The Start of Something Tiny.

Why Something Tiny?

In January of 2018 I was chatting with someone I look up to in the design community, Chuck Anderson (aka NoPattern). We were having lunch and he talked to me about what kind of niche I wanted to carve out for myself. He asked what I wanted to be known for here in Chicago. That question has been my driving force for everything I’ve been creating over the last year. In the past few months, I’ve put those thoughts into action and created something. Something Tiny.

Something Tiny is the evolutionary next step of my career as a lettering artist. While plenty of people know me for drawing letters, building them out of flowers, or even painting them on surfaces, not many know how much I love creating custom logotypes—how much I love the time I get to spend on each, refining and perfecting both physically and digitally, and the attention to detail that makes a logotype special. I’ve done a fair amount of this kind of work in the past, but it has never felt like it fit in context with the rest of the stuff on my personal site. There was always just a dump-all page for random logos and it never felt like it gave the process and the love it deserved. 

Why even make this change?

Like I said, not only did that kind of work feel out of place on my personal site and Instagram accounts, but it never showcased the incredible process involved in creating one. I wanted to make a site that gave it all the attention it need. Complete with detailed sketches, process work, and all the steps leading up to the final product. The part of the new Something Tiny site that excites me the most is the process page. It breaks down every step it takes to make these kinds of pieces. It breaks it down in a way that even people who have zero experience in this realm can understand. It shows the true value in the work I do.

What does this mean for the future?

Well, my personal account and site will remain the same. It will always be my personal account where I experiment with new lettering styles and mediums. I’ll still take on freelance lettering projects and do what I’m already doing. Most people probably won’t even notice a change there. On the other hand, Something Tiny will be an entirely new focus: an emphasis on branding and how lettering can become an integral part of it. Not only will it open the door to share a new type of work, but it will give me the opportunity to grow and expand on my business. It will also give me the ability to collaborate with other designers, hire interns, and even create a team.

What if it fails?

Great question. Maybe I’ll just go back to what I was doing before. Creating the pieces that I love under sort of a cloak of anonymity. But I’m hoping that doesn’t happen because I’ve been working extremely hard behind the scenes to set this up and I’m excited to finally share it with everyone. Announcing something like this is scary for me because that self-doubting monster in my head will always ask “what if no one cares?” or “what if I fail?” It’s totally possible, but one thing that has always kept me grounded in moments like this is this simple quote:

“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

So follow along. Share. Help me build something. Something Tiny.