunities. How does someone like yourself approach all of these new things? Naturally, I'm a very curious person and I have a bunch of interests but I'm very careful to ensure if I do something, it's of quality. It can be daunting but anytime I'm exploring a new craft, I know it will require me to put myself out there no matter what because that's how you get new opportunities. It requires you to be vulnerable but it's necessary. Especially for artistic crafts, showing your work is the only way to get booked. If we reverse engineer that to figure out how to build the confidence to put yourself out there, it really comes down to putting in the reps. You have to practice. Once you really commit and practice, you build the competence in the craft and then you build the confidence. That confidence will be the fuel to put yourself out there in the world and that's when opportunities will come to you. Do you ever feel stuck diving into new things? Luckily not so much but it took time. I think the number one thing that stops people from taking on a new craft is imposter syndrome. People think "I'm not this person, so I'm not going to give it my 100%." I realized that the antidote to that is building up enough evidence for yourself that you do embody this person to the point where it can become your identity. For me, it was hard as a nightlife videographer, who's identity was so ingrained in that, when I wanted to start DJ'ing. I knew people might not take me seriously but I was serious. I didn't want to be a videographer that could also DJ. I wanted to be a DJ. In order to do that, I needed to be consistent. I needed to show up every day. I needed to do shows consistently. I try to embody this mindset with every new thing that I do. It wasn't even up until maybe a couple of months ago that I finally was confident enough to call myself a DJ because I felt like I wasn't there yet. I didn't have that identity yet but I was always pushing for it. Just remember, success isn't an overnight thing. You have to work on it every day but the only way to get there is to start. Can you talk about what pushed you to start Neutria? I worked in a pharmacy for five plus years, so I saw firsthand how people are so reliant on pharmaceuticals just to get by. We're at an age, societally, where people are becoming more health conscious. My partner, Andrew, and I have always been obsessed with finding ways to optimize our health, wellbeing and mindset. We were always experimenting with these different ingredients in college and university. So we've been exposed to the world of natural supplements and natural remedies. We never really had the intention when we were in our early twenties of doing this. It was just a passion to help us optimize our businesses at that time but we sensed this paradigm shift of people who want to excel in their careers or their crafts and find remedies to do so without harming themselves in the process by using synthetic drugs, like Adderall, or excessive melatonin or caffeine. So, we started Neutria and all three of our products are a response to a synthetic version. We have an all-natural sleep support product that uses herbs that have been used for thousands of years, melatonin-free and that's kind of like our counter to melatonin. We have a focus blend that's our counter to excessive caffeine or Adderall. We're not doing this to profit off of people. We're doing this to offer a sustainable solution to these specific needs that we saw. Lastly, what is one of the biggest learnings you've discovered so far as a brand owner? As an e-commerce brand, it's easy to dehumanize the business and diminish it to just numbers and digital screens. For the first half of our existence, Andrew and I lived on our screens and we weren't getting any sort of physical feedback from customers. It was all online-everything. So, one thing that we introduced was more events and collaborations with other brands to get out into the physical world and connect with and build our community. We started selling in local markets, sampling with groups and getting actual feedback on our products. The human connection was also important to help remind us of our purpose and why we started the business, which was very motivating. We really learned the importance of th at macro view on why you do things and I think going physical, going offline as much as possible does that. Make sure to check out Jun and Neutria on Instagram and keep it locked to Pier Five for more conversations with creatives and entrepreneurs just like this!
