Puzzles of Color Founders Talk Representation, Art, and What Inspired Their Business
Meet WIlliam and Ericka, the sibling duo who is here to bring the puzzle world something it has been so desperately lacking...diversity. They turned their lifelong passion for doing puzzles into a business that not only reflects Black culture, but embodies the beauty and artistic style of independent artists. These ornate puzzles elevate the style of the genre by giving people of all ages the opportunity to combine their love of art with technology free entertainment. Puzzles of Color reflects the diversity and representation of Black people accompanied with curated image descriptions from the artists which balances themes of family, love, children, and more. I had the chance to speak with William and Ericka via Zoom and discuss the origins of their company, puzzle process, and what we can look forward to as the puzzle collection grows.
Tell us about your background and your passions
William: My background is that I’m a freelance graphic designer. I grew up doing puzzles with my sister and I got into the challenge of seeing who could get it done faster.
Ericka: We would compete to find the mystery pieces.
William: It was great for sibling bonding. For me personally, I’m passionate about design and that’s why the branding, tone, and visuals are all cohesive with the social graphics and on the website. We wanted them to represent various skin tone complexions and truly encompasses what the brand stands for.
Ericka: We grew up in Allen, Texas (suburban life), I married my highschool sweetheart, and am a proud mother of a baby girl. I’m an event planner and project manager by day which also helps keep everyone on track and organized as we run Puzzles of Color. Those skills help me to make sure we’re meeting deadlines and hopefully when the world opens up again we can host events. My passion right now is the baby and I love doting on her, shopping, and just being a mom.
As William mentioned we grew up doing puzzles and then like any childhood hobby it dropped off until I rediscovered my love for them again when I was pregnant. My brother has friends who have great artists and I had several people in mind that I thought right from the beginning would be amazing to collaborate with, like Kwanzaa. Then the business just blossomed. We’ve had some hiccups along the way, but it’s been a growing process and I’m confident in the path that God has for us.
Where did your love for puzzles first begin and did you have any favorites that stood out (images, characters, style of puzzles?)
Ericka: Basically we would do puzzles every Christmas and my favorite was a 300 piece Kwanzaa one that stayed in rotation. Once we got confident we upgraded to the 500 piece puzzles and started challenging ourselves with harder images. I really love the photo mosaic puzzles (pictures within pictures) we would often see featuring cartoons like the Simpsons or Disney characters. I hope one day we can challenge our customers with complex designs like that.
William: I also enjoyed the photo mosaic puzzles because it made you more committed, focused, and allowed you to pay attention to the more intricate details. From there our mom transitioned us from general pictures to more art focused images like scenery or fantasy which would have these intricate details that we would want to frame.
This company is a labor of love between family, what has your experience been like working together as a team?
William: I would say pretty good. My mom calls me a serial entrepreneur. I grew to love the art of business early and would try different ventures as a kid like creating my own comic book, designing t-shirts, or freelancing with various brands. However my strength is not in time management so Ericka is a great counterpart in the organization aspects needed to run a successful business. She’s a great communicator and works well with all types of people so it’s awesome getting to see her in her element.
Ericka: We’re already a tight knit family and are already interconnected by living close and keeping in touch with our cousins and extended family as well. As siblings it’s nice because we already have a genuine affection for each other and maintain constant contact with each other. But it was harder now that we each have our own households to maintain, so having a business together has brought us closer personally and professionally. It’s been amazing for me to see him flourish in his design work and see his process from start to finish.
2020 has been a crazy year, what inspired you to launch your business now?
Ericka: For one, it’s having the time. The idea was already started in 2019 and then we finally pulled the trigger and launched it this year because we were at home quarantined like everyone else in the world. With the economy fluctuating and job security being nonexistent we wanted to create something we could control and genuinely enjoy.
William: I think what helped us was researching and seeing what other companies were doing and it gave us the motivation to know that while it could be challenging opening a business currently, it was possible. In terms of the business itself, sourcing the right materials and rocking with the learning curve of managing a business is a skillset we’re still learning but as my wife always says, “the first step is getting the product out there, read the room, monitor customer response, and then improve.”
