Why This Graphic Designer Walked Away From Logos...and Never Looked Back

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Angry Designer – "Why This Graphic Designer Walked Away From Logos...and Never Looked Back"

Date: June 30, 2026
Host(s): Massimo & Sean
Guest: Anton Duong (Founder, Sticker Print Go)

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Overview

This episode explores the unique journey of Anton Duong, a graphic designer who pivoted from traditional branding and logo work to founding a successful custom sticker company, Sticker Print Go. Through candid storytelling, Anton shares his early entrepreneurial spirit, the calculated risks he took, and how embracing a niche led to creative and commercial success. The conversation delves into community-building, experimentation with materials, business growth tactics, and advice for designers at a crossroads.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Early Passions to Entrepreneurial Hustle

• Anton’s Childhood Roots in Stickers
  • Inspired by his sister’s pop culture sticker collection, Anton embraced sticker culture early on.

    "I would stick stickers on anything. I collect stickers as well. And then when I got into middle school, I was hustling stickers." – Anton Duong (02:20)

  • Began selling stickers to classmates, learning about supply, demand, and making a profit.

2. Career in Packaging & the Leap to Stickers

• Professional Background in Beauty Industry
  • Over a decade of experience in packaging & prototypes for major retailers (Walmart, Target).
  • Used high-end print equipment for beauty products; this expertise would become crucial for sticker production.
• Pivotal Moment:
  • Anton considered focusing on branding and logos, consulting with known designer James Martin.

    “[James Martin] told me, if you want to do branding and logo design, don't do stickers anymore. …They wouldn’t know you as the sticker guy.” – Anton (04:48)

  • Met Chris Lau, who convinced him to give stickers a 30-day trial as a business.

    “My wife said, you know, sometimes you just gotta take risks.” – Anton (05:20)

  • Launched Sticker Print Go in just seven days with four products.

    “We actually designed and launched the site within seven days.” – Anton (07:35)

3. Building & Scaling Sticker Print Go

• Rapid Market Validation & Growth

  • Used Shopify and customized templates for a quick launch.
  • Leveraged local events, organic outreach, farmers and artist markets to build community recognition.

    “At this point in Orlando, if you always ask someone like, oh, hey, do you know any sticker place? They're gonna highly recommend us because we are pretty much the only sticker shop in Orlando.” – Anton (10:00)

  • Social proof and word of mouth drove large B2B/corporate business (Pop Tarts, Cheez Its).

• Balancing Local Roots with National Reach

  • Grew beyond Orlando, filling a market gap with quality, speed, and custom service.
  • National shipping, strong social presence, and focus on artists & creative communities.

4. Innovating with Materials & Experiences

• Experimentation as Value-Add

  • Sourcing unique materials (e.g., canvas-texture, holographic, custom packaging).

    “If it sticks and you can print over it, it could be a sticker. So why not try something?” – Anton (12:31)

  • Offers artists new creative avenues and affordable ways for the public to access art.

    “If you can turn it into a sticker, like, $5, anyone can afford a sticker. Anyone can afford art.” – Anton (13:46)

  • Stickers as functional memorabilia and connection (laptops, skateboards, water bottles).

• Stickers as Modern Business Cards and Marketing Tools

  • At events like Creative South, stickers become networking currency.

    “Creative South has become a place where people use stickers as a currency for meeting each other.” – Anton (14:37)

  • Stickers equated to guerrilla marketing and brand exposure for minimal cost.

5. Business Philosophy & Competitive Edge

• Strategies Against Larger Competitors
  • Affordable pricing and frequent deals support creatives' profit margins.

    “We like to be able to have people be able to afford stickers, so we're always continuing to put deals out there.” – Anton (15:45)

  • Emphasis on customer trust, flexibility, and rapid turnaround.
• Expanding Product Offerings
  • Started fulfilling frequent requests for custom labels (not initially advertised).
• Showcasing Client Work
  • Features notable brands in Sticker Print Go’s Instagram feed.