- Playing the Game Better With Drew Stevens of Margin Skincare
Playing the Game Better With Drew Stevens of Margin Skincare "You're never going to please everyone" is a phrase that set Drew Stevens, founder of the skincare brand Margin, free. In the era of amplified social judgment, and hundreds of new competitors popping up every week, it is more important now than ever to understand what you're in it for, and if that reason is guided by passion, like it is for Drew, then the only way forward is up. Backed by the creative minds of Benjamin Edgar, Chris Black, Ben Sehl (KOTN) and Sam Jayne, Drew has assembled the creative avengers to release what is currently one of the most exciting science-first, aesthetically beautiful skincare brands on the market. We spoke to Drew about his learnings as an entrepreneur, his tips for assembling a great team and how he deals with the competition; good and bad. Scroll down to read! Hey Drew, for those who aren't too familiar with you and Margin, can you tell us how it came together? Hey guys! My name is Drew Stevens and I'm the founder of Margin. I've always been really into skincare, and prior to starting Margin had the chance to spend a lot of time with with the founders of bootstrapped and venture backed businesses both inside and outside the beauty industry through my work in private equity. I was lucky enough to get to know some of the best skin scientists in the world, and in getting to know them had the chance to share (and confirm) a set of beauty industry observations that I thought left a gap serving me effectively and honouring my interest in skin.. Ultimately, Margin was launched as a way for my to offer myself and my peers a skin solution that incorporated best-in-class-ingredients, logic-driven formulations, and product design that I could be confident using and displaying in my home. The whole process started in 2020 and from there, we’ve put together a great team and had a lot of fun working on what is now Margin (which we launched in 2022). With all of the R&D and trials to get the product to be what you envisioned it to be, how do you know when it's finally right? It's really hard to figure out when it's right. I think a lot of it has to come down to me being really proud of the product. If I can stand behind it, and I really love it, and we put it out in the world and it bricks, I'm fine with that because this was me and the team's decision. I don't think I would sleep well at night if we conceded based on a product to try and make everyone happy and didn't put out what we loved the most. Realistically, you're not going to make everyone happy. If you go to a major beauty website and look at their top trending products, what you'll find is that for virtually every product in the world that's ever been released, reviews are normally distributed on both ends. You'll have 20% of people that say that they are absolutely obsessed, you'll have a bunch of people in the middle saying it's pretty good and then you'll have 20% to 30% of the audience saying "I wouldn't put this on my worst enemy", and yet it's a best selling product. At the end of the day, there is no such thing as universally loved anything, so I just try and put out what we really like and if it works, great. You have some pretty established names on your board/co-founder table. What was your process to getting in touch with them and getting them on board? From a cold calling perspective, you'd be surprised at how easy it is to get in touch with people. Social media has totally changed that over the years. If you have a tweet that bangs and somebody replies to it and they're an interesting person, boom, be in their DMs immediately. Same with Instagram and then if you're doing something interesting, offer somebody a little bit of value and something tangible they can act on. Meeting Chris the first time, I had never interacted with him, not on a social platform, nothing before. I knew who he was and I thought he'd be an interesting partner in a venture like this. It was literally me just sending him an email and saying, "This is what I do now. This is what's interesting about what I do now. This is an insight that I think I have that I think would be compelling and I'd love to know your take on it because I think of you as x, y, and z". The biggest thing though is just come to them with a good idea. I came to him with "Here's my insight about skincare and here's what I think we can do about it. Tell me I'm crazy". It wasn't just like, "hey, bro, skincare is really hot right now. Want to do something?" because that's not really actionable and that's not like a nutritious little bite for them or a hook in the water that they may find interesting. You've mastered skincare and the art of networking. What is on your list of things to master in 2024? I'm really trying to master my energy output in the most efficient way. My default is to try and move 30 footballs an inch up the field every day and then at the end of the week, I look back and the 30 footballs have only moved a few inches and that's not really that noticeable of an improvement. I think the right way to work is actually for me to run one football ten yards down the field for like a half day, run another one five yards down the field for a part of the day, and, be very focused on trying to really make progress on a few tasks in a given time period versus trying to do so many tasks at once. That's very difficult, as I'm sure many people reading can relate to this when you're running your own thing or have a side project that you're working on too. It becomes easy to feel busy and tired and feel like you spent energy, but not really have a lot to show for it. So this is what I'm trying to focus on and master in 2024. The beauty industry, like many others, has a ton of players that seem to care more about making a quick buck than an impactful product. What do you think about those types of brands? This is very true. The reason I'm doing this is because I care about products so much and I want the product to be the best it can be. I have a visceral reaction to the idea that someone would try and enter the market with a product that's trendy but potentially ineffective or harmful, but I also know that the answer isn't just for me to go around and say "hey,, that's not OK." There's a game being played, right? We're on this giant field and the way for me to make a point is to just eat their lunch, right? The way to do it is to play the game better than them. If in five years or ten years or twenty years, we've played the game better, then we will be rewarded for that and if we didn't play the game well or the game changed on us and people actually didn't care what they put on their skin then, you know what, I wasn't playing the right game and I lost. However, I can lose feeling good, right? This is my passion, but at the end of the day, I try to remember that there's an element of sports or gamesmanship to this and any other business as an entrepreneur, and just focus on what I can do to play the game better. I think that's a healthier attitude and so when I hear about competitors like that, it's like, okay, great, you're playing the game well right now. Let me see if I can't outscore you. Make sure to check out Margin and keep it locked to Pier Five for more founder interviews just like this!
