Who We Are

Julia Benben

I'm a serial entrepreneur, and I love to start stuff!
I started Color Workshop in 1999, featuring an awesome product called the "Blopen". The company was born on my dining room table, and grew sales to over 30 million dollars a year in 2001. It was subsequently sold to Jakks Pacific.
I did it again with some great partners in a company called "ColorLoco".This was another successful art activity company, bought by Elmer's (Glue) in 2007. My executive positions included Vice President of Product Development for Elmer's, Inc., Senior Vice-President at Jakks Pacific, and CEO of my own companies, Color Workshop & ColorLoco.

I absolutely love to work with inventors, to turn viable ideas into finished, marketable products. My passion lies in giving the product a voice, so it can tell the customer what it is, what it does, and all the wonderful things it has to offer.

I am currently working with my best friend and Design Guru, Douglas Homer. We run Tickled Planet, a global design and development business. There are so many companies in the market for good products and our goal is to work with these firms, and with independent inventors, to translate product innovation into reality.

We are fortunate to be able to do what we love everyday, and to work with some amazing clients from around the world. We work with inventors to help organize and formulate product ideas, from initial concept to polished, sellable product. We collaborate with partners in China, the UK, US and Canada. It is our goal to continue to advance global design and ideation.

Douglas Homer

I have amassed over 35 years of creative strategy, concept and design direction experience... from branding for major consumer products companies to product design/development and packaging for international retail sale.

My passion is for developing fresh concepts and creating targeted visual executions that attract attention but, more importantly, deliver the desired results.

My history dates back to the late 1970's when, fresh out of college, I was hired to develop the look and feel of a new chain of clothing stores "American Eagle Outfitters" Since then I've worked with and for major national advertising agencies doing design and branding work for consumer brands including HERSHEY"S, Welch's, and GNC to name a few. I met Julia in 2005 when we partnered to build Color Loco. We've been a team ever since. I couldn't be more impressed with her abilities and experience.