The other day, Karlynn, the President of The Trail of Painted Ponies, and I were invited to speak at a local art institute about career opportunities in the graphic arts world. We talked about the history of The Trail of Painted Ponies and how it evolved from a public art exhibition into a collectibles company, and one of the things we stressed was that from the very start we wanted this to be an art-driven company. We said we also felt that if we were going to be successful we had to differentiate ourselves from other collectible companies, and one way to do this had been to develop an ever-expanding talent pool, rather than to hire a group of “professional” artists. We then talked about how, through national competitions and a standing invitation to creative people to submit design ideas, we had kept the imagery generated by The Trail fresh and surprising.
I’m not sure this is what they wanted to hear, as many of these students were going to school precisely because they hoped it would lead to employment as graphic designers when they graduated. But we felt it was important for them to hear the way different companies were thinking.
Throughout the class we encouraged the students to ask questions. At one point a fellow in the back of the room raised his hand. “You said you’ve been at this for ten years. My impression is that collectibles come and go. How have you managed to stay in business so long?”
Great question. As a point of fact, the majority of the product lines that call themselves “collectibles” never move from samples presented at a trade show to actual production. Many of those that do get to the development stage are, in effect, thrown against the wall and stick around for a couple of years before they begin to slide, and then they disappear. So why have Painted Ponies from The Trail become one of those “evergreen” collectibles?
A half-dozen reasons for our longevity occurred to me. Horses in art have been around for millennia, so we are part of a legacy that has proven to be durable. We do our best not to repeat ourselves, meaning we try to pick designs that are different from what’s come before. We are willing to add new forms (see last week’s blog). We are constantly thinking about ways of involving different artists – thus the Celebrity Collection, where we invite Hollywood celebrities to show their creativity extends to other fields such as the visual arts. Through our website we try to cultivate a sense of community with collectors.
I could have gone on, but sensed I’d said enough to answer his question. Thinking about it later, I thought, “This would be a great question to ask on the blog….”