- A Conversation With Addam Rodriguez of The Arrivals
A Conversation With Addam Rodriguez of The Arrivals With the growing importance of digital in fashion commerce and customers spending so much more time online, a strategic digital identity isn't just a nice to have; it’s a necessity. We spoke with Addam Rodriguez, Digital Art Director of New York based outerwear studio The Arrivals, about his process and system for developing consistent visual concepts and a strong artistic language for the brand. @addamrod Hey Addam, awesome to be connected! For those who might not be familiar, tell us a little about yourself. Hey! I’m Addam and I am the Digital Art Director for the outerwear brand The Arrivals. Growing up in LA, I was always surrounded by photography. My uncle was a photographer and was always around taking pictures and had some super expensive cameras which I got really into. When I got a bit older I went to school for audio engineering but I always found myself out taking photos and realized I liked that way more. Out of school, I got a graphic design job at a brand in the arts district in LA but started doing photography for them as well and also worked in the warehouse. It was great to be a part of all aspects of that business because it allowed me to understand the go-to-market and storytelling aspects of the brand which made for better photography and visuals. My next job after that was for this ready to wear brand called Frankie. I worked with the lead designer and travelled with the brand between NY & LA, basically just taking photos of the whole process of the brand. After a few trips, I knew I wanted to come out and live in NY and get better at my photography out here. I met with The Arrivals and they offered me a graphic design role. I was nervous about taking another graphic designer position but I loved the brand and the overall culture. Once I got into the role though, I told them I could shoot too and over time it turned into more of a photography role and now the digital art direction role that I have today. That’s a wild journey but seems like it all worked out. What is your process for coming up with your visual concepts for The Arrivals? We’re a small team so everyone is involved in everything. Early on, I’m in conversations with the designers and production teams so I can get a really solid understanding of the product. Being in the warehouse at my first job definitely taught me to learn the product cycle well so that I could bring in all of those details into the final visual concepts. Internally we all talk about concepts and once we land on an idea, it’s up to me to figure out how we communicate that to our audience and I work alongside the creative director to bring it all to life. I spend a lot of time looking at data from past campaigns to see what’s working, what kind of things have our audience been responsive to in the past, stuff like that. Once we have product samples I’m then able to start working out the visual flow and moodboarding and we’ll A-B test a ton. I have to create content for everything like email, ads, social and web so there’s a lot of planning since we don’t (and you never should) use the same content for everything. To make things easier, I have built out a pretty robust system for how I shoot to develop consistency and a visual language that our customers will recognize and remember us for. Once I’m happy with the flow, I draft out the final shot list and then work out the planning for production. This whole process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple months but it’s always super fun to put together. That system you mentioned definitely shines through. The Arrivals content is some of the most coordinated in the game from campaign to campaign. Why is aligning product and content styling so important for you and the brand? That’s great to hear [laughs]. I have a huge appreciation for what goes into making the garments so I want to ensure the work I do represents all that effort put in by the design teams. Our products are very elevated and with good styling it can become even more elevated. I’ve started experimenting with other mediums besides photo like 6k video which everybody said we didn’t need but it allows for the smoothest transitions and flows that I feel mimic actions in our daily life and make the content so approachable and appealing. The pandemic has really expedited the growth of digital, especially consumer’s adoption/habits of shopping online. What should new brands keep in mind when developing a visual identity for their brand? This is a great question. I’ve tried so many things throughout the years and I think most importantly, it’s important to figure out what you really love and to build on that. Don’t try to be like everything else you see just because it’s popular. Even if what you are working on doesn’t work out right away, don’t give up. Keep experimenting and refining and build a system over time that works for you. A visual identity is like a house. You can design the interior as many times as you want as long as you hold on to the foundation of the building. That’s great advice for brands! What are some tips you’d give to individuals looking to bring their skills to a brand as an art director? Learn as many tools as possible. You don’t need to be the best at any of them but a knowledge of the different tools will allow you to put together initial ideas and then you can bring in the experts to help you bring it to life. Even if you can get the concept to 10% baked, that will help everyone understand the vision and then you bring in the pro editors, retouchers, colour specialists, etc. Another thing I’d say is go big on networking. You also don’t always need to connect with the biggest names. There are so many people doing amazing work behind the scenes that can give you great advice or introductions. This was huge for me when coming to New York. Lastly, it’s important to be patient. Things take time. I’ve been here for about 4 years and it’s all just starting to click for me which is exciting. Now I just need to keep pushing! Totally agree! So now that things are clicking, what do you have your sights set on next? I want to make the shopping experience for our customers even better using interactive video and stronger graphics. I’ve built the house and now it’s time to renovate the interior with new visuals to create a better moment for the customer. I’m all about that moment! Who doesn’t love a good moment?! Lastly, we’re finally starting to see some normalcy again and it’s looking to be a wild summer! What are you most looking forward to doing again in NYC as things open back up? Honestly, just meeting people. It’s hard to stay creative when everything is locked down. I knew so many people who moved out of the city at the start of the pandemic and they’re coming back now. I can’t wait to meet up with them and see what they’re working on. I think we’re seeing a new wave of creatives who are about to take this industry by storm and I’m excited to witness it in person! Check out Addam and The Arrivals on Instagram and keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews and stories with the coolest designers, artists, activists, entrepreneurs and more.
