Meet Ryan Land | Graphic Designer / Wrap Technician

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

Hi Ryan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When I first started Hikame Designs I took a very “play it safe” technique. I would make money through jobs, and reinvest some of it in equipment and rinse and repeat. But after about a year, I decided it’s time to take a leap and make a first risky purchase ( A vinyl wrap printer, laminator, and plotter). After doing that I can honestly say that it has gotten me over my fear of taking a risk and having the possibility of failure. Making those high risk decisions is what will set you apart from the average DIY person at home, and open up opportunities when executed correctly. Without risks our company wouldn’t be where it’s at today.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
To start from the beginning, I worked in the car business for 12 years. During that time I also did a lot of design work on the side. When I started making money, I was making logos and other smaller graphics for Twitch streamers. I still remember my first gamer logo I charged $20 for as I was building clientele, but this was just on the side for fun while I still worked my full-time job. As new clients came by word of mouth, I continued to grow, developing a specialized skill set which allowed me to charge accordingly and start to put more eggs into that basket. Fast forward 12 years and now I have an amazing wife, two kids, and two dogs. As of 2024, all my eggs have moved into my design journey and I have parted ways with the day job. This was not as simple as it sounds and there have definitely been obstacles, but it was worth every effort. These are the biggest lessons I learned throughout my journey thus far: have the right mindset, find your 5 people, find your path, and create an environment that is authentic to you. The challenges we had as a family is figuring out the work/life balance (We are always working on this), figuring out what jobs to take on and what direction to take the business. When the business started I just did graphic design. Since then, I now do graphic design, produce customized apparel, stickers, decals, and wrap cars. Doing all these things, I had to pick the direction our business was going and where it made sense to invest our time and effort. I grew up loving anime, so I niched into the anime car wrap scene and that grew into Hikame Designs being a one-stop-shop. That sets us apart from everyone else. When I talk to clients about designing a wrap for their car, I am the designer, printer, and installer so I am able to provide advice during all aspects of the wrap process. You won’t find that at just any shop.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m very much a home-body person so this will be a little hard. As far as food goes, I would hit up a few local spots around the area like Las Palmas (My favorite mexican restaurant), Casa bonita (Because of its history), a few local Boba shops, etc. Being in the car community, I would like to hit up a few car events. There are some night time car meets that are always fun, and then an early morning cars and coffee event. I would grab a few of my other car friends to get the whole gang together and go for a cruise.

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?
My wife checks all those boxes. Kaylee is my wife, a mother of two, and an amazing business partner. Her love, dedication, and continual support in helping make the business thrive has been non-stop from even before the business became official. The other shoutout would be to one of my best friends, Sam Hinton. He is another big reason the business has progressed to where it is today. Aside from that, continually surrounding myself with people of equal values or that are going the same general direction and mindset has been super helpful; from meeting other vendors and building new friendships, to constantly listening to business and entrepreneur podcasts: Gary Vee, Vihn Viang, etc. We are incredibly fortunate to be part of such a loving and supportive community and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Website: www.HikameDesigns.com

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Image Credits
Photos done by : Redline Photography (Instagram) Barenkatze (Instagram) Hikame_Designs (Instagram)