What are some challenges that you experienced as entrepreneurs this year?
Ericka: Honestly it’s important to say that starting a company isn’t easy. Willam is a graphic designer and can talk about how print works, but neither of us knew how puzzles were made. The learning curve of mechanics like the type of blade we need, or what machine glues an image to the cardboard was a foreign concept to us both. You watch all these children shows that feature behind the scenes looks at factories and I’m living that experience right now. It’s interesting to learn about this whole other world of how a puzzle comes into fruition.
William: The good thing about the age we live in is that there are numerous resources to help ease the learning curve of shipping, importing, dealing with manufacturers, etc. I am a loyal subscriber of YouTube University at this point. I’m constantly researching each component of our business from shipping to printing labels.
Ericka: Recently we had to deal with how to price the puzzles for retailers and distribution, contracts, and it’s all the stuff. We have hit some major roadblocks along the way. But it’s great to be going through this together and have the support of someone that you know you can trust.
All of your puzzles are designed by independent Black artists, what was the process for researching the artists and selecting who you wanted to collaborate with?
William: I went to school for graphic design so I had a big artistic network to source from and I was able to talk with them when we decided to start the company. Social media has also been really helpful to facilitate reaching out, researching artists portfolios, and discussing our vision. We were really happy we had so many people who were excited to collaborate and take this journey with us.
Ericka: We always talked before we reached out to any artists and basically had to psych ourselves into the pitch because we didn’t know how our idea would be received, but everyone has been so great. We follow hashtags, pages featuring artists of color, different art mediums and are keeping a backlog of who we want to work with in the future.
What types of images/artwork do you look to feature on your puzzles?
Ericka: We’ve had a few people reach out to us and we’ve had to develop a screening process for the types of pieces we feature. They have to be polished, professional, and we have to see if the image is going to translate well onto the puzzle. When we chose our art we had a Google doc where we had them side by side to observe any holes like making sure we had different ages, genders, and that there was considerable representation.
William: Agreed.
As you continue expanding what would you want to tell future artists looking to submit their work?
Ericka: We want to have diversity in the imagery so my question would be to look at what we have and see how you can fill in the gap. I would encourage you to see what is out there and show representation of people and cultures that aren’t getting that visibility.
William: Filling the gap is a sentiment I echo in its entirety.
We’re all experiencing the lows and highs that have come with quarantine, virtual education, and remote work. What are the mental/emotional benefits of working on puzzles?
Ericka: I know for myself, I love TV but I am tired of all the screen time! Puzzles are definitely an interactive experience that can bring people together. It’s a stress reliever that challenges your brain in a different way, but it also has a big payoff when you complete the puzzle.
William: To piggyback off of that, our pieces are artwork and it gives you the opportunity to experience that from the comforts of your home. I believe seeing the details up close can make you appreciate the art more in addition to improving your cognitive skills.
One of the promotional aspects that set you apart is that you encourage adults to partake in the puzzle process, how are these puzzles for all ages?
William: If you're an art connoisseur who loves art, then this is a different way you can appreciate it while engaging with puzzling.
Ericka: Also, it’s the piece count that sets it apart from a standard kid puzzle that’s under 100 pieces. If you're an 8 year old that wants to do a 1,000 piece puzzle, we love it, but we want to stress that puzzles are fun for adults as well. Puzzles can be a bit of the great equalizer in that age doesn’t matter as much, you just have to take it one piece at a time.
What’s next for Puzzles of Color in 2021?
Ericka: We have so many ideas coming our way, so we’re being mindful to take those in and find what really resonates with the brand and voice we are trying to build. We started Black cause we are Black, but we have a multicultural group of friends so we plan to diversify the collection. We’ve got some exciting collaborations coming down the pipeline and just a plethora of new materials!
William: In honor of the moment that is a historic win for the first person of color and first female VP Kamala Harris, we definitely want to incorporate timely puzzles as well.
Follow:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/puzzlesofcolor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PuzzlesOfColor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puzzlesofcolor