    “Mostly everything that you see on our Instagram feed... we were able to work with Pop Tarts, Cheez Its.” – Anton (17:38 / 00:00)

6. Community Building and “Stick and Slap” Show

• Fostering a Local Artist Scene

  • Founded the Stick and Slap Sticker Show—annual gallery event, growing from 60 to 100 artists.

    “First year was 60 people. Second year was 80 artists. This year we're going to go up to 100 artists.” – Anton (22:52)

  • Provides a platform for artists and ignites industry connections (e.g., companies scouting talent).

• Integration with Instagram & Local Culture

  • Stick and Slap operates its own handle (@stickandslaporlando).
  • Plans to grow, keep events theme-based, and expand reach.

7. Advice for Designers at a Crossroads

• Taking Calculated Risks
  • Encourages designers to pivot within the creative space, not necessarily leave it.

    “Take risks. You never know who you're going to meet, when you're going to meet them. There's always a right time, right place for something.” – Anton (21:14)

  • Stresses importance of community and getting out of your comfort zone.

    “Until I left business, I was like, oh, what is out there? Oh, these are my people.” – Anton (21:51)

• Giving Yourself Deadlines/Challenges
  • Assigning a strict timeline (e.g., 30 days) can create discipline and focus for new ventures.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Stickers as Art:

  "If you can turn it into a sticker, like, $5, anyone can afford a sticker. Anyone can afford art." – Anton Duong (13:46)

• On Pivoting Careers:

  "Take risks. You never know who you're going to meet, when you're going to meet them." – Anton Duong (21:14)

• On Community:

  "Always putting yourself out there is always important, because if I didn't put myself out there, I wouldn't meet you guys." – Anton Duong (21:27)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–03:30: Anton’s early sticker hustle and collecting culture
• 03:34–06:40: Transition from beauty packaging to stickers; launch story
• 07:35–10:20: Building the business, local outreach, rapid growth
• 10:51–13:54: Serving designers and artists, unique materials
• 14:37–16:22: Stickers as brand marketing and business cards
• 16:29–18:10: Competing, business evolution, high-profile clients
• 21:05–22:30: Advice for designers, risk-taking, community
• 22:33–24:19: Stick and Slap community show
• 24:38–25:39: Final words on risk and creative commitment

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Final Takeaways

• Pivots can lead to greater satisfaction and business opportunity—stickers became Anton’s gateway to more creative freedom and impact.
• Stickers are more than merch; they're powerful vehicles for memory, connection, and guerilla branding.
• Building local community leads to national reach, and direct engagement with creative peers multiplies opportunity.
• If you’re frustrated or burnt out, don’t leave the industry—pivot, experiment, and stay connected.

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Find Anton Duong:

• @antondoung (socials)
• Sticker Print Go (business)
• @stickandslaporlando (community show)

Stay Creative.

Transcript

[Anton Duong]

Mostly everything that you see on our Instagram feed. Like, last year, we were able to work with Pop Tarts, Cheez Its. And yeah, they're real cool. It's just so crazy that, you know, we get to work with one of my favorite breakfast treats in the morning.

[Massimo]

There's one thing that all designers, like, obsess over, and I'm realizing, you know, it's replace the business card, and that is the sticker. Okay. Everybody goes crazy over stickers. This is, like, such. It's become such a cool thing in our space. And so in hanging out with everybody here, I have met and made a new friend. State your name, please.

[Anton Duong]

Hi, my name is Anton Duong, and I run a sticker company called Sticker Print. Go, dude.

[Massimo]

And this isn't just stickers, like, regular stickers. I mean, the stuff that you were showing us. And we'll talk more about that after. But, like, it's so cool because, I mean, it's just not flat stickers.

[Anton Duong]

No.

[Massimo]

You know, and it's not like the. The glittery stickers. Like, we're talking experimenting with, like, types, and it's got fabric, and it feels like canvas is so. So texture, like.

