DOWNEY - Combining a love of art and a little bit of entrepreneurial spirit, one Warren High School senior has turned custom pins and hat accessories into a successful side-hustle.

Cristian Magallon, 17, has been into art from an early age, fancying himself a graphic designer.

“I’ve been drawing my whole life, since I was like in third or fourth grade. I just slowly got better,” said Magallon. “I would borrow a friend’s iPad, and I would just draw and go crazy.”

“Not ‘till maybe like four months ago, I bought my own iPad. I just started drawing, and I started posting it.”

Originally, Magallon would use his talents to design custom shoes, however that business never really took off.

It wasn’t Magallon would attend a pop-up event that he would be struck with the inspiration for Quiero Pins.

“I went to a pop-up, like a convention, and they had their pins. I was like, ‘How do you make them? How do you start?’ and they were like, ‘Oh, we hire a graphic designer,’” said Magallon. “Myself, I’m a graphic designer, so I was like, ‘I could do it myself.’ It’ll be easier for me; less money.”

Since then, Magallon has done more research, finding affordable, quality manufacturers to produce his products. He used money he earned from a job working with his uncle to fund his first run of merchandise, to the tune of around $1,200.

Magallon sells his pins and hat clips – also known as “blips” for the way they are worn on the brim of a cap – for anywhere from $5-15.

The business is still fairly new, only around six months old. Still, Magallon has grown a humble following in that short time, with several different designs and over 1000 followers on Instagram. Some of his designs can even be seen worn around Warren by other students, staff, and even some teachers.

“It feels cool seeing other people wearing them,” said Magallon.

Magallon does accept design requests and commissions, though most of his pins are of his own creation.

“Sometimes they just come to my head, and I’m like, ‘That would look good on a hat,’” said Magallon. “I think of it like, basically, I’m trying to represent myself in a business…I just try to make it into me, that people would like.”

Quiero Pins might not be the be-all end-all for Magallon. He still hasn’t quite figured out what he wants to do after college, and whether it will include business or graphic design. He’s even launching his own clothing brand.

For now, Magallon is content just seeing where Quiero Pins takes him.

“I would say [this is] a side hustle, unless it goes big,” said Magallon. “I know there’s a lot of people, they have their own stuff, and they sell out as soon as they push it out. If it gets to that point, I’ll just use it as a way for income. If it doesn’t go as well, I want to move to clothing. I already have a clothing brand opening up. We’ll just see which one does better, and if it’s too much to handle both, I’ll just have to drop the one that’s not doing good.”

Quiero Pins can be found on Instagram at @quieropinss, or at quieropinss.myshopify.com.