Question 1

What inspired you to start your business?

Accepted Answer

After a 40-year career as a commercial graphic designer in the advertising industry, I retired to a mountain in BC, Canada to supposedly spend a life of leisure and travel. I quickly determined that walking away from an intense creative career was easier said than done. I immediately started dreaming up ways to keep myself amused and immersed in a variety of creative passions… designing sun catchers, creating whimsical miniature gardens, and teaching myself to crochet so that I could use it as a base to weave textile art. I had no interest in “normal” hobbies. I simply have a mind that must dream up ideas that are uniquely my own. Once I started to designs all these items, I began to get requests from family, friends and neighbours to sell them. I heard about Etsy, so decided to open a shop and list my variety of creations for sale.

Question 2

How would you describe your business?

Accepted Answer

Because I have so many creative passions, I needed to coin a term to describe what I now sell in my shop. Whatnots seemed the best way to describe them. Hence deciding to call my business Typewise Whatnot Shop. My previous corporate business as a graphic designer was called Typewise Design Studio. Keeping that recognizable company name as part of my new artistic endeavour allowed my former client base to see I had started a new venture.

When the travel side of retirement kicked in, I began traversing the world on cruise ships. Everywhere I travelled, I had my art journal in my bag. Using sea and travel days, to relax in ship lounges, train cars, or hotel gardens to draw whatever strange design would flow out of my black ink pen.I describe my illustration style as freestyle. When I pick up my black pen, I have no plans as to what I intend to draw. I just let my mind wander after drawing some initial lines onto my page. Over the course of hours, or even days, I'll keep randomly adding more detail until I finally deem my illustration complete.

Once back home in my studio, I scan my black ink drawings into digital files to start adding colour to my illustrations.... sometimes via printing to paper and hand colouring, or into my iPad to colour via my favourite draw programs.

When the pandemic hit, and my travel bug got stopped in its tracks, I needed to find some new ways to amuse myself creatively while confined to my mountain home. I decided to start building my own artwork inspired wardrobe for future travel. And because of my expertise in graphic design, I taught myself how to create complex surface patterns and kaleidoscope designs.

I now have my designs incorporated into an assortment of wearable works of art and other assorted whatnots… bags, shoes, hats, umbrellas, fabric and wallpaper, home goods, jigsaw puzzles… whatever I decide might be fun to create using my artwork. I use print on demand manufacturers in a number of countries to produce the items I sell in my online shop.

I also now license my artwork and pattern designs to puzzle companies and other commercial companies to use on their product lines.

Question 3

What's your bestselling product & why do you think it's so popular?

Accepted Answer

Puzzles have become my bestselling product overall. I currently have my artwork designs being created into both laser cut wood and traditional cardboard puzzle formats, from companies in Canada, China and the UK.

The pandemic created a huge market for jigsaw puzzle lovers. And even now, post pandemic, the hobby has remained incredibly popular worldwide. The laser cut wood puzzle market has exploded in the past few years. And my freestyle designs, in their bright and vibrant colours, have proven to be both challenging and fascinating for puzzlers to build. One of my wood puzzle manufacturers has allowed me to take my puzzle designs to another creative level by allowing me to not only design the artwork, but all puzzle cut shapes and included whimsies as well.

Question 4

When did you launch Typewise Whatnot Shop?

Accepted Answer

Question 5

What's your favourite product from your own shop?

Accepted Answer

Personally, I am now most interested in the custom clothing designs I am adding to my shop. I exclusively wear only my own wearable artwork, produced by a number of print on demand manufacturers I have grown to love. I have been experimenting with new clothing styles and artwork designs to build my own exclusive wardrobe. For those clothing pieces which I personally fall in love with, I now offer them for sale in my shop.

Question 6

What's your favourite local business?

Accepted Answer

Harvest Cafe + Store in Chilliwack, BC

CANADIAN GIFT SHOPS

Typewise Whatnot Shop

PrairiePressed

Neon Flamingo

The Maker’s Keep

Alberta’s Own Marketplace

Mariposa Shop

Norton’s Cove Studio

Shop First Nations

The Maritime Box

Healing Mountain Creations

The Market General Store

Made In The Maritimes