[Sean]

Yeah, right.

[Massimo]

But we'll get into that. We'll get into that.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

Your story is awesome. Okay. And I think it's a great story that people need to hear. So let's start right from the beginning.

[Anton Duong]

So I have been in a lot of different businesses in the past, and stickers was kind of like a. A passion, you know, like something that love crafting. Someone always finds something that they like to do, and this is probably one of the things that I made as a hobby. Yeah. Now I'm gonna go way back. Way, way.

[Sean]

That's okay.

[Massimo]

That's okay.

[Anton Duong]

So I have a sister who's nine years older than me, and the thing about her is she lived in a time where a lot of people were living through pop culture, so they collected anything that was toys all the way to stickers. Books. Comic books.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Anton Duong]

So my sister was collecting stickers. So she had all these amazing, like, Lisa Frank artwork that she would go through, and if she liked something, she would peel it off and stick it into a sticker album.

[Massimo]

Yep. I remember the sticker.

[Anton Duong]

So sticker albums was kind of like a big thing. Yeah. And over the years, you know, we. We. We keep these things and we look through them, and it's such a. A novelty.

[Sean]

Totally.

[Anton Duong]

So over the years, like, for me, I would stick stickers on anything. I collect stickers as well. And then when I got into middle school, I was actually hustling stickers. And what I mean by that is I had a friend who, who had a plotting shop where they would do like T shirts and stuff as well. And they would cut these decals that usually go on cars. And then being in middle school, I had a lot of different classes and had a lot of different friends. So I had this little catalog inside of my folder that would pass around and, and it would look through the catalog and see which stickers that they want. So they would order a sticker from me. I would take a cut, my buddy would take a cut. It would take three days to turn around. So I'm in, you know, middle school, walking around like all these kids. I'm delivering stickers and I'm collecting money. It's just so crazy. And I would buy a lot of video games.

[Massimo]

Yeah, yeah.

[Anton Duong]

But that's one of the stories about how, you know, stickers has always been around in my life. But this is so cool.

[Massimo]

Like, you're right, I never. They're so tied to memories. And this is an incredible one. Yeah, it's, it's a memory. It meant something to everybody else. And then for you it's like, this is like an early, early entrepreneurial venture. Yes.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

Okay. This is so cool.

[Anton Duong]

So we're gonna fast forward a little bit. So I was in the beauty industry for over 10 years. I used to do a lot of packaging for a lot of different brands that we work with. The distribution center that I was working at, we were private labeling a lot of stuff for different brands. Stuff that you would see at like Walmart or like Target and stuff in the beauty section. So over the years I would make a lot of different prototypes. I need some type of printer to print these amazing detailed stuff because usually when you high end produce all of these things across the ocean, they need these things to be approved ahead of time. So I need something that, that people would see and then they approve on it. So when I left out beauty industry, I started just doing stickers for fun because I had that machine long. Behold. I met this guy who is a marketing guy who saw what I was doing and he said, hey, what do you think about turning this into a business? And his name is Chris Lau and I barely knew this guy for about a week. And then wait, weren't you going to

[Massimo]

just about like, can your, your print equipment get out of the state?

[Anton Duong]

That's a huge important part.

[Massimo]

You can't miss. You can't leave that of Course, of course.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah, we're getting there. The sauce.

[Massimo]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

So. So I barely met this guy and I'm telling this guy, I was like, hey, to tell you the truth, I don't really want to do stickers anymore because I'm a graphic design guy. I'm a creative. I want to go that route to where I can work with brands. I want to do branding, I want to do logo design. And I even had a call with James Martin. We're calling, we're dropping names here. So I had a call with James Martin and we were on a one on one and he told me, if you want to do branding and logo design, don't do stickers anymore. You know, just focus on branding. Because if you're focusing on one thing, people will always know you as the branding guy, the logo guy. They wouldn't know you as the sticker guy. So going back to the guy that I just met, I just got a call with James and then I'm going back to this guy. I said, let me think about it. I thought about it for two days. And then my wife said, you know, sometimes you just gotta have take risks.

