What do you do when you want more LEGO, but you need more money to buy it? Seven-year-old Austin from Auckland came up with a clever idea to earn more cash.
He started his own t-shirt company using art based on characters he developed, like Sus-bot, a suspicious robot, and The Monster That Ate My Cheese – a character he even writes stories about. At first, Austin drew the characters by hand, but his drawings didn’t look quite as amazing as the ideas in his head.
That’s when Austin and his mum discovered a new way to bring the drawings to life, and learned to use technology to turn his sketches into bold, colourful designs. They experimented with AI tools until the colours, fonts, and style matched Austin’s creative vision perfectly.
Now Austin chooses shirt colours, devises insta posts, and works alongside his mum to press designs on each t-shirt. Austin is well on his way to getting those LEGO sets. He’s run market stalls and launched his own website at lemontops.com
Austin’s favourite part? Hearing from happy customers who say their Lemon Tops tee is the first thing they grab to wear in the morning. “It doesn’t matter how young you are,” Austin says, “if you’ve got a bright idea and people are supporting you you can make that idea come to life!”
