Design Entrepreneur Profile: Paul Budnitz of Kidrobot

Adapted from The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell (Rockport)

By Steven Heller and Lita Talarico

Paul Budnitz is the founder of Kidrobot in New York that produces limited-edition toys and apparel, fusing graphic design, fine art, illustration, industrial design, graffiti, and music. Over the past five years, he has launched a Kidrobot store and gallery in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Why did you found Kidrobot?
At the time, I was working on an animated film and I became addicted to a lot of the limited-edition toys I saw coming out of Japan and Hong Kong. I eventually flew to China and convinced some factories to help me make toys of my own.

Have you always been a comics and/or toy fanatic beforehand?
I was totally into comics for quite a long time. But I’m influenced by all kinds of things, especially fashion design. I love Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs and all the packaging that makes things precious. I like Japanese designers such as Comme des Garcons and Hysteric Glamor. And I like fashion trends in general. I just love mods, goths, and death rockers—all that early 1980s subculture stuff I grew up with. You can see that influence in some of our designs. I avoid kitsch, retro, or campy art. We have a big sign on the wall of our office that reads, “Nostalgia is Death.”

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