A fashion designer searching for the ideal model to showcase her work. A model looking for their big break. Enter Day Dreamer, a phone app that’s equal parts Instagram, Tinder and Pinterest. It’s a creative resource center available via Android and iOS where creatives can discover one another and collaborate on projects.
As a songwriter and producer living in Los Angeles, Mary Walker saw first-hand the frustration and hurdles creatives faced when searching for collaborators and ways to grow their professional networks. In early 2017, she attended an Austin networking event where she connected with Kelsey Peterson to collaborate on music.
Peterson’s own experience as songwriter and musician, coupled with her background in operations and business, made her a perfect business partner for Walker, who also brought her music experience and entrepreneurial and creative drive to the table. Together, they launched a private beta version of Day Dreamer in April 2018 to a variety of Austin creatives and began hosting local events, including the quarterly Build Your Portfolio series.
It was just a perfect blend of tech and creativity to get this thing off the ground.
Their startup quickly showed potential, and it was chosen to join Tarmac TX’s 2018 cohort. The nine-month program supports tech startups addressing a social or environmental issue and is set up by nonprofit CALSO in partnership with 3M.
Since its launch in August 2018, Day Dreamer has offered creatives a way to connect with one another within nine creative mediums and find new ways to collaborate on projects and find booking opportunities.
The app has already helped bring projects to life.
Joseph Mach, a friend of Peterson, performed at Day Dreamer’s Build Your Portfolio: Vol. 1 - Performing Arts event in July 2018. He connected with Cameron Smith, a videographer who was filming at the event, and ultimately collaborated on his CD release party.
“He was able to receive really good footage," Peterson said. "The collaborative effects that come from Day Dreamer is that instead of simply hiring somebody and having something very specific filmed or done in your way, you’re able to bring them in collaboratively. This actually brings the cost down, which makes the energy and the time less exhaustive. It's more fun when you’re working with other people and how they view your project."
Walker had a similar experience with a fashion designer and model.
“We recently had a jacket designer, and she had forever been looking for a model. Then there was a model on the app list who was just forever looking for an opportunity to model,” she said. “They met and they did a photo shoot -- and then tagged us on Instagram and our social media. That was one of the first collaborations I saw, and I thought that was really, really cool.”
The business partners hope to spread the application worldwide but want to first get a good grip on the Texas scene and expand out into the United States. Austin offered the perfect environment to launch their startup.
“I wanted to be here because the creative community is so strong," Walker said. "I wanted to do music here and when I got here and started playing with the idea of this app, I was like: ‘Austin is just perfect because, unlike L.A., it’s not nearly as transactional as far as the creative business side. There’s just a lot of people who are doing it for the love of it. It’s a lot easier to get involved in the scene.
“Additionally, I think Austin is very unique in that there are a ton of creative activities going on all the time -- from gallery openings to theatre shows -- and most of it is free or at a really low cost, whereas in New York, L.A. or even Dallas, there’s oftentimes a heavy ticket price for things like that,” she said. “The barrier for entry to the creative scene is very low and it’s extremely active and it’s also one of the newest startup capitals. It was just a perfect blend of tech and creativity to get this thing off the ground.”
The Day Dreamer app is still new, and its founders are exploring new avenues to build revenue.
“Everything is fundamentally about the creatives and we never want to do anything at the expense of the creatives. It’s all about filling a value and a need. It helps that we’re all creatives on our team and those are the only people we ever want on our team because we want them to really understand the pain point,” Peterson said.
They’re considering using ads from businesses that want to tap into the creative market to hire talent or connect with others with similar values, ideals or products and services. Other options may include premium subscriptions; the app is currently free to users.
“Everything has to fundamentally meet that creative need,” Peterson said.
You can more about the Day Dreamer app at this Sunday’s During the Day Dream event. The creative mixer goes from 1-4 p.m. on March 3 at soFly Social, 2426 Webberville Rd. in Austin.
Along w/ our friends at @funsize, we are thrilled to host our 1st creative mixer... just in time for #SXSW! We'll have drinks + opening the mic for you to announce your creative projects + ideas. Sign-up to speak on 3/3: https://t.co/0w3jl98aGp #austin #creativity #events #music pic.twitter.com/1reItqpc8N
— Day Dreamer App (@daydreamernews) February 11, 2019