[Massimo]

Yep.

[Anton Duong]

So I said, you know what, we'll try for 30 days. So I went up to this guy, I said, hey, you know what, we only know each other for like seven days. Let's go ahead and try this for 30 days.

[Massimo]

What do you think your equipment at that point was? What?

[Anton Duong]

It was a rolling bn.

[Sean]

Yep.

[Anton Duong]

Printer. And we were printing some pretty good stuff on it. So.

[Massimo]

And it was like it would print on a roll. They'd be like, it would cut as well. Right. So you were actually. So this is not like what a lot of people see. Flat little printers right now are sticker cards. This is full roll.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. We're talking about professional machines that, you know, is 8, $9,000.

[Massimo]

Yep.

[Anton Duong]

You know, just like any professional camera that you, you would want, you already

[Massimo]

had it because you were using it for something else.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah, so I was using for a lot of like, packaging and stuff like that. So definitely, like, it was a game changer for me as a, as a graphic designer, a creator for like a lot of different brands. They see something that they like, they approve it and we're ready to, you know, go on to the next project. So. So, yeah, really amazing stuff. And during that time I was learning a lot about different materials. I would go overseas to learn, like, you know, how boxes and stuff work for a lot of those companies. So I had a lot of experience with like, you know, Sourcing materials and stuff. So thankfully, because of that, I had the skills to do that.

[Massimo]

And you and this guy decided to give it how many days to see if it works?

[Anton Duong]

We gave ourselves maybe like two, three weeks. Oh, yeah.

[Massimo]

And he was like, okay, I'm gonna quit.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But I'm gonna try this for, like, you know, two, three weeks to see if it's worthwhile.

[Sean]

One last stab at it.

[Massimo]

Yeah, one last stab. And a really tight timeline.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. We actually designed and launched the site within seven days.

[Massimo]

Awesome.

[Anton Duong]

And we only had four products on the site.

[Massimo]

That's awesome.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

What did you use to design it?

[Anton Duong]

I use Shopify.

[Sean]

Okay, cool.

[Anton Duong]

And then I. I took one of the templates that they had and I gutted everything out. I have a lot of experience doing, like, WordPress and stuff. So of course, like, you know, you like to go in and customize things and make it look like not Shopify. Yeah. You know, so, yeah, we just launched that in a week. And then my good buddy Chris just started doing his thing. We put a couple ads out there, and then he targeted certain things on a lot of the social media. And then, boom, we started getting orders coming in one after the other.

[Sean]

Dude.

[Anton Duong]

And we're like, wow, this might work. And then we're like, okay, we'll go another month, see how it goes. Keeps going, keeps building. And then one thing led to another. We're like, okay, what's next? We're gonna keep building this thing. And on top of that, we live in Orlando. There's a lot of creatives there, and a lot of people in Orlando order stickers. Yeah. Cool. So we started meeting people and they come to us. They're like, oh, we didn't. You guys exist. Where have you guys been? Oh, we just started. Oh, cool. Awesome. It's amazing because, like, we live in a time where, you know, people buy stuff on Amazon, they get stuff like same day or like second day. And a lot of times when you order stickers, it takes two weeks to even get to you. Even though they say like three to four day turnaround time. You're right. We actually over deliver.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

We actually, like, let's say or comes in today. Within a day or two, we. We send out a message. After, if you're local, you can come by to our office and pick it up. It really blows our mind.

[Massimo]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you're obviously not. Not just a local sticker shop.

[Anton Duong]

Yes. Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And you continue to keep going and then you keep evolving. So let's. Because I Mean, it's been now three years, I think.

[Anton Duong]

Three years. Yeah, three years.

[Massimo]

And what does that look like the past three years? What's growth look like?

