Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Pelfrey. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Color Me Places started as a group event created to paint murals and make art together called, at the time, Color Me Thirsty. Owners Jordan, Ariel, and Peterson took this event between their friends and turned it into a print shop next door to Peterson’s studio where we paint murals and create installations, as well as commercial art.
The concept for CMP was actually owner Ariel’s senior project in college. A place for creatives to come together and help each other through a community. He is the heart of the entire shop.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Opening a small business is never a smooth road. Something we say is “we are always learning.” Each day brings a new challenge, and each time we have found a way to make it work. Our struggles mostly include maintaining schedules for orders when we rely on technology to make orders. Technology is never consistent, so we have recently had to reconstruct our business model to ensure that we can overcome unexpected malfunctions. In these times, we have been able to think even more creatively, and has brought us incredibly close. We are grateful that this is our only major setback.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m Emma, I manage and design for Color Me Places and am the studio assistant at Red Tape Gallery. I can pretty much create anything on a computer; websites, graphic design, 3D animation, music production, anything.
The project I am most known for is my collaboration I did with my boss Ariel. We collaborated on a shirt design in 2019 merging my brand Saint and his brand Penny Brave, throwing a huge Halloween pop-up. I still see people wearing that shirt to this day on the street.
I’m most proud of the life I’ve created for myself. Making a career in art and design is not easy, and for me I have sacrificed a lot of stability to be where I am today. Every day I get to wake up and work my two dream jobs, and I never for a second take it for granted.
What sets me apart from others is my dedication. I have dedicated every part of myself to my career. If I am not working, I am probably thinking about work, how to make our business better, or how to help my bosses with any challenges they are having.
There is nothing more important to me than seeing the people I love succeed, and I will do anything to help them.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
COVID taught me that you can lose everything you thought you needed to survive and still be okay. Everything you need in life is within you. You can face anything.
Pricing:
- Custom shirts start at 1/$30
- 2/$50, 3/$60, 4/$75, 5/$90
- Our merchandise is between $10-$40
- We go up to 300 shirt orders
Contact Info:
- Email: colormeplaces@gmail.com
- Website: colormeplaces.com
- Instagram: @colormeplaces
Image Credits
Photos by Emma Pelfrey and Ariel Hernandez