- A Conversation With Liz Beecroft
A Conversation With Liz Beecroft Liz Beecroft is a practicing mental health therapist and licensed social worker residing in New York. She has grown a large following on social media through the crossing over of her therapy practice and passion for sneaker culture and basketball. Liz is also the founder of MENTL , a space that advocates and educates around matters of mental health and wellbeing. @lizbcroft Mental health is super important and awareness around it has become increasingly high during a pandemic. As more people start to understand how much mental health matters, what are 5 mental wellness or self care routines people can try to help them through their day to day? Listen to your body and your mind. If you need to rest, rest. Try and get outside. Get fresh air and exercise. You'll build up endorphins which will help with your mood. Be mindful of what you’re putting in your body. Unhealthy food and drinks can leave lasting effects leading to depression. Mindfulness is key. It doesn't always have to be meditation but something that forces you to focus in that moment - ex baking or cleaning. Check in with your support system. Stay connected in the best ways you can with your friends and family. You’ve done a number of collaborations with some well known brands where the partnership was centred around mental health awareness & giving back. What do you think are 5 important things brands can/should do to advocate for these causes all year round? Keep in mind that mental health is 24/7-365. Don't just highlight it for the big mental health holidays to be relevant at that time. Start from within. Brands needs to practice what they preach. Employees need to be trained on how to identify symptoms and know when to take breaks. Brands also need to give resources to their employees to help them when they need it. Consult with professionals if you’re going to talk about mental health. There is right & wrong language that can be used and it's important for brands to be cognizant of that. Understand your resources. Have some component of giving back. Thing about what this is actually doing for mental health outside of just saying it's for mental health. Similar to the previous point but consider a giveback piece. Donate to a non-profit with the earnings. What are your top 5 sneakers in your rotation right now and why? Reebok Question Mid. I'm from Pennsylvania and Allen Iverson is my all-time favourite. Reebok Answer 5. I remember buying that pair in a Mens 9 when I was younger. It was way too big but I didn't care. It was still super cool to me. Jordan 17. In 5th grade I was begging my parents for this pair from the Eastbay magazines. They got them for me in the summer but by the time school started I had already grown out of them [laughs]. Funny enough I got gifted a pair last Christmas so it was a really cool full circle moment. Adidas T-Mac 2 "All Star Pack". Love T-Mac and love these shoes. Jordan 1. It's a classic and there are so many good colourways. You’re no stranger to the court and we know basketball is a big part of your life. Who are your top 5 basketball players (dead or alive)? Allen Iverson Jason Kidd Dikembe Mutombo - I met him on a Disney cruise in 7th grade [laughs]. Shawn Kemp Michael Jordan - As an AI fan I didn't love Jordan growing up but he's gotta be in my top 5. Mental health is sometimes seen as a touchy subject but you’ve made it a very accessible and inclusive topic for others by merging information with creative design and sneaker culture. Where do you find inspiration and what are 5 resources or tools that you look to to expand your knowledge? I look at who I am as a person. Mental health doesn't always have to be pink and green pastels (not hating on pastels!). I want my information sharing to reflect what I'm thinking. I linked up with Christian Gonzalez for MENTL. He understands me and mental health a lot and is super open about it and such a good help for me to get my thoughts out. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) & colleagues in the space that have similar interests. Psycology Today Alyssa Petersel is awesome! She founded a great site called MyWellbeing which helps match patients with the right therapists. Non-profits like the JED Foundation are always inspiring and very great resources. What are five brands that you think are doing great things for mental health and self care that you’d love to work with? Chintatown Market - They're awesome and I'd like to work with them to add credibility to their mental health work. Brain Dead. Such a great brand. They're awesome. Disney - they don't talk about mental health but I love Disney and think that’d be really cool New Balance And for #5, I have 6 more people who are all dope haha Jerry Lorenzo Salehe Bembury Jeff Staple Billy Eilish Lil Dicky Post Malone (his album is about leaving LA because it was superficial). Lots of mental health references in there!