[Anton Duong]

Oh, man. We're really surprised on how many big corporate companies reach out to us. Maybe it's someone that we printed for before that is a designer as well, and then they know that we can deliver.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So I guess that word of mouth really helps us drive more business.

[Massimo]

So you guys are using paid ads, you're using organic, using SEO, social media. Talk to us about your whole plan.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah, so we hit a lot of the local markets, farmer's market, artist market. We would go to any type of event locally just to kind of put our name out there. And at this point in Orlando, if you always ask someone like, oh, hey, do you know any sticker place? They're gonna highly recommend us because we are pretty much the only sticker shop in Orlando.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

Not only. There's a couple other guys too. Yeah. Full respect for them. But, yeah, like, organic traffic is actually very important, I think, like, you know, hitting at a local level. Everybody likes to support local.

[Massimo]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

And by being there and by providing services for other people and they know that they can rely on you, that's more powerful.

[Massimo]

Yeah. Fair.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Now, what about outside of Orlando? How are you? Because, I mean, again, I thought it's brilliant that you're here at Creative South.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

You know, for this audience. Again, you're. Are you, are you. You're not just focusing on graphic designers, are you?

[Anton Duong]

No, I'm not focusing on that. Only, like, for me, I. My real job is I. I'm instructor. I. I teach at the Los Angeles Film School.

[Massimo]

Very cool.

[Anton Duong]

So.

[Sean]

Oh, really?

[Anton Duong]

Props to Los Angeles lafs.

[Massimo]

We're going to have to end this now. Since I found out you're a Prof. I'm sorry.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. So, you know, the good ones, though. Yes, of course. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, like, I think that, you know, by going outside of just being local, we ship national. We kind of build that connection with other people, other artists that. By doing like, social media posts and then letting other people know about us. And when they do find that, you know, they find reviews online, recommendations of other people. I mean, there's a couple of companies out there that are sticker companies, companies that kind of went the other route of, like, you know, supporting different things. So when that happened, it brought a lot of business to us and they found someone that they. That they can trust.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. So I think building trust with the company, a sticker company Would be very important.

[Massimo]

What's the appeal for designers to. I mean, because your stuff's always. It's hilarious. I love this.

[Anton Duong]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Kids are doing. So are you connecting with graphic designers based on the stuff you're putting out there? Because seen all kinds of sticker companies, and you're right. A lot of them are just really boring carpet stuff.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. Because the thing I think with stickers is, you know, you can order anywhere, Vistaprint, whatever, but you don't really get the whole fun factor when you get to customize things. Things that are new.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So people who we work with that are local artists and national artists, they always say, hey, is there anything new, something fun that we can work with? And we always, like, try to go to, like, trade shows, and we're always sourcing different materials. See if we can make a sticker out of it. Yeah, yeah. Because if it sticks and then you can paint, you can print over it. It could be a sticker. So why not, like, try something?

[Massimo]

Well, here, grab the pack. The pack's right there. Right. Like, dude, check this one out. It's like. It's the canvas material.

[Sean]

Yeah, I've seen that.

[Massimo]

Textured. It's just unbelievable.

[Anton Duong]

How did you get it?

[Massimo]

Feel that.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So we always, like, working with, like, different manufacturers that like to go the extra mile of doing something different. Like this canvas material. It's still vinyl, but it's textured in a way where it has that feel like a canvas. Yeah.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So if you're printing, like, you know, artwork or anything like that, that is like a painting. Oh, yeah. Here's another thing. People love going to these art galleries, and a lot of times they don't have money to buy any of these artwork. Oh, right. They're spending, like. I mean, the price tag on these things are like, $200, $500, $2,000. And they don't. It breaks the bank, right?

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

But a lot of times, if you can turn it into a sticker, like, $5, anyone can afford a sticker. Yeah, Anyone can afford art.

[Massimo]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. And they get to bring something home that they admire. So I. I mean, I love this.

