First of all, I would like to welcome you to the first entry in what I've decided to call the Artist Notes. This blog series will serve as a journal reflecting on my process and journey throughout the life and growth of AC Creatives.

This first entry will primarily introduce AC Creatives, my journey, and provide a brief breakdown of the events that brought about the Livery Series most of you know now. This blog series will also (hopefully) offer insights from my learning experiences as a business owner, which can benefit others interested in pursuing their own business.

I am no writer, so don't expect this to be a polished, grammatically correct blog series. I'm going to keep it casual, raw, and just write about whatever I'm experiencing at any given time along this journey.

With all of that out of the way, let's get right into it.

AC Creatives

Heyo! I'm Alek Cummings. I am also they guy making all of the artwork, packing your orders, and managing pretty much every other aspect of AC Creatives with a little help from my wife and mom.

I founded AC Creatives in 2016 and became known for graphic design services for automotive brands and my side profile car illustrations. AC Creatives has taken many different forms and approaches over the years in an attempt to find what's right for it.  In that time i finally came to the realization that i like being an artist a whole lot more than being a designer.

That big change is what brought us to the AC Creatives you're familiar with. I'll go in depth into the history of the brand in a later post but for now we'll just get into what it is now.

The Livery Series: A Step Forward

After roughly 10 years of creating vector side views of cars and exploring new mediums, styles, and techniques, I started exploring some new ideas that interested me. I had always wanted something of my own ever since I was young. For the longest time, I thought it would be creating side views of cars for people. I did a lot of commissions before I finally realized it probably wasn't going to be the fun, exciting future I had imagined when I started illustrating them.

During a career shift, taking on a role as a screen-printing designer/file editor, as well as creating side views for Garage Welt, I started to use my free time for experimentation and personal projects. This period showed me I didn't have to stick to side views.

Even with that realization, my previous failed attempts at starting something for myself had left a stain, and I really didn't feel like I had another try in me. I put my all into everything I do, and failure always hurts, so my projects became fun personal projects for me to enjoy the creative process and end result.

In 2022, I created the first Livery Series artwork. The set consisted of Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren, all of which you likely haven't seen because they were never formally released. This trio was created from a very simple thought: How do you make motorsport art for someone who doesn't want a car on their wall, or a significant other or roommate who doesn't share the same interest and wouldn't want all of these drivers and memorabilia on the walls?

It just so happens that I've always been fascinated with liveries. Ever since Forza Motorsport 2, I've been obsessed. The connection was quick—liveries are beautiful works of art. Zooming in on any part could be artwork of its own. However, someone with no interest in motorsport likely wouldn't recognize a livery; to them, it would be an abstract set of vibrant, eye-catching colors.

This was the foundation of the Livery Series: to make artwork that was instantly recognizable to enthusiasts, and still aesthetically pleasing to those who wouldn't know or care.

The trio accomplished exactly that. I loved the initial set of artwork; it was fun, challenging, and honestly relaxing. No crunch time, no making sure it was done right—just playing with shapes and colors to create something visually captivating and instantly recognizable. When it came time to creating the physical piece, I knew acrylic was the only option.

The way it floats on the wall, with the smooth polished finish that made it feel like a panel of the car, was truly the cherry on top that brought everything together. When our personal piece arrived, I was blown away. I got to see my fun side project in its final form, and it was more than I ever imagined.

That's when my wife said, "Why don't you sell these?" To which I quickly said, "No." The idea of taking on another endeavor and risking another failure didn't interest me at all. I was done trying for the foreseeable future and didn't see how it could even work since I had paid more for my trio than I'd ever be willing to mark up and sell them for.

I went on with life, working, experimenting, and taking things relatively easy. After over a year of my wife gently reminding me about the livery art, I reluctantly agreed to look into it more.

At the end of 2023, I created a new set of livery art. But this time, I made one for each Formula 1 team. The only thing left now was the issue of pricing, and the only way it was going to be possible was if I made a lot... After some more convincing from my wife and ironing out the product details, including the black frame and backing, I put 100 acrylics into production without much of a plan.

Once I received the 100 pieces and checked them for any issues and errors, I was ready to give the Livery Series a proper try.

Starting From Nothing

I have never had luck with Meta Ads in my years of experience creating and promoting my work. I have also always had a weird feeling about using them; it made me feel like I was trying to shove my work down people's throats, begging for money in return. However, you can't sell your art without an audience, and my existing audience was only interested in my side view work. It was clear they weren't engaged with the new direction and artwork. After a month of no activity (surprise, surprise), I decided to run a very simple ad with a very simple goal. I wanted to simply show the artwork, the opening experience, and the final result. If someone truly loved it, they could choose to buy it; if not, that's that. No overly salesy approach saying, "You need this," or "Buy now or else." Just an honest showcase of the artwork in an attempt to find my audience.

