Creating the Products She Was Searching For: Tesia Royer of Sweet Kawaii Design
Sweet Kawaii Design | Clackamas, Oregon
Several years ago, Tesia Royer was working in a dental office and, in her off time, looking for cute and motivating stickers for her planner. When she couldn’t find any designs she liked, she created her own.
Tesia began printing her designs, and realized there was a strong demand for her inspiring stickers. Soon, her hobby bloomed into a full-time business. Today, Tesia’s company, Sweet Kawaii Design, is based in Clackamas, Oregon, and staffed by Tesia and her husband along with two employees. Their worldwide sales are fulfilled with production power from their seven Roland DG TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutters.
Please tell us why you decided to start Sweet Kawaii Design.
Tesia Royer: I actually had no background in digital art or printing prior to starting Sweet Kawaii Design. I had been working in a dental office and my husband was a pharmacist. I started creating my designs as a hobby to fill a need I couldn't find elsewhere – I wanted stickers for my planner that would help make it both cute and a bit more motivating.
We started our business in our apartment in December 2014, with a small inkjet printer and a Silhouette cutting machine. Since then, we have grown into our own office space and we now use seven Roland DG printer/cutters to print and cut our designs.
We sell online through our website, and our products are featured in 1,100 Michaels craft stores and on the Michaels.com website.
Our manufacturing facility is in a 1,500-square-foot office space, and our team consists of myself, my husband and two employees.
We've had customer orders from over 180 different countries, but the vast majority of our sales are to customers based in the United States and Canada.
How did you select your printing equipment? What features were most important to you?
We wanted production that was streamlined, where we could “set it and forget it.” The Roland DG printer/cutters are great because they allow us to print and cut in one seamless workflow. With our seven Roland DG printers, we are able to maintain a high level of quality and accuracy which has helped to set us apart.
We originally started with Roland DG VersaCAMM printer/cutters and over the past year have slowly upgraded all of our machines to TrueVIS VG2 models. We love their speed, accuracy and the quality of the prints.
In addition to overall quality, the TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutters allow us to choose a color gamut that works for our needs, which is a big plus. We specialize in pastel colors so using CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, light black and orange has really helped us showcase a beautiful color palette.
Another thing we love is, like all the Roland DG devices we’ve owned, the VG2s are true workhorses. We run these machines for hours on end each day, and they consistently deliver outstanding results with minimal maintenance required.
What trends are you seeing in the types of designs people are ordering?
People love what's “in” at the moment, and that changes often. As a made-to-order manufacturer, we need to be able to move and change with the trends.
We are always offering new color palettes and seasonal items as well as designs that highlight what is popular in news and entertainment. Since we are using our products in paper planners, we are always switching things up to match what is happening currently in the world. Our Roland DG printer/cutters let us create up-to-the-minute designs and print on demand.
What do you see for the future of Sweet Kawaii Design?
We are a family-run business that truly started as a hobby. We have fostered an amazing community over the years who have helped us make our dream a reality.
The word kawaii means “cute” in Japanese. We are working to expand our selection of items to become a one-stop shop for all things “kawaii” in the stationery world. With our production capability and our wonderful staff and customers, we are looking forward to an exciting future.
Tesia began printing her designs, and realized there was a strong demand for her inspiring stickers. Soon, her hobby bloomed into a full-time business. Today, Tesia’s company, Sweet Kawaii Design, is based in Clackamas, Oregon, and staffed by Tesia and her husband along with two employees. Their worldwide sales are fulfilled with production power from their seven Roland DG TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutters.
Please tell us why you decided to start Sweet Kawaii Design.
Tesia Royer: I actually had no background in digital art or printing prior to starting Sweet Kawaii Design. I had been working in a dental office and my husband was a pharmacist. I started creating my designs as a hobby to fill a need I couldn't find elsewhere – I wanted stickers for my planner that would help make it both cute and a bit more motivating.
We started our business in our apartment in December 2014, with a small inkjet printer and a Silhouette cutting machine. Since then, we have grown into our own office space and we now use seven Roland DG printer/cutters to print and cut our designs.
“We wanted production that was streamlined, where we could 'set it and forget it.'”
Please tell us about your company today.We sell online through our website, and our products are featured in 1,100 Michaels craft stores and on the Michaels.com website.
Our manufacturing facility is in a 1,500-square-foot office space, and our team consists of myself, my husband and two employees.
We've had customer orders from over 180 different countries, but the vast majority of our sales are to customers based in the United States and Canada.
How did you select your printing equipment? What features were most important to you?
We wanted production that was streamlined, where we could “set it and forget it.” The Roland DG printer/cutters are great because they allow us to print and cut in one seamless workflow. With our seven Roland DG printers, we are able to maintain a high level of quality and accuracy which has helped to set us apart.
We originally started with Roland DG VersaCAMM printer/cutters and over the past year have slowly upgraded all of our machines to TrueVIS VG2 models. We love their speed, accuracy and the quality of the prints.
In addition to overall quality, the TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutters allow us to choose a color gamut that works for our needs, which is a big plus. We specialize in pastel colors so using CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, light black and orange has really helped us showcase a beautiful color palette.
Another thing we love is, like all the Roland DG devices we’ve owned, the VG2s are true workhorses. We run these machines for hours on end each day, and they consistently deliver outstanding results with minimal maintenance required.
What trends are you seeing in the types of designs people are ordering?
People love what's “in” at the moment, and that changes often. As a made-to-order manufacturer, we need to be able to move and change with the trends.
We are always offering new color palettes and seasonal items as well as designs that highlight what is popular in news and entertainment. Since we are using our products in paper planners, we are always switching things up to match what is happening currently in the world. Our Roland DG printer/cutters let us create up-to-the-minute designs and print on demand.
What do you see for the future of Sweet Kawaii Design?
We are a family-run business that truly started as a hobby. We have fostered an amazing community over the years who have helped us make our dream a reality.
The word kawaii means “cute” in Japanese. We are working to expand our selection of items to become a one-stop shop for all things “kawaii” in the stationery world. With our production capability and our wonderful staff and customers, we are looking forward to an exciting future.