[Massimo]

And I mean, everybody keeps collecting them, you know, now I put them on my skateboards. I've got a skateboard. I mean, that's the challenge.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Where do we put them?

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So I've, like, adorned a sticker or all my stickers from last year on a skateboard that now hangs on my wall, and I put lights on it. It kind of acts like a, you know, A wall lamp. It's kind of art. And I think that's gonna be an annual thing.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Because at least it gives purpose for these. But again, it's like every one of these have a meaning. They have a connection. It's, oh, I know the guy who did this, or I know the designer who did this. I like the artist who did this. So it is, it's a fun way to get connected with, I guess, what, designers and artists.

[Anton Duong]

So going back to what you were saying, like, if you're going to like these events, you know, as a designer or creative, you always have business cards. Right. And this Creative south has become a place where people use. Use stickers as a currency of meeting each other, meeting new people.

[Massimo]

So true.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, I, I don't find stickers just only for that.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

I think stickers are kind of like the best way to market something. Market a brand for a very low price because you pay thousands of hundreds and thousands of dollars just for, like, billboard ads. Right?

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

Get it. They get a lot of eyes.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

But the great thing about stickers is, is if you order like, a hundred of them, you can scatter it. Scatter everywhere they go. Laptops, they go on skateboards, they go on, like, water bottles, and it becomes like a walking billboard.

[Sean]

Yeah. So guerilla marketing kind of thing, right?

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. People stick it on poles and.

[Sean]

Yeah, just leave it.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah, we do that too.

[Massimo]

What? So now, again, your market's competitive, saturated. There are some big players out there. How are you guys competing against these big brand names?

[Anton Duong]

A lot of these big brands used to do a lot of marketing where they, they would have sales and stuff, but a lot of them actually kind of draw themselves away from doing that. And I think it's mainly because they're big enough to. Where they have enough clientele. Yeah, I'm guessing. But we like to be able to have people be able to afford stickers, so we're always continuing to put deals out there. So that way, you know, as a creative or someone who's vending, they have a chance to buy something that is cheap enough where they can make a profit off of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Make a living off of it.

[Massimo]

Oh, that's nice, actually. That's actually really cool. What does the future of your business look like?

[Anton Duong]

It can only go up from here.

[Massimo]

Stick around.

[Anton Duong]

Stick around. Yeah, we're, we're all.

[Sean]

I just got that.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. And I, I guess the only thing is, you know, we're going to continue finding new products to add to our arsenal. And, you know, when we source different things, it just becomes a. A new product that you can add to your business, whether it's food and beverage. So we started doing labels last year because every, every person that we print stickers that are vinyl for usually asks us, oh, do you guys do labels as well? So we're like, okay, we'll do labels. Yeah. It's not on a website. We don't advertise that on our website. Mainly because we have so much people ordering labels. So our label printers are printing all day.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Wow.

[Anton Duong]

But it will eventually be on our website. But if you do need labels, we do offer it.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

But all custom.

[Massimo]

Do you. This is just me thinking out loud here. But do you display some of the brands or the logos or the cool stuff that you guys do on your site? Like you have galleries?

[Anton Duong]

We do have a couple of galleries, but mostly everything that you see on our Instagram feed, if anything, is that is cool that we work with. Like last year we were able to work with Pop Tarts. Really great people. Cheez Its. And yeah, they're really cool. Really cool people. And you can find that on our feed. So every now and then you're going to see a lot of very recognizable brands.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

And it's just so crazy that, you know, we get to work with my. One of my favorite breakfast, you know, treats in the morning.

[Massimo]

It's poison.

[Sean]

And that's so stickerable too. Like.

[Anton Duong]

Yes.

[Sean]

You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Massimo]

So then. Yeah, that's actually a really good question. Do certain brands lend themselves better to stickers?

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Anton Duong]

A lot of them are actually very open. Yeah. To that. And some are very. A little conservative, but I mean, we respect them either way. Yeah. To be honest. So.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. So they're all great brands out.