And it worked.

Within the month, I was basically out of everything. I had engraved, packaged, and shipped out roughly 95 pieces. I needed to put more into production to keep up, which led to my first major learning experience and hurdle: inventory management.

It takes roughly six weeks to produce a batch of these acrylics. This turns out to be a nightmare for planning and managing inventory, especially since the 2024 season was starting, and I had now created 10 more livery pieces.

Pressure, Inventory, and Uncertainty

After seeing how well the original set of livery art was received, I felt an obligation to make 2024's artwork even better. This feeling turned into an overwhelming, self-inflicted pressure to make it perfect, which turned my fun personal project into a three-week battle of second-guessing my work, deleting and restarting pieces over and over until I got a certain feeling from the piece. I must've had 25 or more different versions of Mercedes before I was happy with the result. Even though it wasn't as much of the fun, experimental journey it started as, I think the feeling to do better and give you guys something special really did elevate the series as a whole.

The 2024 artwork was done, and the 2023 inventory I had was basically gone. It took every penny (and then some) from my original batch of artwork to fund the second batch. This time, I put 300 into production. Finding the right mix of 2023 and 2024, as well as determining which teams I would need more of, proved challenging.

After a decent bit of planning and trying to predict the first half of the 2024 season, I had my quantities set and started production. But with 2023 inventory gone, I didn't have anything to sell, and for a month and a half, AC Creatives entered a hibernation period awaiting inventory. Pre-orders started to pile up for the new 2024 stuff, which was great, but I'll be honest—every pre-order we get gives me a little bit more anxiety. The idea of someone trusting us with their hard-earned money for a product no one has ever heard of and a somewhat loose estimated delivery date stresses me out. I know it's legit and that I'm going to send them out, but people buying don't know that, and they have every right to be concerned or worried about their purchase.

Also, due to the inventory, the business was very low on funds, and keeping up with the operational expenses was not easy. It was a tense, stressful six weeks, but eventually, they arrived. After 10 hours of unpacking, verifying inventory, quality control, and packing pre-orders, I sent out every pre-order we received the following morning.

My Perspective: AC Creatives Now & The Future

Even if you skipped through a lot of that (I don't blame you), I hope you take a moment to read this.

Regardless of the future, I am insanely blessed to have this moment right now. As an artist, personally, the most rewarding part of this experience so far has been watching all of you accept my work into your homes, offices, and garages.

It's almost indescribable to see someone else love something you've thought of and made. Reading the reviews and seeing the pictures you send in makes my day. I literally have a folder for the pictures you all have shared.

I also want you all to know that transparency is everything to me. Your experience is as important, if not more important, than the art itself. This wouldn't exist without you, and I will always be aware of that fact.

It's important for me to make it clear that you will get what you ordered, period. It blows my mind to read reviews from other companies saying, "I never received my item and they won't respond." To me, that's insane and frankly unacceptable. If you don't receive your item, IT WAS NOT INTENTIONAL. Please reach out, and we WILL get the issue resolved one way or another. The same goes for damaged or incorrect items. This art and your experience mean a lot to me, and accidents are going to happen. It's inevitable, but please be patient and know that I care and we will resolve the issue.

As for pre-orders, again, try to be patient. Your items WILL come, I promise. I'm an artist, not a con artist. Delays do happen, unfortunately, and I'm not the best at predicting delivery windows yet. This is not a message from experience—you have all been so wonderful and understanding. It just gives me anxiety, so I'd like to reiterate that.

I also want you to know I will always do what I can for our products to be priced as fairly as possible. Obviously, nothing ever gets cheaper, and there will likely be some price increases in the future, but I promise it will never be unreasonable.

All in all, nothing is promised. I fully understand that this could end at any time with one bad strategic move, especially in its early stages. It's all part of the journey, and while I'd love for it to do great and be a lifelong endeavor, I'm going to continue to enjoy the moment.

As I sit here writing this, my order counter has ticked from 199 to 200. The emotions are all there—the gratefulness, the happiness, all of the stress and pain that went into making it happen, as well as the uncertainty of the future.

Just know that I am and always will be immensely grateful for this moment right here, right now. I will continue to create and do my best to grow, but in the end, if it isn't meant to be, I will cherish these months for the rest of my life.

You are an incredible group of people—kind, understanding, and willing to give me a chance to pursue what I love, and for that, I thank you.

Until next time, take care.

GODSPEED