Daniel Reese, is the artist behind the creative brand Brass Monki. From a small town called Runcorn, just outside of Liverpool, Daniel, decided against university and started Brass Monki alongside a full-time job at a local sports store. Now at the age of 23, he is self employed and running a successful business.
We recently had a chat with Daniel to find out more about this creative idea.
How did the idea of BrassMonki come about?
Brass Monki was originally ‘Customized Pumpz’. I began drawing on plain white plimsolls and selling them through a Myspace profile. It was in July 2009 that I decided to start a blog promoting new designs on Nike Dunks. It was quite slow for the first few months, but more people started to visit the blog and other websites began to run features on it. It was then I decided to make a real go at it. I changed the name to Brass Monki (because I am a Beastie Boys fan), opened an online store and to my surprise…people began to buy them.
Take us through the process of creating one of your pre-designed sneakers.
Well, none of my designs are pre-made. It isn’t as simple as picking a pair off the shelf and shipping them. All of my designs have to be hand painted first. Once an order is received, I pick the relevant size, strip the shoe of its wax coating using acetone and begin painting. I always mask off the areas I don’t want paint on to avoid any dirty finger prints or stray paint. I start by painting the large background areas first and then the detailed areas. Once I am happy with the way things look, I airbrush a clear acrylic all over the shoe in either a matt or glossy finish. Each shoe takes around 4 hours to make. That’s 8 hours a pair!
Do you create custom designs, and how do you work with your buyer in creating that?
I do. I have a section on my website where customers can request a custom design. They pay a £25 fee and supply all the ideas they have for the design in a form. Once I receive the request, I get to work using Photoshop. I take all their ideas and create 3-4 different ideas. I then email them to the customer and we liaise until both parties are happy with the design. We come to an agreement on a price and I get painting. It is really simple and a very personal experience. Sometimes we chat on the phone and there have been times where I have been able to meet them in person.
Do you feel your online store helped push your sales, and why?
Definitely. The thing that originally attracted me to Wazala was the fact I could integrate the store into my website and have the customer be able to shop whilst not technically leaving my website. I think that alone has helped traffic to the store and pushed sales. Also, the help I got from the technical support team to make my own widget was amazing and has given my website a very professional look.
We see you get a lot of traction on Twitter, how do you feel social media helped your business succeed?
Social media is very important to me and my business. Without social media, there would be no Brass Monki and I wouldn’t be where I am today. Twitter is a brilliant tool to help spread the word. I use the new social media feature on Wazala to promote new products. I have found that using it to promote coupon codes has been very successful and it seems every time I tweet a code, I get a sale lately.
Any advice or suggestions to other artists thinking of starting their own business?
My advice is to just do it. I waited 2 years before finally deciding to give it a real go and I wish I had done it sooner. As long as you plan and research well, you will not fail.
Checkout the Brass Monki website to get your own pair or just get inspired!
