Meet Joel Bear | Artist & Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joel Bear and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Starting a business is like setting sail across the ocean to a new world. Business is a journey filled with windless days, stormy nights, and potential mutiny, but it’s also a creative adventure, and that’s what’s beautiful. Over the last nine years, I’ve been working in the creative industry as a founder, creative director, photographer, director, designer, composer, and stylist, among other roles. Over the years, with the different businesses I’ve started, each one has new possibilities and new skill sets that need to be acquired. When I begin a new project I ask several questions: do I enjoy this topic? Will, I enjoy researching this? Will I enjoy the type of customers or clients that will purchase my product or services? Do I have an unfair advantage in this industry? Is there vision, skill, network, or capital that I have access to? These questions help me gauge the mental fortitude and drive I will need to accomplish the endeavor. Experience has taught me if I don’t believe or love what I’m making and selling, I will not succeed. Will I enjoy spending my most important resource, time, on growing this idea into a project, then into a business; this is the most vital question I ask myself. Once I have those questions understood, I dive right in.

The next step in the business foundation is to research the market, looking at what products and services are selling. I’ll then inquire into what culture is being built, who are the players in the industry, what tools we need to begin, what capital or team is needed, and what are our goals for the company. I’ll composite all of this data and information into a document or deck and then start brainstorming my angle in this industry. Now I can dream, ask questions, brainstorm, and build the foundation of the world I am looking to design.

After I have my foundation, then I try to get the product or service to market as quickly and simply as possible to understand if it’s a fit. I did this with my new clothing company BRUTE FLOWERS. Instead of starting the company with an entire clothing collection we just launched two canvas totes; this allowed us to get to my favorite parts: storytelling and community building. The totes were low-lift items which allowed us to start telling the story of the brand and selling immediately. After receiving feedback we adjusted and launched our first clothing collection, a small run of t-shirts and hoodies. With this as our runway, we’ll keep adding and adjusting with each drop, slowly seeing what works and how we can improve our brand around the mission of “wearable art.”

Business is a wonderful journey. It’s an adventure of telling stories, creating experiences, designing solutions, and exchanging value.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m the founder and creative director at a contemporary clothing company here in Costa Mesa California called BRUTE FLOWERS. We create pieces that feel like wearable art inspired by the modern and abstract art movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The graphics on each piece of clothing is pulled from a drawing or painting I’ve done and weaves into an overarching story told through our collection. We’re looking to give the clothing a story making the wearer feel like a gallery. We desire to take the concepts of the gallery and bring them to wear on the streets.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite spots in Los Angeles are often on the east side. I love grabbing coffee in Il Caffe or Maru coffee if I’m downtown. Maru also has one of my favorite clothing boutiques called DEPARTAMENTO which is hidden in the back. For food, I’ll hit Pizzanista or cruze up sunset blvd to Pine and Crane, or hit Yunomi Handroll in the art district.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shout-out person is Gareth Pon, he’s a creative director and visionary storyteller. I’ve learned a plethora from him over the years. One of the best insights was to get coffee with two separate people every week and ask them questions. This has helped my career immensely because it always kept me learning and meeting new people in my city thus expanding my vision.

Website: www.bruteflowers.com

Instagram: @joelbear

Twitter: @joelbear

Other: www.joelbear.com

Image Credits
Model: Peter Caggegi