- A Studio Visit With Simon Petepiece
A Studio Visit With Simon Petepiece Earlier this summer, Pier Five visited industrial-artist Simon Petepiece's montreal studio to tour the new space, chat about what the artist is working on and looking forward to, and of course, pick his brain for some tips for aspiring artists. The Ottawa native, now situated in Montreal, currently co-runs New American House, a joint studio specializing in functional art, objects and furniture as well as his own design practice. He has established himself both through personal and client projects utilizing often unnoticed materials, primarily meant for in construction, in a unique way. Scroll down to watch the video interview with Simon, as well as some behind the scenes photos. Swipe through the slideshow for photos. To learn more about Simon and everything that he has going on, check out New American House and Simon's Instagram and keep it locked to Pier Five for more stories and interviews with our favourite designers, entrepreneurs, creators, brands and more.
- From The Streets To The Big Stage With Kizmet
From The Streets To The Big Stage With Kizmet Change is inevitable but you can’t always wait around for it if you want to find success. For Toronto based graffiti and lighting artist Kizmet, taking matters into his own hands was key. While the general population was taking its time to decide whether or not graffiti art was for them, Kizmet was carving his path through the underground arts and music scene and making a name for himself. From the streets to the big stage, Kismet is a prime example of taking initiative and not being afraid to put in the hours and it shows, big time. Read through the interview with Kizmet below where we dive into his early beginning, what gave him the courage to pursue his passions, what he’s excited for in this ever changing world of art and much more. Hey Kizmet! For those not familiar, can you tell us a little about yourself? Hey I’m Kizmet, and who am I? That’s something I like to let people figure out themselves. Maybe this conversation will help [laughs]. And figure out we shall! What’d you get up to today? I was in my studio most of the day. There are a bunch of pieces I’m working on so that’s keeping me busy. You’ve talked a lot in the past about how your studio space in Toronto is really your comfort zone. What are the keys to a great studio/work space? When I used to do a lot of music, I always wanted a space where I could have all of my stuff and get everything done there. Now, with art, it’s the same way. Kind of like in the Shedders Lair in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie where all the kids are just chilling spray painting, blasting music being creative doing karate and there’s like some dude just offering kids cigarettes. Everyone is just doing their thing. That’s what I want minus the encouraging kids to smoke[laughs]. The key for me is that I could be there at any point, day or night, doing whatever I want and nobody gets mad. Like if I play a drum set at 4am in the morning nobody is going to call the cops. It’s like having a clubhouse. I can get work done or if I wanted I could watch a film on a projector screen or I could play drums or me and my studio mate can Jam or play video games on the big screen. Who inspired the faces that we see prominently across your artwork? I haven’t really shared this formally on many platforms so this will be a first actually. I often don’t talk about the context of my paintings personally. With street or graffiti art, the artist is often anonymous and so the viewer needs to create their own interpretations of the works. That’s what I want for my work. That being said I have always had meaning behind the works so here it is. I’m huge into Sci-Fi. So with the faces, I wanted to create a new reality that would change over time. First they wore glasses, then those came off and you saw there weren’t any eyes, and then the faces multiplied and the narrative kept on changing. And in the end it turns out these faces are a robot tricking you into falling in love with it. It’s all about coercion and one the original presented concept turning out to be one big lie and everything is a connected story. Damn! That’s wild. Did you know when you started the faces that it would turn into that huge story over multiple years? At the time I started doing these I was in this transitional phase with my art and so I started creating these faces and actually built this entire story and knew where I wanted to take it from the beginning. I knew I’d be able to get better over time as an artist which would allow me to develop the characters further and keep making them better so that when it came time to talk about it, it would all be ready. Did you also plan on using them for live events or was that part decided afterwards? Ya so the idea was to be able to bring them to shows/events and tour them around. I’ve always been really big into music and events so I wanted to be able to bring my work there. Also the impact of bringing work to music festivals and seeing people interact with it in person there is amazing. Its something you don't really get in a gallery or just with a mural on a wall. There’s also a ton of elements that you can play with too like with smoke and lights which is epic. How big is that for you? I’ve been doing light murals for a little while. It’s really crazy about how light interacts with colours. It’s not like normal colour mixing. You get these wild combinations of mixing light with paint and what colours will turn into what when certain light hits it and you can play with different elements and make these pieces really come to life. You can make it so stuff is hidden or morphing and people trip out watching it. Sometimes I make the transitions