A Full Circle Moment with adidas x Gucci Open Call
This is a full circle moment! I am very proud of what I have achieved! It started from a small idea, and today this idea has blossomed.
I still remember back in 2012, I was having dinner with a few of my friends and talked about the Draw A Dot idea. That night I showed them the logo I designed and a few ideas I had in mind for the blog. Originally, Draw A Dot was just a blog focusing on fashion illustrations. In 2014 when I started the Instagram account for the blog, I was thinking of different ideas to get the community involved. Open Call was one of them.
There are 2 purposes of my open calls. The first one is to help illustrators to add artworks to their portfolios. Another purpose is that I hope when I feature these beautiful artworks, these artists will be able to connect with potential clients. I like to collaborate with brands on open calls because now the brands will be able to see what these artists can do, and if they repost the artist’s work, the artist can add that as an asset to their portfolio.
After 9 years of building the community and creating different open calls, I have finally achieved a major milestone! Draw A Dot and 16 artists from the community are mentioned on Gucci official website and 6 of them are also featured on adidas Originals’ IG account. I am so thankful that both fashion brands are putting a spotlight on the fashion illustration community. Gucci is always on my list as a collaborator and finally, it happened! I guess I have also manifested adidas Originals to be one of my collaborators since I have collected a lot of their sneakers. Today I have finally reached this full circle moment!
These are the lessons I have learned in the past 9 years before achieving this milestone.
- Make sure you are passionate about what you are doing and treat this as your entertainment. This is the only way you can commit and work towards your goals.
- People may not understand what you are doing, but that’s ok, as long as you have a clear vision, then you should keep going.
- Don’t ask how to achieve your goals or why things happen this way. Sometimes things just happen in an unexplainable way that leads you to your goals.
- Trust your gut feeling and do things that give you the feeling you are in the flow.
- Thank your failures. They help you to understand what you need to work on to achieve your goals.
Last but not least, DON’T GIVE UP. You might only be 1 step away from achieving your major milestone. If you believe your goal firmly, then you can achieve it.
This ring is not only a cool accessory, but it also acts as a reminder that everything is possible. Just give it a shot and follow the flow!
Thank you to everyone who believes in me and the support from the wonderful artists in the Draw A Dot community!
Please visit Draw A Dot to see all the winning entries!