Through networking at a motorsport event in early 2014, I made contact with several German motor TV personalities. They later got in touch with me and we produced graphics kits, leather suits and jerseys, which were permanently displayed in their shows. This way the IR logo got free advertising time on TV. I didn’t notice it at first until friends pointed it out to me. I had charged for the items at a discount because he was a TV starlet, but without any marketing ulterior motive. Why would I? The viewers are car fans, not motorcycle racers. After that, street Supermoto riders, who apparently were watching car shows, started asking if we would make graphics for the “SMCR 690.” No… why? Who even rides that—personally, I didn’t think much of those bikes. After a bit of research, it turned out that in Germany, more SMCR 690s are registered per year than Motocross bikes of all brands combined. It was rank 6 in the registration statistics—a perennial favourite. The focus shifted completely to this model and others of a similar kind. No competitor had recognised the trend yet. This customer was simpler—it had to look as “factory” as possible and, in any case, the KTM logo had to be seen prominently. Thanks to the KTM license, the graphics sold like hotcakes and suddenly, everything ran directly through shop orders, no longer manually via email.
This had to be it. I turned my back on the racing business by charging prices similar to those for street motorcycle customers—the rest took care of itself.
I had long left university and the desire for “real” creative work eventually began. Of course I managed all the campaigns, developed new products, but like a true chef working at McDonald’s, your ingredients and outcome are very limited, especially if you work in the motorcycle industry. At age 26, I swore to myself to lead the company to success and get out as soon as possible to write a screenplay. Film and story were always the areas where I felt most comfortable, but nothing was left of that other than binge-watching Breaking Bad and Californication.
In 2015, I broke my upper arm on a race Saturday. On Monday, I was back in the office. Walking to physical therapy for some weeks after that finally gave me time to think. I had to get out. Escape the hamster wheel. I bought an old Honda and customised it. A new passion awoke. It was creative, it was craftsmanship, I could travel with it. I now definitely wanted to leave racing behind. In the spring of the following year, I met my wife Anja. At the same time, I set off with two friends on my first ever motorcycle trip. Southern France, to the “Wheels and Waves” motorcycle festival with surf and skate influences. I was floored—a completely different vibe, like back in my teen days. People with a sense of style, no sponsor logos, no garish colours—like I had to deal with every day. I could never go back.
Independent Racing continued to grow, but I diverted my attention also to other projects that came my way naturally. A mountain bike clothing brand concept, a fitness clothing brand concept, an online cleaning supplies wholesaler concept and market strategy, and some others. My ability to produce things like custom clothing etc. led to inquiries of all kinds. Everything that others rejected due to deadlines being too short or feasibility issues, I would implement—at a premium, as I had proven experience in acquiring the correct manufacturer for the job and choosing the right process for the timeframe. For a few years, I produced the Sucuk & Bratwurst merchandise, large-scale jersey productions for Shoei Europe. For the König Galerie Berlin, I realised several special productions, turning artworks into merchandise. For the Google Pixel 3 pop-up store campaign in Germany, I was commissioned to produce the intended promotional textiles as a full custom cut-and-sew production in large quantities, within just 2.5 weeks.
Paying rent always felt like a waste of money. I needed something of my own. A short time later, an affordable commercial plot was found on the outskirts of Mainz. In late 2016 I drew a mixed-use office and residential building in Illustrator and an architect friend executed the final drawing. With the help of one of the construction company guys, whom I became friends with, I sourced and contracted all necessary trades, managing the entire project end-to-end myself. At the end of 2018, the building was finished. Now I had lived it out; after all, a building from my own pen had become a reality. But how was the source of income doing?
The competitors had not been sleeping. Nothing significant had changed in our shop; it was running ok actually. Every now and then, a few quick social media campaigns; elaborate advertising didn’t pull—people bought based on price. In mid-2019, the shop received an update with a simple but smooth working product configurator. It was supposed to run until we switched to an internally implemented, more flexible WooCommerce system. That same year at Christmas, Anja (my wife) and I traveled to Stockholm. We were taken by the Swedish mentality and made the decision to move to Sweden in 5-10 years. I had just built a huge house and Anja had just started her job as a math teacher.
2020 and finally Corona was here. I was 33 and Anja practically (paid) unemployed, since all schools in Germany were closed. She started building a food blog with WordPress. I saw enormous potential and the fun she had with it. Out of an abundance of time, Anja then looked at Swedish real estate sites for houses—no serious intention. Sometime in October, she forwarded me the listing for our current residence. It fulfilled all criteria, in the middle of the Swedish forest. A week later, I signed the purchase contract on-site. A year later, 2021, the time had come and we moved to Sweden. Anja would now quit the secure teaching job and begin a distance learning degree in media informatics. On the side, she would coordinate the new Independent Racing WooCommerce shop—that’s just like WordPress, right? 😉
Home office was now in fashion, so everyone involved could continue working from home. I put the building in Germany on a real estate portal and it sold the next day at asking price, no real estate agent involved. I had now made a profit and we were left with a pleasant cushion to breathe. The development of our advanced WooCommerce product configurator continued until the developer agency stopped responding; we now had half-finished software for a lot of money. The old webshop was slightly updated and continued working. I took some time off and focused on other stuff like having a daughter or opening several Airbnbs.
The configurator company was reachable again in 2023, and I felt we finally had to finish the halted project. While construction of the webshop continued, I developed an ecosystem for tailor-made leather suits—a product with high margins and zero production effort for us. In 2024 we tested the market, and after a promising proof of concept, we decided to continue the effort. This product plus clever marketing would lead Independent Racing to new heights. The shop was finished in November 2025 and I spent my time creating several campaigns for the relaunch and especially for the leather suits.
I was under the false impression that I could now satisfy my inner design junkie with Independent Racing work. That maybe now the market was ready for clever marketing, not like 8 years ago… In my mind, the internet would applaud me for my creative genius. But just like every other of those identical, earlier attempts, the internet didn’t care. The target audience was best reached with an attractive price point—again. I felt stupid, questioning the efforts made in all the years.
I was selling personalised products to private individuals in a niche market, expecting them to clap for my great ad concept. This realisation changed my point of view. In January 2026, now 38, I finally realised that I wanted to focus on leveraging my creative expertise for diverse clients, not run a company anymore.
As I had always worked outside the creative industry under my own rules with no feedback whatsoever, I needed something “real” for my portfolio.
During my studies, I had won several competitions and now wanted to repeat that to somehow represent my skills. After a short search in mid-January, I found the D&AD New Blood Awards, which I had never heard of before. My profile fit. I decided on a brief—HSBC X PANTONE—and, delayed by several circumstances, began working on it at the end of February: 2.5 weeks, 12 hours a day, meeting the deadline. I won a Pencil.
To date, the only evaluation of my ability had taken the form of good sales after a campaign or product launch; never since my time at the university had someone qualified evaluated my work. All self-doubt vanished. With the D&AD New Blood Pencil as a reference, I was ready to take on valuable projects as a freelancer. This time by choice, not by circumstance.
