A humble start to a new kind of project

- [Narrator] During these nights and weekends, Matthew began to develop his vision of a new kind of art project. One that would eventually reach people all around the world. All centered around a small silver sticker that read, "You Are Beautiful." - [Interviewer] What was the catalyst to start creating the stickers and that phrase? Where did that come from? - [Matthew] Yeah, so right then street art was blossoming really really big. The sticker culture was really exciting. I can admit it now, but when you're in a job like that, you spend a lot of time on the Internet. (laughing) So you're seeing this world happening, and it's really exciting, and I also saw it popping up around Chicago too. And so I thought that was really really cool. - [Interviewer] So when you say sticker culture, for those that may not be familiar, you're talking about people who are creating stickers, and literally just putting them on different pieces of, the environment, public stuff. - [Matthew] Yeah. - [Interviewer] Okay. - [Matthew] So little characters and all sorts of things. And, (coughs) I loved it because it's public and democratic, and you don't have to, sort of, enter a white cube or pay admission. And then I also loved the interaction that anybody can just come across it, and a lot of people will ignore it, but it might completely make somebody's day or something. That was really cool, so at that point, if you would go and put something up in the street, you might see a picture of it on a blog or Flickr or something, and that was amazing! And that was really cool, so I started doing little things like that to kind of try that out. - [Interviewer] Was it always that phrase or did you start out with a character or other things or - [Matthew] Ya, so the main start was that phrase, and I think kind of hearkened me back to the lessons that I learned that weren't positive. I wanted to create something that I thought was true, no matter what, and that no one could have a problem with, that everyone would kind of embrace as something real. And I felt like that message no one could have a problem with, that it was true to everyone, so I just started making a few stickers of that, and putting those up, and also trying out different phrases in different ways. I got some really cool white tape, so I'd just go out and write out things with tape on walls. So a lot of things that were in that vein of street art that had no damage. (soothing music) - [Narrator] As Matthew began to experiment with manufacturing the stickers, he saw the potential to create a lasting impression not only on the environments in which the stickers were placed, but on the millions of people that would encounter them. And when you see these stickers, there's something about them that makes them really stand out from the environment. (soothing music) - [Matthew] Yeah, so the very first stickers were, I guess, printed, off of http://www.PsPrint.com. (laughing) And back then, you couldn't just get whatever you wanted printed however you wanted. - [Interview] Right, you had like four options. - [Matthew] Yeah, and so I went with business card size, and you had to upload a JPEG, and so they came - [Interviewer] High quality. - [Matthew] really pixelated, and not even the right, like I had one of them green because all the lamp posts were green at that point, and they came just a gross brown. And then I found different label manufacturers, and they had a gold foil starburst, and so I just put it right on that gold foil starburst because I thought it would be fun to put on products in stores, but those weren't really weather-proof, so I start looking into what weather-proof options were, and I'm sure that I saw some either locksmiths little signs or the emblems on machinery and things, and something about that silverness, and so these stickers are 20 year rated outdoor, and they're actually metal. - [Interviewer] Oh wow, - [Matthew] And they stick to everything. (laughing) So they're really great, and they just last. Because that's one thing, if you're going to do it, make sure it kind of lasts - [Interviewer] It's going to be around for a while. - [Matthew] And so I like that idea that they blend in, you might not even see it, but then right at the right moment it might pop out at you. That first batch, I remember, was $684 dollars, and again, I was funding all this. So I was working a full-time job. I wasn't making amazing money, but enough where I could fund this, but that one printing screwed me up for a couple months. And I had to figure out how to pay rent and all that stuff, but I kind of loved that. But I was starting to realize that I couldn't just, if it had kept growing, I couldn't self-fund it forever, it'd just be impossible. So at that same time, a friend of mine, Chris Silva, got a mural job at Block 37 when they were building it and said, "Do you want to go in on this", and I said, "Well, what is it?" He said, "Well, it's a block long mural, (laughing) "and we have to make it in less than a month." I'm like, "Alright, lets do it!" And so we made it into a You Are Beautiful mural with his birds going through and also Mike Genovese was a part of it, and so we translated it into, I think at that point, we were able to find 30 languages. So it was all in different languages, and it ended up to be there for, I think, 3 years while the building was getting built. And so in Chicago anyway, that was, I think, a big moment for the You Are Beautiful project, and for people beginning to see it as a thing. - [Interviewer] Hmm, so people start getting the stickers and putting it up. I'm assuming you got feedback or got stories or examples of where people saw the sticker? - [Matthew] At that point, I was, and I still prefer to be in the background, but at that point it was 100% anonymous. We actually had a big fight, not fight, but a big-- - [Interview] debate? - [Matthew] debate when we were doing the mural, that I actually have my name on it. Because they were like, "Well, we obviously want our names on it, "but we think your name should be on it too." And I'm like, "I've never had my name attached to it at all. "I don't want that, I wanted it anonymous "to be more about the message itself." And so, I didn't get any direct feedback because I was kind of under the radar, but I would watch blogs and photos and things, and so you would see photos pop up and comments about it, and so that's how you could kind of get some feedback. And then the letters too, not only would it be self-addressed and enveloped, but people would send letters.