slow so you don’t even realize what’s happening in the moment until the image has completely changed colours. Going back to your roots now. What was the evolution of going from graffiti to this experiential art like? I kinda always knew that this was going to be what I make my living on. The whole tags and street bombing thing is really just advertizing to get your name out there, but I knew to make a living I would need to put more thought into conceptualizing. For me it wasn’t so much of changing the art style but it was me being more serious and that led to the transition which has been a good one. Was there a moment or turning point where you knew you’d be able to make this work out as your career? I got kicked out of high school for some graffiti shit and went to a new alternative school where there were tons of artists. The head of my new school, John Morton, told me “this is a democratic school. If you want to paint the school, cool. Make a proposal and maybe you'll even get paid for it. Just let us know how and when you want to do it and if everyone is ok with it, you can do it.” I was so shocked. I presented it to the school and everyone was hyped about it. Now I don’t even think there’s space left because the entire place is painted up. The school got covered. Once people found out it was cool to do, everyone went nuts. It started in the hallways, the stairwell, the lunchroom and then it just got everything. They even painted the outside of the school. It looked sweet. That introduction of a safe space where I could have an idea and it would be approached with an open mind was what showed me there might be a long term opportunity with this. That’s an insane story. Maybe hard to top but do you have a “greatest story of all time” from your tagging days? Honestly all the days of tagging were just insanity. If you were somewhat tapped into that culture back then you’ve probably had some crazy f**** up experiences. Like everyone is nuts. The lifestyle of being out super late, running from cops, tons of partying, is kinda crazy in itself. I would tell these stories to people that were not part of that culture and they’d all just think I was lying. The stuff is truly unbelievable. Are there any stark differences or changes that you’ve observed with graffiti art and culture over the years? The biggest thing now is street art is very accepted and also highly funded. Back in the day it was so criticized like once I was painting a garage for someone and the neighbour came out with a baseball bat and was threatening to beat me up because he thought I was tagging. Recently though I was doing a garage for someone else and the neighbour there came out and was like “what about my fence? I want a mural too.” I was shocked. I thought he was going to be pissed off but he was jealous. He literally said “I’m a taxpayer and I should have my fence painted too”. [laughs]. Why do you think things have changed so much like that? I think it was that the city really got behind it. They finally accepted that you can’t fight graffiti because you don’t know who it is and it will NEVER go away. It used to be that if someone tagged on your business, you had twenty four hours to get rid of it or you’d get fined, so as a result business owners just started commissioning murals to get around the rule. Then programs funding murals came around to deter people from just aimlessly tagging. It’s been a slow transition but a good one. I also just think some people need some sort of authority or what they consider a validated entity to say it’s ok and then they’re quick to accept things. Any tips/tricks that you’d give to young artists of stuff of the trade you wished you knew when you started out in graffiti? There’s this whole starving artist mentality that leads to artists getting taken advantage of by these big companies and corporations who don’t pay well and treat the artists poorly. I think it’s important for artists to know that it’s completely ok to walk away in the middle of the job if you’re not getting the respect or being treated properly. Protect yourself and your representation. Don’t let money control everything you do. I know some artists take jobs and feel like shit after because it was a terrible experience but they wanted to be able to say they worked for that company to feel validated. That’s just so not how art should be. No matter who you are - and I know it’s easier said than done - but stand up to these big corporations or anyone not treating you fairly. Until people do this, nothing will ever change. Once you do this and you start prioritizing yourself, you’ll actually open so many new doors. These great clients and jobs do exist. Be patient and protect your values and you’ll find them. Lastly, what keeps you inspired to continue creating and what are you looking forward to next? The DOCD (Department of Civilian Dance) parties we’ve been throwing, like the raves, have been challenging me to keep being creative and force me to always one up myself and that’s awesome. It’s a pressure that I put on myself but I know if I do so, I’ll keep creating and getting better to the point where I’m surprising myself. That’s the best feeling like “holy s**t, I made this?” [laughs]. I’m also really inspired by all these new faces that are doing great work and that I know are going to be huge. We’re close to a point where everyone can really thrive together as things change. It’s a really exciting time in Toronto right now. It feels like the renaissance of DIY culture and I’m super stoked for it. Check out Kizmet's Instagram to find out about upcoming events and see more amazing work coming from Kizmet and keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews and stories with the coolest entrepreneurs, designers, artists, activists and more.
