I began collecting used beer boxes from parties and taking them back to my dorm. I would duct tape the boxes together into a big canvas and then, with scissors, cut the boxes into a two-dimensional shapes and pin them to my wall. Here is a photo of one such creation I called "The Speed of Lite".
It was typical to see lawns like the one below on Saturday and Sunday mornings: trash strewn across the grass for the local "beer fairy" to collect.
So it turns out I had stumbled across a pretty good problem statement:
College students create a lot of trash.
How might we turn that trash into treasure?
Word got out about my beer box creations and within a few weeks I had cut out a design for half the rooms in my hall. Friends of friends then started reaching out for my art at some point thereafter BeerBoxArt was born.
My initial business concept was "sustainable Fat Heads" (the life-size wall stickers), but creating the large designs required more boxes than I could collect.
I wasn't 21 yet so I was limited to what I could scrap from my 21-year old friends and family. In order to scale I needed a steadier supply of boxes!
So I began setting out containers next to dumpsters at campus-area apartment buildings (see photo).
I also approached campus-area bars that happily agreed to set aside their boxes for me. With that, I had officially secured a steady supply of landfill-bound boxes to create my art.
(Check out the back of my CR-V after a typical haul 📦 🤪)
Environmentalism has been a passion for as long as I can remember, and I took pride in reducing my community's environmental footprint (remember: reduce > reuse > recycle).
It was 2017 by this point and I was in my junior year at Ohio State, studying Chemical Engineering. I had a consistent supply of boxes, I had created a website, and I had relatively consistent orders coming in.
But cutting the boxes by hand was monotonous and error-prone. It was clear that if I wanted to grow BeerBoxArt, I had to figure out how to increase my output.
Of course, 'Artist' and 'Businessperson' are not mutually exclusive, but I was more excited to run a business than to make art.
Several factors influenced my decision to focus on 'Business' over 'Art':
So, I considered scaling BeerBoxArt by hiring some buddies, but instead chose to use technology. Specifically, a laser cuter, which provides high precision and repeatability.
I joined a local makerspace and taught myself the laser program and PhotoShop.
Indeed the laser allowed me to create more intracate designs, faster than my previous manual approach. I also developed new "Beer Box Crowns" that I sold to partygoers, including at Pedal Wagon (ya know those beer wagons that are in some cities?).
Columbus' Anheuser Bush distributor heard about my art and they were interested in my art as the promotional items for Bud Light's "Live at the Dive" concert series.
I made a pitch, negotiated a price ($4.50/unit), and was able to supply several hundred Bud Light crowns for the event.
The crowns were a relatively big hit at the show (here you can see a bunch of folks wearing them) and it felt pretty cool to know that I was a blip on Bud Light's radar.
I was preparing to graduate from Ohio State in December 2018 and was not in the financial situation to pursue BeerBoxArt full time; on an hourly basis, I wasn't anywhere close to minimum wage and I had significant student loan debt.
So, I shelved BeerBoxArt and I focused my job search on environmental engineering.
In February 2019, I moved to Detroit and started as a Fuel Cell Engineer at General Motors. While I haven't picked BeerBoxArt back up (and don't intend to) I've still got a sustainable-business itch that I want to scratch.
Reach out if you want to scheme on a project 😉
