Shawn Smith’s youth was filled with video games and cartoons; and like many other children, Smith became obsessed. This obsession soon turned into a hobby as he learned to draw the images he saw in games and on television.
When he went to college at Illinois State University, Smith met his future wife, Jen Brody. For fun, both of them would create hand-sewn plush dolls based on Smith’s comical character sketches. The couple’s hobby soon turned into an idea for a business. In 2002, they launched Shawnimals, a Chicago-based character design studio.
Today, Smith’s designer toys, lifestyle accessories, apparel, and comic books are available for sale in more than 100 stores located all over the world. He has created over 400 characters since, and some of these characters now appear in Bean Village, Hotdog Kingdom and Ninjatown.
Smith’s latest success came with Nintendo DS’ release of the strategy game based on the Ninjatown brand. As a former editor at Electronic Gaming Monthly, the entrepreneur had a lot of contacts in the industry. One of those included the video-game publisher SouthPeak games. Smith heard that SouthPeak needed a unique IP, and he was quick to jump in on a deal. It wasn't long until they licensed the Ninjatown brand for development. Their site traffic went up to 500 unique visitors per day since the game was released.
Like many artist-entrepreneurs, Smith finds it difficult to strike a balance between business development and creativity. He carries the responsibility of making sure that a certain level of creativity is maintained while still making a profit. Despite these challenges, Shawn remains optimistic regarding the future of his business.
Smith is making this world a better place, one ninja at a time – for video game addicts, at least. With the success of his company, he has built a popular toy line and lifestyle brand.
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