For the Lovers 💓
Temi Coker joins our 25C lineup
blog.thirty-two // I’m writing this on Wednesday evening. As I look out the fifth-floor window of our studio, snow falls peacefully to the ground. It feels like the calm before the storm—literally and metaphorically.
Over the next seventy-two hours, we’re turning this space into an art gallery. Roughly a dozen artists from around the city are dropping off pieces; their canvas is a simple sticky note. On Saturday, we’ll welcome in patrons to peruse the gallery, create their own piece, and consider purchasing a sticky note from a featured artist. Black tie is encouraged (though not required).*
Back to the present. In thirty minutes, I’ll miss the bus—and scramble through the heavy sleet, before hopping on the Metra in the nick of time. For now, though, I’m enjoying this peaceful moment in a snow globe of my own creation, teetering on the seesaw between life and work. Sometimes, those beautiful in-between moments are all we really need.
Speaking of which: Temiloluwa “Temi” Coker is a multidisciplinary artist who experienced many beautiful moments in 2024. Scroll down for Shua’s conversation with Temi, the tenth installment in our “Twenty-Five Calls for 2025” series.**
— NGL
P.S. Wanna attend The Sticky Note Art Show? Have a friend you think might be interested? Check out more details and RSVP here.
P.P.S. Last week, we talked with Alex Robinson about creative imposter syndrome and completing a Kickstarter for her new film, Meatball. You can read more here.
Temiloluwa “Temi” Coker is a multidisciplinary artist who lives in Dallas, Texas. He taps into the surreal as he weaves design and photography into his compositions and apparel pieces. His studio also plays host to a wide variety of client work, including some of the biggest names across art and entertainment.
The following conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Shua Buhangin: Hey Temi! What were some of your biggest wins last year?
Temi Coker: Yeah, so my biggest wins definitely included taking a chance with the red jacket—the “For the Lovers” one.
I almost didn't do it, but my wife was like, I think you should. We have this phrase where we say, Till death do us art. And essentially, the meaning is, like, until we die, we're going to create art—together.
That was one win. Another win, of course, was taking three months off to just be a dad with my son. Not thinking about work, but more so thinking about being present and available for my wife and my kid. So that was a win.
And then I would say the third one was just keeping our photography studio afloat. When I think about all the stuff that I'm managing, there's just a lot. I don't even know how I made it through last year. I just thank God for the energy and the wisdom.
But yeah, our photography studio…we had BigXthaPlug, a famous rapper here in Dallas, stop by. And TIME, the magazine, came to our studio to shoot their Patrick Mahomes cover.
SB: Sick.
TC: Those little things were really reassuring. To be picked out of all the studios in Dallas…connections helped, of course. I knew the photographer. I knew his agent—she's my agent as well. And so everything just worked out.
SB: What are some of the things that you want to take from last year and bring into 2025? What are you doubling down on?
TC: For me personally, the biggest lesson was just learning how to let go of the things that I can't control. I would do the work and I would be like, okay, well, I hope people mess with it. And you can't control that, but you've done what you need to do and you should be proud of that.
I'm also doubling down on my shop. My shop did really well. I exceeded my goal by two hundred percent, which was crazy—I didn't even think that was possible. Now that I know that there is a demand for stuff that I create, I'm going to just double down on that even more.
And then also this year, I’m trying to work smarter, not harder. I’m figuring out how to spend more time developing a system versus just taking things day by day. Here's how I'm going to research, here's the day I'm gonna research—I'm gonna learn how to block my calendar so I can focus on specific things.
SB: Hmmm. That makes sense.
TC: Another thing—making Reels more often. Probably try to get on YouTube. I haven't really edited anything, but I've just been recording. I don't know if that's good or bad. I tend to overthink, so even when I'm recording, I'm like, well, where's this gonna fit in the story? Or that's too long. I wanna try to be better with that.
And then lastly, connecting with more people on LinkedIn. I've realized the issue is not that I'm not talented—the issue is that a lot of people don't know that I'm talented. I don't mean this in, like, a prideful way. But I know I have a specific style and a vision, and my shop showed me that.
You know, the way people responded to the stuff I made…a lot of them were like, oh my gosh, I've never seen anything like this. And I've been here. I started doing this in 2011. This is Year Fifteen of me pursuing my creativity. And this is Year Six of doing it full time.
People just didn't see it, and now they're seeing it more.
SB: Yeah, I feel that sentiment. It’s very consistent with the people I’ve been talking to. 2024 was a constant ebb and flow of things coming our way, and there’s been a lot of good opportunities and good stuff. But there's also been a huge measure of burnout. So it's definitely figuring out a structure where you can pursue things and actually dive into them without having to burn outside of it.
TC: Exactly. Exactly. And I think for me, the future goal is…I want to design because I want to, not because I have to. So what are the systems that can be put in place to get me to that position?
And partly, it's not sitting around and waiting for the big brands to come. It’s making smart investments. You know, we have two houses. We live in this one right now and we're renting the other one to other people. That gives us different streams of income.
Then my shop…what does it look like if I get to a point where I can start hiring people to come up with product ideas and patterns using my stylized inspiration? So now I don't even have to design—I just have to approve. Those are, like, the future things. But of course, right now, I have to put in the groundwork to get there.
SB: Yeah, it seems like 2025 is the year of building foundations.
TC: Yes. I think last year gave me a taste of what the future could be if I took it more seriously. Now, okay…what are the action items I can do?
SB: Yeah, that's sick. Dude, I really loved your answers. Appreciate you spending the time with us. I know everything's been hectic lately.
TC: Of course. I love what you’re doing.
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
* Tuxedo t-shirts seems more like our wavelength tbh.
** If you’re new here: Our mission is to Make the Internet Feel Smaller. Through the zines we drop, the journey we document, and the gatherings we host, we’d like to extend an invitation into this little creative neighborhood we’re building.
By the end of our “Twenty-Five Calls” series, we hope you feel inspired to pick up the phone and catch up with a friend, too.