Ekkkk Yellow Heart Art’s first blog post on the new site! I am so excited to share with you all the new direction for Yellow Heart Art and why I decided to take on this new approach.
Quick background, for those of you who don’t know me my name is Leonora (or Leo2theNora when I’m feeling fancy) I’m short but never rock heels, I’m a big scaredy cat but am always trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, I prefer caramel to peanut butter, I have a pet bird, I always rock winged liner, my 3 front teeth are fake and I talk loud in restaurants (not on purpose, I just don’t realize the volume of my voice haha!)
I started my home décor print shop, Yellow Heart Art, back in 2011. I started it as a creative outlet from my boring 9-5 corporate design job where I wasn’t allowed to use fun colors or any other font besides Times New Roman or Helvetica. I loved the idea of creating something from start to finish that was my dream and my vision and the thought of people spending their hard earned money on something I made so they can display in their home was such an amazing feeling.
A HUGE goal of mine for Yellow Heart Art was to have my artwork sold in major chain stores and be a recognizable household name like Jonathan Adler or Nate Berkus or Oh Joy! I had opportunities to have my works in these types of stores but soon realized that it wasn’t easy (and don’t get me wrong no great thing is ever easy!) however I didn’t like all the corporate red tape you had to go through. I found myself being less creative and spending more time researching suppliers, international shipments, custom fees, shipping crates, insurance quotes and other things that I really didn’t know anything about. They also wanted below my wholesale price and needed things ASAP. Some companies would love my artwork and would want to license my art to their company but I would only get 10% of all sales which to me seemed like they didn’t respect my craft.
I felt like I was getting out of touch as to why I started this business, which was to connect with people through my art and to help them upgrade their space with something I created from the heart. What I thought I wanted was really the opposite of what I wanted. People like Nate Berkus have a team of amazing people helping them with all these non-creative things that I just didn’t have. I literally couldn’t do it all and I didn’t have the money to hire help.
So, I thought how can I still do what I love but also still have that connection to my customers? People are constantly asking me how I got to where I am today and if I do custom branding designs. I would turn down custom work because I didn’t have the time to dedicate to my Home Décor Shop *and* do custom designs. But now I want to focus solely on that. I want to help people cross items off their business bucket list and help them bring their business to next-level-amazing through brand design and coaching.
I want to share my experiences with others and tell them what worked for me and what didn’t work for me. I want to share with people how I got my artwork into major chain stores, in celebrity homes and on TV.
I am excited about this new venture, let’s hold hands and jump into the deep end together!
Oh, and as far as Yellow Heart Art the shop goes, sure I’ll leave her up for a while but I will not be spending all my time focusing on that, so new designs will not be going up in it seasonally.
Tell me in the comments what type of information you want me to share with you! Specific business tips? Graphic design tutorials? Branding questions? Hit me with your best shot! (I know you all are humming Pat Benatar in your head now...)