We were lucky to catch up with Finn Arnold recently and have shared our conversation below.

Finn , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Almost all of the knowledge I have about graphic design, screen printing, and embroidery has been self taught or through youtube. In high school, I would just sit on photoshop and illustrator trying to see what type of design I could make. I started learning all the tools and the hot keys to make the design go faster. At that time it was never even about translating that design onto clothes but more of just a fun thing to do. Screen printing and embroidery were more through youtube and reading online but those topics are tougher to learn without any hands on experience or machinery to watch. The main obstacle I found was that customizing garments is extremely tough if you don’t have any equipment so I ended up calling a print shop in town and asked if I could do a free internship and they let me come in a few hours a day. This is what really sped up my learning process and I wish I had done that sooner. There is only so much reading and watching youtube that one can do but there isn’t much progress until you get in the environment. Finding a mentor that can give you tips and tricks from their experience will go a long way. I think a lot of skills are needed to work in this industry but some of the crucial skills are patience, passion, and paying attention to detail. With the amount of variables, machinery, and production knowledge needed to make a design come to life these skills are necessary. I think the biggest obstacle now is not getting defeated when I’m not coming up with designs that I think the market will like. Most of our young lives we are graded on a scale through school, winning or losing through sports, or other reinforcement from an outside source but with clothing design there isn’t someone giving you an A+ when you finish a design. I personally feel as an artist I can really get into my head about if something is “good enough” even though I’m not sure what that looks like. I try to make garments that I would personally wear myself and hope others do the same.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Finn Arnold and I am a 22 year old from Topeka, Kansas. I am the owner and sole designer of a clothing brand named Manik.I became interested in the clothing industry as a career in high school. I loved streetwear, buying clothes all the time, spending class time my freshman year waiting for a Supreme or Palace drop. Around the same time I started teaching myself how to use illustrator and photoshop. I started making collages of rappers and trends I was interested in. From there, I decided to buy a heat press along with some transfer paper and would print these designs onto t-shirts to wear for myself. People at school started to take notice, wondering if I could print some of their favorite photos or images onto t-shirts for them and that was my first time receiving any type of payment for “designing clothes”. I dropped out of college in 2021 and after a couple years of planning and designing, Manik was officially launched in April 2023. The products I currently provide right now are mainly t-shirts and hats but I don’t see any limits to what Manik can put out. I have plans for all other types of garments, as well as accessories, home decor, figurines, etc. The main thing that I feel sets me apart from some designers is that I am involved in every part of the production process. Creating a design on the computer, making the screens or embroidery file, and being able to put that on a garment is what satisfies me the most. I screen print and embroidery everything that I am putting out and I hope it will always be that way no matter the quantity because the process is what calms down my brain when nothing else does. Overall, I’m most proud of launching my brand and seeing people rocking my pieces on the street. With Manik, I want to put out items that I would rock myself and always making sure that the quality is never overlooked.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative for me is the production process and being able to see an idea go from start to finish. Screen printing and embroidery have so many variables and it becomes therapeutic for me to see the design come together almost like a puzzle. I am lucky enough to have access to various screen printing presses, as well as embroidery machines and to see all the moving parts come together to make something that came from my head is the best part of being a designer. Being hands on is a huge part of my process and this also gives me the ability to control my quality as well as learn from my mistakes and become a better creator. There have been some clothing runs that I have sent off to manufacturers but I just didn’t feel as fulfilled receiving the finished product in the mail than I did making it myself. I think it is essential for an artist working with clothes to have some hands-on experience when it comes to production because it changes the way you think about your designs when it comes to placement, colors, different materials, the design itself, and even opening up new creative ways of accomplishing your goal or future projects.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot I had to make in my life was after I received my bipolar diagnosis in 2019. This was a really tough time in my life and I spent a lot of time being angry, confused, and trying to find an answer on why this had to happen to me. I knew something needed to change and over time I was able to accept the diagnosis and decided to turn it into the inspiration for my brand. I wanted to take the most negative event in my life and give it a positive connotation for myself which is the reason behind the name Manik. I want people to know the story behind the brand and hopefully that can inspire people that are in the same position as me. Manik is more than just a clothing brand, it’s my therapy and I hope I can share that with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: manik.world
• Instagram: manik.us

Image Credits
Diego Rios