Fifty Fifty Limited

Fifty Fifty Limited intends to build an artist collective presenting designs with personality and displaying art in limited, exciting mediums.

Rooted in this simple premise, I plan to make Fifty Fifty Limited a pioneer in the world of collectibles. After years of collecting music, art, shoes, and toys from all of my favorite artists, I feel as though it’s time for my first venture and I am making sure that every aspect is thought through and represents quality.

Most importantly, Fifty Fifty Limited will be an outlet for artists to create designs and art they can be proud of. I feel like a lot of artists are bogged down designing product solely for their customer. Fifty Fifty Limited is a way for the artist to create art that represents their vision from start to finish. We will produce a crossbreed not only of art and fashion, but also any other medium we can think of. From the beginning, I want to embrace attention to detail, high quality, and limited numbers so that Fifty Fifty Limited is recognized as a company that understands the importance of our products and the importance of the artistry that goes into what we make.

As the name suggests, for every project we will do two runs of 50 items: 50 of one variation and 50 of another. It can be a different color way, different inks, or any variation that we can think of. Whether it is a t-shirt, a hoodie, a skateboard, poster, record, shoes, or toys, I only want to make two runs of 50 and have each run hand-numbered. I feel strongly about the quality, and the numbered and limited aspect of this company; as the company becomes recognized by people that enjoy collectable art they’ll cherish and understand the idea that they are acquiring a unique, limited, and high-quality piece of art that is not out there in the hands of millions of people.

Essentially, Fifty Fifty Limited will be a springboard for all the artists involved. I envision artist profiles on the site that can be built with artist’s information. I want the profiles to have links to the artist’s other work and websites so that a customer can see a shirt or poster design on the Fifty Fifty Limited site and then check the profile of the artist. I want to be a vessel in helping the artists making the art I love.

I’d also like to delve deeper into this personal aspect of designing – of associating it with the artist. I’d like the artists to tell the “story” of what they make. It can be as simple as a sentence or as imaginative as a fictional short story about a character in the design. Whatever they want to convey about the design is fine by me. I want to take these stories and print them inside the shirt or on the back of a coinciding poster, thus giving the product a life of its own. Now the shirt has a personality and a history as to why it exists. The artists have the ability to explain why they love the art they made to the customer who cares enough about the aesthetics to know why.

Specifically for the collectors, I want to set up a membership option. The basic idea is the customer can pre-purchase a package of shirts in sets of 4, 8, or 12. Membership includes a numbered member’s card as well as items that are only available to members (like posters, pins, etc.). They would also receive the shirt designs in a member’s only variation and the inside of the shirts would be screened with a special “Member’s Only” signifier. Eventually, I want to do cool things beyond the product package for members. This could include an artist meet-and-greet and other interesting and fun incentives attracting serious collectors as members.

Sun May 4

Designers galore

As I started recognizing the artists that were involved with the toy companies, I started collecting the other art they were making. I found clothing, posters, bags, wallets, hats, and anything else that can be made into something cool. A lot of the artists stuck to their ideologies about limited and collectible products. Posters were numbered and signed, bags were made in limited quantities, shirts were sold exclusively at one store in the world. There were so many ways that the artists made their products special and kept me drooling over them on the internet. Trying to find all four of a collection of posters, lining up at a store to get a grand opening shirt, or finding out who carries the hat I wanted… these were the things that made shopping and collecting fun. It made it worthwhile and meaningful to find the stuff I wanted by certain artists.

I love the ingenuity of artists like Joe Ledbetter, Shepard Fairey, and Kaws. These were people that started with nothing but the love of their art. They took steps and chances to get their art seen. People took notice of their hard work and found pleasure in their techniques. With time and hard work, they were soon able to get their art all over the world.

Every time I am in Japan, I try and go to the Original Fake store to see Kaws’ stuff. I can’t afford most of it but love to see it face to face. The toys, clothing, and prints he makes are amazing. The dissected companion in the door way of the store is breathtaking.

I also like to drive around Los Angeles and look for huge Shepard Fairey murals on walls and buildings. Fairey’s turned his art of wheat pasting and graffiti into an amazing entrepreneurial endeavor. He has worked to perfect his art form, and his work is immediately recognizable.

One artist that I have always admired is Joe Ledbetter. His creative style is marked with his signature bold lines and imagination. I love going to independent art galleries and finding his work. It is bright, but subtle, and has a great amount of  imagination flowing through it. Ledbetter’s unique take on animals and his own imaginary creatures continues to grow and inspire. He’s created a vast and wonderful world with his creative designs.

These different artists with varying styles have an idea in common: anything can be art. It doesn’t need to be constrained to canvas or a sketch pad. Art can be collected in more forms than just flat surfaces. It can be a shirt, a toy, a post card, or anything else that conveys the expression of the artist. These kinds of artists and their imaginations are the very inspiration for me to start Fifty Fifty Limited.