DETAILS
This is my entrepreneurial pursuit—a hands-on experience in product development, go-to-market strategies, founder-led sales, and negotiation by applying it to something close to my heart: Art.
Stage: Product-User Fit
Bringing 'Play and Display' to Life: My Journey from Idea to Launch as a Solo Founder of Pumbhirri Studios
Play and Display is a physical product that combines art with experience design to make art in people’s everyday spaces more meaningful. I’ll be adding more visuals to make it even more expressive in the coming few weeks, but I couldn’t wait to share the journey itself—even if the “perfect” visual narrative isn’t ready just yet.
ABOUT
Not just a print 🖼️, not just a puzzle 🧩
Imagine art that doesn’t just arrive pre-made on your wall but instead invites you to assemble it, to connect with it, and then proudly display it. 'Play and Display' is about creating that personal bond with art, making it engaging and meaningful beyond the usual gallery or museum setting. By the end, you don’t just own art—you’ve helped to create it, piece by piece.
It's not just a product, it's an Experience!
While 'Play and Display' is technically a puzzle, it’s more than that. I thoroughly studied the puzzle-making experience, including how space constraints can take away the joy of assembling a large or complex puzzle. So 'Play and Display' has 4 experiential pillars:
Designed for Small Wins
Separate the pieces to assemble one artwork at a time.
Designed for Any Space
Two smaller artworks are laptop-sized, and won’t take over your dining table.
Choose Your Adventure
Each artwork offers a unique difficulty level.
Frame and Display
Frame each piece individually or combine all for a bold statement.
Prototyping, Testing, and Countless Iterations...
It took over 50 variations across three years to reach the final product, which I’ve named the “3-in-1 Ensemble.” Designing this wasn’t just about printing an image on a puzzle—it was about carefully balancing the art’s complexity with the puzzle’s difficulty. After every round of feedback, I made adjustments, from tweaking the artwork to testing puzzle sizes against standard frames. I wanted the finished product to be something you could proudly display, so compatibility with off-the-shelf frames was key.
Go to Market Strategy
Launching 'Play and Display' took resourcefulness. I ran a Kickstarter campaign, raising 40% beyond my original goal without a single dollar spent on advertising. This organic approach helped me connect with an audience across Canada, the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, and India. It also confirmed a deep, genuine interest in the product—a rare and valuable validation.
There are two key decisions that define the Product:
- Audience Fit: While 'Play and Display' is technically a puzzle, it’s more than that. It’s designed for people who value art and collectibles, not just the act of puzzling itself. This shift from “puzzle” to “art print” changed everything, from messaging to where I looked for potential customers.
- Pricing Strategy: Unlike mass-produced puzzles, 'Play and Display' is intended as a piece of art that happens to be a puzzle. The pricing reflects that middle ground: between the cost of a standard puzzle and a fine art print.
Key Strategic Pillars
Resource Allocation: Working solo forced me to be strategic with every dollar. I reinvested Kickstarter funds into inventory rather than treating the excess as profit, extending my runway for growth.
Founder-Led Sales: Selling directly to customers has been invaluable. Customers want to know the story, and hearing it straight from the founder can make a big difference. For me, packing each order myself and managing all the details is as important as the sale itself.
Retail Strategy: My goal is to make 'Play and Display' available in select artist-focused stores and high-end furniture stores. The first test is with Shopmakers.ca, a chain of Canadian stores featuring independent artists’ work. For furniture stores, I’m focusing on locations that excel at curating aspirational interior spaces, where my product feels right at home.
My Biggest Challenge: Manufacturing of course!
Manufacturing has been a steep learning curve. Unlike the software world, where you can iterate quickly, launching a physical product requires patience. There’s less control, and lead times are longer. I prepared as much as I could for unexpected issues, but nothing teaches like experience. It’s a reminder of how different the physical product space is, even for a designer with a background in iterative processes.
This is just the start!
This project isn’t just a product launch; it’s the start of what I hope will be a series of explorations in blending art with immersive experience design. As a solo entrepreneur, I took on every step: from product development to market strategy to the hands-on work of shipping orders. My background in design fueled the process, driving me to obsess over each element so that every choice added to the experience.
What's next?
As of October 28, 2024, my first inventory of 156 units has arrived, and I’m fulfilling pre-orders as I build my direct-to-consumer channels. I’m not paying myself a salary yet; every sale goes back into expanding the brand and reaching more people who see value in connecting with art in this hands-on way.
The 'Play and Display' is just the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, and this experience has deepened my love for creating new beautiful things!
