PRINTINGCENTERUSA CASE STUDY
TURNING PASSION
INTO PROFIT
Teacher Loses Job And Turns Her Passion For Art Into A Growing Small Business
Summer Elisabeth is an artist located in St . Petersburg , Florida . She worked as an art teacher as well as teaching adults with special needs and disabilities until COVID hit and shut everything down in 2020 . Although Summer lost her career , she did not lose her creative spark . She began drawing portraits of her family and friends whom she could not see due to COVID restrictions and sent the portraits to them . At the same time , many iconic buildings in St . Petersburg were beginning to be torn down by modern businesses forging toward “ progress ,” so she started drawing these places out of nostalgia and to honor their memory . Little did she know , this artistic hobby would soon turn into a full-blown creative career , and her coloring books — featuring these iconic , bygone places — would begin appearing in shop windows all around her city .
THE CHALLENGE OF THE ART
When Summer was asked about the most challenging part of her art journey , she responded frankly with “ the people .” She explains that it ’ s hard to know what people want and are looking for since it constantly changes . “ The challenge of my art is trying to keep my finger on the pulse of what people want ,” she said . Although the idea of these coloring books started off as something she was creating for her own nostalgia during lockdowns , the idea quickly grew into how she could best serve her audience with this unique , creative idea .
SUMMER ’ S DECISION TO START A SMALL BUSINESS WITH COLORING BOOKS
What began as a creative release during lockdown soon turned into a small business idea with the potential for massive growth . Summer wanted to present all of her images in a format that was easy to look at and , more importantly , easy to color , making coloring books the obvious and best choice . What Summer did not realize was that her art was helping to facilitate people ’ s memories of these places , encouraging them to share stories and bringing families together in a time of mass separation as they looked through her books and remembered these areas as they once were .
OTHER CHALLENGES SUMMER FACED
One of Summer ’ s main challenges with this project was funding , as she was laid off due to COVID and lacked a steady income . Before she found PrintingCenterUSA , the quotes at competing places were completely outrageous , and they were not as willing to work with her throughout the process as she had never undertaken anything like this
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