Meet Marcus Kan | Founder & Agent

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

Hi Marcus, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It was a very spontaneous decision to turn Draw A Dot into a business. Originally Draw A Dot was just a side project I created on social media to showcase some of the amazing fashion illustrations I discovered on the internet. After running the account for 2 years, I gained a lot of artist followers and soon brands and marketing companies started to ask me for artist recommendations. From there, I have collaborated with brands on different illustration contests and represented a few illustrators in North America so I can help them to get jobs.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

Building the Draw A Dot community was not what I had in mind in the first place. The original reason I created Draw A Dot was that I wanted to share with the world the fashion illustrations I like. It was just a hobby. I am glad after 2 years, brands started to approach me to collaborate with them and I can now send artists to different stores for different in-store events.

When I started to learn more about this community, I realized a lot of artists are looking for opportunities to work with fashion brands and what they are missing is they do not know how to market themselves. Therefore, I have created a subscription group and teach them how to create the right portfolio so they can increase their chance to get noticed by the brands, and possibly job opportunities.

I am always excited when I know my artists in the community are collaborating with brands and working at different in-store activations that require their skillset. I am also very happy for the artists when I see their works show up on the brands’ social media accounts as this is the kind of recognition artists want from the brands.

There are definitely a lot of challenges with business because there is no blueprint to follow. I haven’t seen other people creating an art community focusing mainly on fashion illustration and helping artists to connect to different fashion brands. Sure, there are art agencies out there, but they are not necessarily just focusing on the fashion aspect, and they will not teach the artists on how to build their portfolios. Because there is no blueprint to follow, that means I can explore this business with no boundaries, and I can continue to lead the community to the direction they want me to go.

I think the main lesson I learn from this business is to never give up because there is always a way to make the impossible possible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I live in Toronto, Canada so here are the things I would recommend.

I would take them to Kensington Market because this area can give them a glimpse of the multi-cultural aspect of Toronto. There are a lot of great cafes and restaurants in that area. Since that area is also close to Chinatown, so I will take them to that area as well and get some great Chinese food.

As for tourist attractions, CN Tower, Distillery District and the Hockey Hall of Fame will be some places I will take them to go. If time permits, I will also take them to Niagara to see the Niagara Falls. If they come in April/May, I will most likely take them to High Park to see the Cherry Blossom.

As for food, all the restaurants on Ossington (between Queen and Dundas) are good. I also like Jules Bistro where they have great French cuisine. If they are into Italian food, I will definitely recommend them to go visit Gusto 501.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give a shoutout to everyone in the Draw A Dot community. Without the support and participation from these amazing artists, I would not be able to create so many amazing contests with the brands. Ultimately, it is this group that encourages me to keep going and exploring different opportunities.

Website: https://drawadot.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drawadot/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/drawadot

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drawadot

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrawADot

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/drawadot

Image Credits
The photo of me is taken by Maiku Wong For the other artworks, the name of each artist is in the file name.