Card Designer Spotlight x Yeppie Paper

The Card Designer Highlight is a sequence that includes impartial makers whose greeting playing cards you will discover in Paper Supply shops.  Meet and be impressed by a brand new designer each month on our weblog!

Jim & Jen are the brother-sister duo of Yeppie Paper that took an entrepreneurial leap into the greeting card world. Taking the phrase ‘Yeppie’ from their South Korean heritage, the model interprets to “cutie paper” which completely pairs with their playful card assortment.

How did you start your card-making profession?

In 2013, I had not too long ago left my job in inside design and felt the itch to do one thing inventive the place I might apply my love of portray and drawing. Having at all times been a fan of stationery and paper items, I quickly realized that greeting playing cards could be the proper solution to share my illustrations on a product that folks might really use. I mentioned my thought with my oldest brother, Jim, and to my delight and shock, he was eager about partnering up. Collectively, we launched Yeppie Paper in 2014 with a wholesome dose of fearless optimism and lots of arduous work as we tried to navigate the greeting card world and small enterprise possession for the primary time.

The place do you draw inspiration from? Meals? Pop Tradition? Timeless Motifs? Playful Puns?

I’m impressed by so many issues. As a life-long animal lover, I wish to depict animals in our merchandise doing issues that come naturally to them, however that people can relate to as effectively. For instance, a hamster stuffing its cheeks with a birthday cupcake, or a pair of beavers constructing a dam like newlyweds beginning a brand new life collectively. My youngsters and their revolving pursuits encourage me as effectively. Due to them, I’ve made playing cards with unicorns, rainbows, caterpillars, butterflies, planets, leopards and cheetahs, simply to call a number of! I’m additionally impressed by my family and friends as a result of they’ve good style – haha – and I attempt to create playing cards which might be playful in a complicated method.

What does your day seem like as a cardmaker?

No two days are the identical – apart from my morning espresso! My brother and I don’t have any official workers, which implies we each put on ALL the hats in working our enterprise. He handles the stock, packaging and order achievement facet of issues, in addition to gross sales rep relations and bookkeeping. That enables me the area to develop new merchandise (we’ve three new releases per 12 months that add about 40-60 new designs in whole), keep and replace our product listings on our web sites, and deal with ongoing advertising and outreach efforts. My to-do checklist adjustments relying on the time of 12 months.

At the moment, I’m deep in “manufacturing mode”, which implies I’m portray and dealing on Photoshop and Illustrator on a regular basis. I binge podcasts (normally true-crime) and hearken to music as I work. Within the late afternoon, I shift gears and decide up my youngsters from faculty and ask them 1,000,000 questions on how their days have been. We eat dinner collectively, slowly prepare for bedtime, and after they’re asleep, my husband and I’ll chill out on the sofa and ideally watch a present collectively.

What’s your most well-liked medium?

All of our merchandise begin with a hand-painted illustration. I exploit gouache on paper. Gouache is an opaque watercolor with sturdy pigment and is nice for layering and superb element. I additionally use ink pens to hand-letter lots of the textual content on our playing cards and stickers.

What does your inventive course of seem like?

I’ve a giant sketchbook the place I maintain working lists of concepts for brand new playing cards and stickers. Every new launch consists of a wide range of “on a regular basis” classes (birthdays, congratulations, thanks, sympathy, and so on), in addition to seasonal holidays relying on the time of 12 months. I sketch out sure concepts that I’d wish to develop additional, and from there I superb tune the illustrations and paint. I scan the ultimate art work onto my pc and do some bit of fresh up and colour correction on Photoshop, then I’ll end up the design on Illustrator and get it print-ready. At numerous factors alongside the best way, I understand I must get out of my very own head, so I’ll present my brother what I’m engaged on to get his suggestions. He’s a extremely inventive and intelligent individual with nice concepts and can usually assist me out once I’m feeling caught.

What are you most pleased with as a creator and card designer?

My brother and I had zero enterprise expertise previous to beginning our firm, and we managed to determine issues out via sheer dedication. The truth that over 500 shops domestically and overseas have embraced Yeppie Paper nonetheless blows my thoughts. Oftentimes, it may possibly really feel fairly isolating to take a seat in my residence studio, making one thing that I’m unsure individuals will like. However for nearly ten years, prospects and store house owners have constantly ordered merchandise from us and I really feel so grateful for the chance to share my artwork with them.

We’re additionally proud that, since 2020, we’ve donated 100% of proceeds from our Shock Packs and Abortion Rights stickers to causes which might be necessary to us, like Direct Reduction, Everytown for Gun Security, and The Nationwide Community of Abortion Funds. This 12 months, we’re donating to Our Home Grief Assist Heart, an LA-based non-profit that gives grief help to adults, teenagers, and youngsters.

Any enjoyable information? Fascinating hobbies exterior of card designing?

A enjoyable truth about Yeppie Paper is that we’re actually a household enterprise! Our dad and mom moved right down to Los Angeles from the Bay Space to be nearer to us after they retired. They bundle 1000’s of our playing cards within the consolation of their residence and we’d be drowning with out their assist. Jim and I stay solely minutes aside from one another and his transformed storage doubles as our warehouse and achievement heart. We’ve a brother in between us named Bobby, who lives along with his spouse and children in Orange County… and because the honorary third (silent) companion of Yeppie Paper, he’s at all times one of many first to “like” our social media posts!

On the weekends, my husband and I like to discover totally different components of Los Angeles and Southern California with our children, reminiscent of scenic hikes, native seashores and parks. We’ve a 13-year-old canine named Royce (that I like to confer with as my first baby) who joins us on our little adventures.

Discover Yeppie Paper’s Porcupine Balloons Birthday Card, Constructing Your New Life Marriage ceremony Card, and Ring of Hearth Encouragement Card at your native retailer or on-line at papersource.com. For extra inspiration and behind-the-scenes motion, comply with yeppiepaperjen on IG.

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