- Zing
Zing Who: Jannine Rane Where: Toronto, ON Instagram Website How would you use the $10,000 CAD fund for your business? See All Winners
- A Conversation With Albert Nguyen of Hudson's Bay
A Conversation With Albert Nguyen of Hudson's Bay Photo: @lognamakya The term "busy" floats around a lot as being synonymous with successful. We live in a "rise and grind" culture which puts mental health by the wayside and can turn incredible work into a struggle to hold on. Albert Nguyen, Managing Art Director for Hudson's Bay, one of Canada's longest standing department stores, understands this all to well. Having gone through periods of burnout and overworking through his craft, Albert has become an advocate for mental health and pushing the conversation around the topic forward, especially for men and minority groups in which the stigmas around vocalizing feelings are eminent. We got the chance to chat with Albert about his struggles with burnout, his outlook on the creative industry, what it was like coming up as an Asian designer in Montreal and his advice for new designers looking to establish themselves and build a career through their passions. Read through the conversation below and share with a friend as the information that Albert shares is priceless! Hey Al! Great to be chatting with you. For those who aren’t familiar, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? So my name is Albert Nguyen and for a living and as a hobby, I am an art director and a designer. I come from a fashion, art and design background so I’d say I’m a designer first but I love my work as an art director. My art, my photography style, it all comes from design. I worked in the fashion industry for corporate brands for a long time like Le Chateau and Rudsak and was the art director for Little Burgundy for a while. After a while, I chose to leave the corporate world and design on my own which was great. A couple years later, The Bay called me up for an art direction role and I took that which is where I am today. What led you to the decision of leaving your stable corporate job and going solo? Honestly, I faced some serious burnout. I was working like 12 hour days grinding through. We live in this culture of being busy and I thought 12 hours days were the norm and never thought I’d hit a wall but I did. When that happened to me, I was able to take a month off of work but at the end of the month, I didn’t feel ready to return back to that lifestyle. I had always had this feeling like I could be my own boss. It was tough though to start my own thing. Especially as an Asian designer, it was very tough. The design community is very white and I felt like there were all of these lines I had to stay in [at Little Burgundy] but I was like “Ok, I’m not white. I can do my own thing.” I started really tapping into my Asian roots, which was super scary, but I did that for about three years and got some awesome clients like SSENSE and Raised By Wolves which were really great. And now you’re at The Bay. What was the return like after 3 years of being solo? When The Bay called me, COVID was pretty nuts and things were drying up a bit for my solo work. I had a couple options of what I wanted to do next but I thought The Bay could be a good fit to try out. Now that I’m there, I see a lot of value in what I’m doing there. Although it’s not as wild and crazy, it’s a place that really values new ideas and new perspectives which is needed because it’s been around for so long. Luckily, when I came in, I got the keys to concept out the spring 21 season and made it super fun and different and it’s been great since. They’ve also let me take breaks when I need, which is something most companies wouldn’t be ok with. I really value that with The Bay and we have a really good working relationship. Albert Nguyen on Thinking Out Loud by La Rue Inspire That’s awesome to hear! It’s definitely not always easy for creatives to find that balance in the corporate world so we’re stoked to hear that you have it. Let’s talk about the burnout a bit more because we think it’s super important for people to speak about. Can you tell us what that was like, how you identified it and what helped you through it? Yes! I really like talking about it because you’re right, people definitely don’t speak about it enough. There’s a lot of stigma around this, especially for Asian men too, but it’s super important for everyone to be aware of. Men don’t talk about mental health much and it’s not discussed in Asian communities. I’m glad that the conversation around mental health has really stepped up lately and it makes it easier for people to talk about it. Recognizing burnout So firstly, I felt tired all the time. Like I said before, we think it’s normal to keep pushing until you break but it’s not. I wasn’t focused and my work wasn’t as strong. If you notice this happening for a long time, definitely take a step back and look at your situation. Treating burnout So these are some things that worked for me but it might be different for others. The big takeaway for all of them though is that it’s important to be consistent with them. You can’t just do these things a few times and then it’s over. Consistency is key and even though I’m in a better place now, I still do these all of the time. Therapy : What helped me a lot was therapy. During that time, I started meditating every morning. It doesn’t have to be a really long time. Even 10-20 minutes is great. The future is uncertain and the past is the past, but meditating to focus on the present which is, in that moment, good, can really help start your day off the right way. Now I’m doing it a few times a week and still love it. Improving your diet: Eating bad will make you feel bad and if you’re overworking yourself on the wrong diet, it’s going to be really tough. Mushrooms: I’ve started incorporating micro doses of mushrooms into my day to day a bit. There is an incredible movie called Fantastic Fungi which explains everything around how mushrooms have helped humanity for millions of years. That’s really good advice and we’ll definitely need to check out Fantastic Fungi! Switching gears a bit now. You have this great role as Art Director for Hudson’s Bay which takes up a bunch of time. What are you working on for your freelance now? The Bay takes up a ton of my time now so I really only do t-shirt designs