In gas stations, convenience stores and tourist shops around the world, travelers and passers-by can usually find a rack or two featuring little pieces of adhesive paper to help them remember their journeys. In 2014, Durango’s Bryant Aucoin went on a climbing trip to Yosemite, and, with an entrepreneurial epiphany, returned the proud founder of Colorado Sticker Art. His mission is simple: “I’ll try to make a cool sticker.” Here, we chat with him a little about his outdoor sticker endeavor.
So, stickers, huh?
I know it’s random as hell. I didn’t even like stickers before I started this.
What did you do before starting a sticker company?
For the last eight years I have been working for a retail company doing product development, fulfillment and shipping and wholesale and stuff like that. The company is called Theory 11 … I was V.P. of operations of that company for eight years and was basically the second employee. That was really hard to quit.
Who does the artwork for your stickers?
I just got online and found these random artists in Denver … I just give them paragraphs and pictures and drawings and I’m like, Hey make this into something really pretty, and they do.
What has been the biggest surprise about your sticker business?
The demographic surprised me for sure. I didn’t expect it to be a lot of women, especially a lot of older women. That was really funny … I think I was actually surprised at how fast it worked. And honestly, my biggest surprise was that it just [bleeping] worked. Like, it’s honestly surprising, because I never was into stickers.
Where’s the craziest place you’ve seen one of your stickers?
Nowhere crazy yet. I look forward to that! … The coolest thing, though, is that I ship online, and thus far, I have shipped to a couple of places overseas like Mexico and Europe.
What is the ideal Colorado Sticker surface?
The space shuttle! … But seriously, a sticker of mine in space would be epic.
Have you gotten any weird suggestions for designs?
My dad gives me some really weird suggestions. He just wants a hot chick on a sticker. It’s really funny. But I have a lot of people asking me for their places, too. Lake Tahoe, California. The Northwest. I got an Alaska request. That’s pretty cool.
Are there any downsides?
The BLM land has this thing online where if you give a dollar, they’ll plant a tree. That’s something that I’m hoping to be able to work into our business model … I’m just not thrilled with the fact that I’m printing so many damn silly stickers.
What’s your favorite sticker so far?
There’s a rock climbing sticker that I just submitted to print that’s inspired by crack (climbing) in Indian Creek. That place holds a special place in my heart so I’m fairly biased on that one.
So I hear that you have some Utah stickers coming out soon?
I got inspired by Utah because we go there all the time … I’m hoping to bring in a lot of subcultures who would be stoked … I did yoga outside, crack climbing, paddle boarding … Yeah it should be cool. There are some pretty wicked stickers, actually. I’m pretty stoked about it.
Will you change the name for other states? Utah Sticker Company?
Nope, but I am simplifying the name I publish to “Sticker Art” more often now … I want people to know that Sticker Art isn’t just about Colorado but anywhere that has inspirational landscapes.
Where do you see this going in the long run?
I don’t know. I have the entrepreneurial mindset where I could do this in every state that I want to or that I feel like. I want to buy a travel trailer and then move out of my house and live in this travel trailer for a few years and visit these places that I want to make stickers about and just be in that environment.
What’s your girlfriend think about that?
I think she’s actually more excited than I am!