[Sean]

What's the craziest thing you've made a sticker out of?

[Anton Duong]

Craziest thing that we've made stickers out of. Oh, man. We do. I mean, we don't. We don't like paper. I mean, does it last that long? But we always have people asking for paper and there's this person that was doing. Doing like, I guess, wine labels. Like they have this. Wine labels that are expensive. Yes, they're very expensive. Oh, my God. Like they have a state paper. Yeah. And we were making like, I guess this real estate company where they just want to peel off all the wine labels and then just stick on.

[Sean]

Put their own thing on it.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. Right, right. We're like, oh, okay. That's A. That's a weird request. Okay, cool. And then. Yeah, you have to peel everything off and then stick new labels on, so. Yeah. Okay. But we would. They want us to do it for them. So we were just soaking all of the bottles, wine bottles, into, like, you know, these buckets, and then you appeal everything. It all.

[Massimo]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, it's a marketing tool. There's so many things that you could do with stickers.

[Anton Duong]

Right.

[Massimo]

Like from exactly that, you know, taking a wine and just making it your own for a promotion to, you know, just handing it out as business cards. I think you're only kind of limited to. Yeah, I guess. I guess your creativity, your imagination for this kind of stuff. Right. I love the sticker packs. Everybody's doing sticker packs.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Which is insane.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Do you guys even get into, like, the, The. The foiling and, And. And packaging it all up and such?

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. So we have a couple of clients that require, like, us to do, like, the full fulfillment. So we would print the backing paper, we would print the tents. So depending on what type of style that you want to package stickers, we have staff to do that.

[Massimo]

Yeah, yeah.

[Anton Duong]

But it's, of course, all custom and stuff, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's always cool to, you know, see and work with artists. And that's the thing that. That a lot of people don't do at a lot of print shops is all they do is just hit print. They don't really work a whole lot with, like, oh, maybe we can use these type of materials for this. Oh, you come with, like, all different ideas to, like, you know, build a sticker pack.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

Because not only, like, is it, like, holographic stuff? I know canvas material. Some people only stick to one type of material.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Anton Duong]

So that's kind of cool.

[Sean]

That's awesome.

[Massimo]

So as. As an. As a graphic designer who pivoted into sticker production kind of advice do you have to people who are frustrated right now who are, you know, frustrated in their space, the competition, maybe they're. They're debating on leaving or. We always recommend pivot. Don't leave.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. Yes.

[Massimo]

You know, you've got experience. Stick in our space and just find something else. You did it and you did it quite successfully.

[Anton Duong]

Yes.

[Massimo]

What kind of advice do you have for them?

[Anton Duong]

Just continue, take risks. You never know who you're going to meet, when you're going to meet them. There's always a right time, right place for something.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

And when it does happen, you might go, how did we get here?

[Massimo]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Anton Duong]

And always putting yourself out there is always important, because if I didn't put myself out there, I wouldn't meet you guys. I would meet Mike, who runs Creative South. And I guess, like, during the time when I was working in the beauty industry, I was very conservative. I was very. I was in my own bubble.

[Sean]

Right.

[Anton Duong]

Yes. I didn't really go out there and meet other designers or anything because I'm working in the morning, I go home, eat, and start the next day over again.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So until I left business, I was like, oh, what is out there? Oh, these are my people.

[Sean]

Yeah. Yeah, Right.

[Anton Duong]

I found my people, you know.

[Massimo]

Right. And it is. The cool thing is, is it's such a cool group of people. Why would you want to leave this space?

[Anton Duong]

Well, yeah, I mean.

[Massimo]

I mean, I don't think that designers actually step out and meet other designers, hang out, you know, kind of do this kind of community stuff. Because once you start getting into these circles, you know, like, it's three years now I've known you. Right. I just found out about the whole drifting thing and.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Oh, my God.

