By Maria Flores, Nov. 23, 2021
Alumnus Christian Nunez (‘21, plant science) expanded his Cal Poly Pomona inspired merchandise through his business known as Flipped Dimension over the fall semester with a handful of unique items for the community to enjoy.
With over 40 sticker designs inspired by Billy Bronco, his popular CLA Building keychain inspired by Antione Predock’s historic landmark and Japanese-inspired embroidered tags, Nunez revealed his latest products and upcoming projects for the CPP community.
He launched his first organic cotton tote bag with a yellow handle and cross shoulder strap, printed with a graphic design of an inspired Billy Bronco in the Japanese garden. With only 100 tote bags in stock at the time, he was astonished that they sold out in two days.
As of Nov. 20, Nunez has had 1,221 sales on Etsy including his vinyl stickers, cotton tote bags, Japanese tags, CLA Building keychains, face masks and CPP matte posters. However, Nunez explained that the process to develop the tote bags was challenging.
“Because of the whole pandemic, shipping from China is very expensive. The first launch was 100 pieces, and we couldn’t do more only because of how much capital we had,” said Nunez. “I was trying to look for tote bags of the same or higher quality in the U.S., but there weren’t any of the ones I was looking for.”
With limited inventory of the cotton tote bags, Nunez continues to research manufacturers in the U.S. to produce a faster amount of tote bags and maintain the quality of tote bags. In the meantime, he has increased his inventory to 150 tote bags and will receive the new shipment by the end of November.
Despite setbacks, Nunez continues to seek new ideas to allow CPP students to feel represented through his products. For each product he puts out, he hopes to gain a bigger investment to spend on future products such as iron-on patches, beanies, bronco Starbucks inspired cups, stuffed animal keychains and a bronco statue.
Similar to his vinyl bronco stickers that represent the CPP student’s major, Nunez will release nine iron-on patches that will say “College of…” on each of them. He hopes students will wear them with the option of his green, yellow or black beanies or CPP’s Bronco Bookstore “College of…” hoodies.
According to Nunez, creating “physical representation of each student’s major brings a lot of sentimental value for people.” He enjoys seeing CPP students and alumni’s faces brighten when they see their major represented through his stickers.
According to Kaylee Bacani, nutrition student and vice president of the foods and nutrition forums, she did not see her major portrayed through his stickers. Thus, she reached out to Nunez to develop a sticker for her club.
“It is going to be the little bronco with a little white coat, and he (Nunez) will incorporate the MyPlate into it on a little pin,” said Bacani. “Also, there’s a little name tag that says ‘food expert,’ and we are thinking of adding a book with the Krebs’ cycle.” MyPlate is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrition guide that consists fruits, grains, vegetables, protein and dairy.
In previous coverage, Nunez shared one of his first projects that included the 3D model of the CLA Building, a keychain and a pencil holder.
Currently, he is working on developing a replica of the bronco statue located near the residential suites. His test model can be found on Robert Tolone’s, a youtuber and mold maker, YouTube videos.
“My friend and I both went out and took 1,000 pictures of the bronco horse. We put them into a software called Photogrammetry to make a 3D model and then I sent it out to a (Robert Tolone) out of state that had a resin printer,” said Nunez. “I’m hoping that goes to plan. If the model doesn’t end up working, I can use different materials for it or buy a resin printer.”
Nunez seeks new products to add to his business frequently and compared his company Flipped Dimensions to a “tree.”
“The trunk is the CLA Building and as the tree grows into different branches, they symbolize the different products like stickers. Then that branch deviates into other branches,” said Nunez. “So now that I have the Billy sticker design, I use that design to make them into newer designs and newer products.”
Biology student Diana Au modeled for Nunez’s recent launch on tote bags, and helped behind the scenes with pitching ideas like the Japanese embroidered tag and tote bags.
“I am really proud of how far he has gotten. I remember when I first saw his business it was only stickers and the CLA model, but now he has more products, and a lot of people know about his business. It’s just gotten so far,” said Au.
Although Nunez graduated as a plant science major, he continues to remain active with the CPP community in hopes of officially becoming licensed to vend on campus.
For updates on Flipped Dimension products, visit Nunez’s Instagram account @flippedimension or visit his Etsy account.
Featured image courtesy of Christian Nunez.