these days as a freelancer. I did some stuff for Raised By Wolves who are good friends for their FW 21 line and have been working on a bunch of charity tees lately. There is one coming for Skateistan which is this awesome organization that provides education and leadership training, along with skateboarding, to children in underprivileged communities around the world. The tee I’ll be dropping is for Skatistan - Cambodia which I’m super pumped about and there’s also another tee I dropped with Lopez MTL to raise funds for Club Sexu, a non-profit group that aims to make discussions around sexuality more fun and inclusive. That one is sold out on Lopez but we’re going to do another drop for it soon! That’s really awesome! What kicked off these charity tees that you’ve been working on? During covid when all the stuff was happening against Black and Asian communities, everyone was sharing posts and talking but I felt like it wasn’t helping much and was thinking like, “ok, so what’s next?” I was thinking about how I could actually take action and use my skills to do some good. In the example of Skateistan, that’s a culture that has always been so close to me since I was younger so being able to create t-shirts that can connect people with that culture and help those in need is so awesome to me. Love that you’ve found an avenue to use your skills to make a difference. Amongst your full time role as Art Director for Hudson’s Bay and all your freelance work, and thinking about your mental health, how do you keep organized and on top of everything? Set priorities. For me, it’s The Bay. So once I plan that out, I assess my time and be really critical about when I can take on other projects and then go down the priority list. Know your limits. We live in this culture where we see all these people saying “hustle hustle hustle”. We look down on “laziness” which is a word I hate because it makes people just work all the time. People value being busy too much and then become way too busy. Know your limits and what you want to do and stick within that. You’ve spoken about facing discrimination as an Asian man throughout your career. What was that like, especially when you were younger, and how did you get through that? I grew up in Montreal and I speak french but even being in that community, it’s not very accepting of Asian creatives. I realized a while back that none of my clients here are french. Clients in other cities and countries seem more stoked to speak to me. I’m not sure why that is but it feels different here. Quebec has a very particular style and is in their own thing. Maybe it’s the French thing, maybe not, but that was tough for me coming up. To be revered in this world as an Asian, you have to be this exceptional version of an Asian man. The ones who have a lot of clout are insanely amazing but you never hear about the good Asian creatives. Same thing if you’re Black or Middle Eastern or Indian or Arab. It sucks but I just kept pushing and knew that I could get to a place to make a difference. I’m luckily in a position today where I can start opening doors for other Asians and all the homies. This season for The Bay I cast all Asians. These people are already really good but just not tapped into enough. It’s amazing to be able to give people a chance with what I’m doing. That’s probably the best part of my job. It took me some time to get to where I am but I’m glad I had the path that I did because it’s forced me to get out of my comfort zone and I’ve built so much character through my work with others. Hudson's Bay Summer 21 Campaign Let’s show Asians some love! Who are 5 Asians doing incredible things that you admire? Tam Vu (artist): He’s doing great things for the vietnamese community Lian Benoit (photographer) She just left an agency to go solo. I just wrapped a job with her and she’s awesome. Yang Shi - She’s a model but also turned photographer with her partner. JG & Shi is their collective. Celia Spenard-Ko (art director): She’s like a sister to me. She lives in Paris and is the Art Director for Goodee which is an e-commerce platform for ethically minded consumers. Christian Chico : A homie in NY that always kills it at whatever he does. Some great names in there and others that we’ll need to check out! Given your many years of experience, what tips would you give to new artists or creatives looking to make a name for themselves in the space? The first thing I’d say is do your research and put in the hours. My work is a little crazy and non-traditional sometimes but I had to learn all the rules before I could start breaking them. A lot of young designers start with “I want to make all the wild stuff” and it can turn out poorly. Study up and pay attention to what’s out there. With that being said, to stand out, your work has to be a little bit jarring. It has to make someone feel like “woah, what’s happening here?”. Once you learn to be thoughtful in your design, you can break the rules and that will help you find your voice. Albert Nguyen for SSENSE x 88Rising Any tips on developing a unique point of view when crafting your voice as an artist? Inspiration comes from everywhere. Put down the phone and get outside and experience things around you. If you only get inspiration from what you see online, that’s what your stuff is going to look like. Get outside and get out of your comfort zone with stuff? Try new things. Don’t stay stagnant. Never stop experimenting. As expected, these are great tips. It seems obvious when you say it but it’s definitely easy to forget these things. Lastly, what’s coming up that you're excited about, whether in work or in life? I’m really excited about this charity work that’s coming out. The designs are awesome and the money is going to a great cause. I always get excited to see my nieces and nephews too. Something about kids sparks a lot of stuff for me. I’m also talking about moving to Ottawa. I need a change in scenery and somewhere quiet to create. I don’t need the big city anymore and I have tons of people in my network in Ottawa that are helping me find a spot. I’ll get out there soon I think! Make sure to follow Albert on Instagram for updates on his work and t-shirt releases and don’t forget to keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews and stories with the coolest entrepreneurs, designers, artists, activists and more.