[Anton Duong]

I have a whole thing. Hopefully, like, if you guys do come out next year. Yeah. And I'm doing the talk, I'm going to be sharing a lot of really cool stuff.

[Massimo]

So that's great. Right? This is awesome.

[Anton Duong]

Oh, one more thing I'd like to share. So we're talking about community. Right. It's always great to be out there. I started this thing in Orlando called the Stick and Slap Sticker show. This is going to be our third year doing it. For the last two years, we had. Our first year was 60 people.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

60 artists. Second year was 80 artists. This year we're going to go up to 100 artists. So it's all local in Florida. Maybe someday we'll open it up and we put all these stickers that are themed to a specific theme we put in the gallery where everybody can come and see.

[Massimo]

Yes.

[Anton Duong]

And also buy a sticker. And going back to, like, you know, if you wanted to buy posters at a poster show, it's like 20 to $25 a poster. Right. And thanks to Jason Craig for, you know, helping me kind of think about all the logistics to this, because he. He's an amazing person. He puts on really amazing poster shows. So props to him on that. But, yeah, like, all these amazing people would come. And last time we had it, we had over 500 people show up.

[Sean]

Holy.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. It was so many people there that I was like, whoa, what is going on? A lot of people sold lots of stickers and there was even some people that were working for different companies that were looking for artists. They were there jotting down names and then reaching out to these artists.

[Massimo]

Community.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Holy cow.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Massimo]

So it's a great idea.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah. So if you're ever in Orlando at the right time. Yeah. Come out and check it out.

[Massimo]

You got to put that stuff online so we can see it. I mean, again, I don't know if I'm gonna come up.

[Sean]

When's the next one?

[Anton Duong]

It's gonna be in September, October. It's gonna be at a gallery called City Arts.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah, we're not. We haven't announced a theme yet because in that space there's a lot of different exhibitions.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

And usually they kind of coincide with, like, the same theme.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So I kind of want to follow that tradition and basically meld that together. So whatever theme it is, we're going to represent it. We're going to represent really well. And with the community.

[Massimo]

Are those artists going to be on your Instagram or is it a different.

[Anton Duong]

It's. It's a different Instagram handle. It is at Stick and Slap Orlando.

[Massimo]

Stick and Slab Orlando.

[Sean]

Slap Orlando.

[Massimo]

All right, well, that we're gonna. And then how are people gonna find you?

[Anton Duong]

They can find me at Anton Duong on the socials and also you can find my business at Sticker Print. Go.

[Massimo]

Sticker Print, Go. Dude, I love this talk. This is so fun. This is so cool to hear about the stories about how people kind of get up and. And stay in the industry.

[Anton Duong]

Yes.

[Sean]

Leave the industry and especially putting a timeline on it.

[Anton Duong]

Yeah.

[Sean]

This is the day we're going to this point. If it doesn't work, screw it.

[Massimo]

That's actually brilliant.

[Sean]

That's crazy that.

[Anton Duong]

Because you don't know until you do it. Yeah.

[Sean]

But that's. Yeah, that's. That's gutsy and like, that's really.

[Massimo]

And giving yourself a timeline. So many people. I mean, again, you know, you get your. Your challenges. You know, I'm gonna. Your logo challenge, your 90 day poster challenge.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You know, giving yourself a timeline, it almost forces you to commit.

[Sean]

Right.

[Massimo]

Just a small amount of time and come out of it flipping business.

[Anton Duong]

Amazing stuff.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Anton Duong]

So keep doing it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Amazing doing it. Hope you guys got a lot out of this. Again, I love these, these conversations. They're totally inspirational for me anyway. But again, I think the message here is, of course, you know, don't leave Pivot, because, I mean, God knows what you can find in this place.

[Sean]

That's right.

[Massimo]

All right, angry designers. My name is Massimo.

[Sean]

My name is Sean.

[Anton Duong]

You are Anton Duan.

[Massimo]

Stay creative.

[Sean]

It's the angry Peace.

[Massimo]

It's.