Ten minutes with Karl Addison of Partybots

If people chase you down the street yelling, “Nice Zebrasaurs! Cute Dance N Banana! Neat Narrr Bot!” then you are a loyal customer of Karl Addison, founder of Partybots. As a customer of Partybots, you love our environment, hate mass-produced homogeneity, and thrive off of individuality. Karl’s designs are imaginative, inspiring and just a little quirky … I was intimated to chat with this creative, moral-minded designer/entrepreneur but after a few minutes realized that Karl is just “an artist that does a lot of dorky drawings and illustrations.”

Oligoville: What’s your name? What’s your company’s name and where are you based?

Addison: Karl Addison—Partybots. I’m based out of Seattle, Washington.

Oligoville: What is your product and what are your price points?

Addison: I create original drawings and illustrations. My drawings are hand printed (using sustainable methods) on 100 percent organic cotton and eco-poly blend. We create apparel and accessories. My price point is generally around $30.

Oligoville: Describe your target customer.

Addison: My target market is folks that like independent art and like to support sustainable business. I have a wide range of customers due to the amount of artwork I produce and the apparel selection I have.

Oligoville: When and how was your brand born?

Addison: I would not really call it a brand—it’s more of a medium that I started to use to produce my drawings for the general public. It actually all started as a joke. I drew the “partybots” for a flier when I turned twenty-one. A lot of my friends loved the drawing so I put it on a shirt and posted it online.

Some folks in New York bought some apparel. I took that money and made a few more. I kept my corporate job for four years. I used my profit to grow my business. In hindsight, it was a great idea because now this is my full time gig—I draw pictures for a living.

Oligoville: What inspires your designs?

Addison: Everything does—my friends, family, travels, and my observations of my environment. On an average day I have around twelve to thirty ideas for drawings that I want to do. My head feels like a slideshow of images and ideas.

I wouldn’t call my stuff designs because the purpose of them is not to end up on a shirt; I draw because I love it. The stores choose the drawings they like and that’s what gets printed. I don’t think of my drawings in terms of what will sell. I think that is the key difference between a designer and an artist.

Oligoville: How have your designs evolved since you started your company?

Addison: My artwork has changed a lot since I started this company. I started drawing with my older brother as a little kid. My older brother was so naturally talented it is ridiculous. That kid could draw anything and it would be the most amazing realistic drawing you have ever seen. I lived in that shadow for years.

Drawing everyday is what gave me the confidence in my own artwork. The process of screen-printing has dramatically changed the way I draw. Now I draw in terms of colors what will layer, I draw with black pens on white paper and make my outside lines thicker then I would normally. So in that since, my artwork has evolved a lot to the process of my company.

Oligoville: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Addison: My biggest accomplishment is that I’m living off my artwork. I left my corporate job behind. It’s still embarrassing for me to try to explain to new folks I meet what I do for a living. I generally just tell them I draw pictures and doodles.

Seeing folks all over the place wearing my drawings. I ran in to a man a few months ago in New York that bought a shirt of mine in San Francisco. We both happened to be in Union Square at the same time walking by each other. That was amazing.

Oligoville: Tell us about some unexpected setbacks you have faced since starting your business and what you have learned from that.

Addison: Don’t count on anything being solid or grounded. Good business is being two steps ahead of everyone else. One month your online sales can be through the roof, the next they are only a couple hundred dollars. Make sure you are looking to expand to new opportunities consistently.

Oligoville: What advice do you have for other aspiring designers out there?

Addison: Just do it. There is not a lot of weight if you talk about it but don’t do anything about it. It took a good solid four years of working forty plus hours at my corporate job, then another forty hours a week at home on my own business to grow it. Now that I’m solo I work even more then that, twelve-hour days are normal, and seven days a week is expected. You have to push yourself to the limits in order to be successful and known for your artwork.

Oligoville: Name three things you cant live without?

Addison: My art supplies, my friends and family, and my inspiration.

Oligoville: What in your mind is the number one worst fashion crime?

Addison: Utilikilts … I don’t know much about fashion but these are seriously the dumbest thing ever. [Editors note: For those of us—including myself—unaware of what an Utilikilt is its, “American made utility kilts for everyday wear.”]

Oligoville: What is your favorite music genre?

Addison: This is a little dear to me; I don’t have a favorite music genre because I’m obsessed with tons of different types of music. Lately I have been listening a lot to Iron & Wine, Ratatat, Chromeo and Bon Iver.

Oligoville: Where do you like to shop?

Addison: I really don’t shop ever unless I need stuff. When I do shop I go to mom and pop places; I avoid malls, and retail chains like the plague.

Oligoville: What is your own personal biggest fashion mistake?

Addison: My grandma made me MC Hammer pants when I was in the third grade … I kinda of wish I still had them.

Oligoville: You would love a one-way airline ticket to …

Addison: Tokyo, Japan

Oligoville: Who is your favorite style icon?

Addison: Don’t have one.

Oligoville: If you were not a designer, what would you be?

Addison: I’d be a comic book artist if I did not do what I was doing now—along the lines of Jeffery Brown.

Oligoville: If Hollywood made a movie about you, who would play you?

Addison: Pat Morita … a la Karate Kid.

One of Karl’s customers stated, “I had one of my best days ever … wearing my Partybots.” I too plan to buy a rib-heart tee and have the best day of my life, after all who could resist such unique design and such adoring praise? Karl stated, “I discovered a company that makes some of the best screen-printing solvents in the world using renewable soy. I know it’s hard to get excited about solvents, but in a world of contaminated drinking water and hazardous waste, I’m absolutely psyched about these.” After speaking with Karl, I’m absolutely psyched about solvents (and Partybots too).