The Art of Business vs. The Business of Art
In my early years as an artist, I approached my work with a manufacturer’s mindset. I tried to price my projects based on hours, materials, and overhead. But over a decade of running a studio, I’ve learned that the true “business of art” operates on a different logic: value over cost. When a partner trusts […]
I Don’t Post About Plagiarism
I’ve been copied by big companies three times now. Most artists, when they see their work stolen, go straight to social media. They scream, they tag the company, and they look for “compassion” from their followers. I understand the anger, but I don’t like to do that. Last August, a big company in the gold […]
Licensing Deals Aren’t Just About Royalties
If you know my art series, Tiny Moving Place, you know it’s been a journey. Finally, a major collaboration came in. This is a big step for the series. As an ermerging artists, getting my IP licensed for products is a huge milestone. The deal works like this: the company sells the product at a […]
Southeast Asian fair owners, in one place
Two weeks ago, we did something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. we invited the owners of the major illustration fairs from Manila, Singapore, and Thailand to join us in Kuala Lumpur. Usually, we only see each other when we are “running the show.” When we visit their fairs or they visit mine, […]
Why I Named Our New Company Studio Beyond
When I first started my illustration journey, I had no grand plan for a studio with a team. It was just me. So, when it came time to name that initial effort in 2015, I settled on Behind 90. The name was a direct translation of “millennial” in Chinese. Back then, the millennial movement was […]
An Illustration Studio Views on AI Art
The recent case involving Uniqlo Malaysia’s UT Me campaign with Oriental Kopi sparked a firestorm in our local creative circles. The collaboration was called out for featuring AI-generated art on their shirts, leading to public shaming of the brands for choosing an algorithm over a human illustrator especially given Oriental Kopi’s size. As a studio […]