The story of John
A Self-Taught Visual Language
John immigrated from Vietnam to Canada at age ten and experienced an immediate cultural shift. Long before the move, he had already begun teaching himself graphic design. Around age eight, he found unauthorized copies of Photoshop and Illustrator, then learned brushes, filters, effects, typography, and image composition by experimenting. He drew constantly but followed a more academic route through school, played basketball and volleyball, and later studied psychology.
His family's path also modeled persistence. John described his father working from modest circumstances toward a scholarship and a new life for the family. That combination of inherited drive and self-directed practice shaped John's habit of going deeply into whatever captures his attention. Chess, finance, visual design, and tattooing all became places where repetition could turn curiosity into a practical skill.
Choosing Creation Over the Expected Career
John worked in financial banking and still values numbers, but the job did not satisfy his need to make something visible and personal. Tattooing provided the breakthrough. Designing an image and placing it permanently on another person showed him how creative work could move from an idea into an experience someone carries. The transition was not clean or immediate.
He had to reconcile an academic and finance background with a practice his family had not initially framed as a career. He also learned that passion alone does not create opportunity. Relentless practice, timing, and repeated contact with failure make a person ready when attention finally arrives. That lesson later informed his founder style: pursue quality obsessively, remain willing to learn across disciplines, and treat authenticity as more than a marketing tone because the community will read the founder's behavior as the brand.
Turning OKD Into a Collectible World
OKD brings John's visual practice into a broader IP business built around digital collectibles, vinyl products, content, and community. He describes the brand as cute enough to welcome a wide audience while retaining an edge that makes its characters distinct. Community design is central. Rather than relying on financial rewards alone, John talks directly with members, learns their stories, and tries to align participation with the brand's values.
At the time of the interview, the immediate roadmap included a mint, physical vinyl collectibles for holders, and a second collection within roughly six months. Those releases were intended to support a larger funnel where public content and physical products introduce the world, while digital ownership provides deeper access and experiences. The ambition is not simply to sell profile images. It is to build a durable collectible brand whose audience trusts the founder behind it.
John says OKD’s ambassador program is not limited to designers or animators. He describes contributors who host Spaces, build livestream audiences and help community members create content. His selection approach is to approach people whose skills can grow the brand and whose existing participation shows genuine commitment to OKD. Listen at 1:14:55