From Physical Object To Digital Identity

In Highrise, users create avatars and express themselves through clothing and accessories. For McKenney, the platform stood out for its creative freedom.

“This is a world where anything goes,” he says. “People are incorporating their shadows into their outfits… it’s just so creative.”

The Pidgin Doll collection translates his aesthetic, known for its exaggerated femininity and surreal details, into digital form. Users can mix and match items, creating their own interpretations of the brand. “There’s a finite amount of items that exist… so if you have something you’re not wearing anymore, you can resell it,” he explains.

This begins to position digital fashion as something closer to collectible creator merchandise than traditional in-app purchases. Platforms like Roblox have already demonstrated how virtual items can generate real economic value, with creators earning income from limited and customizable digital goods.

Building Something Distinct—Not Broad

What makes this expansion notable is that Pidgin Doll was never designed for scale in the traditional sense. McKenney started in fashion illustration before shifting direction.

“I sort of hit a wall with my career,” he says. “I was interested in expanding as an artist… and print media was kind of dying, so I was looking for new avenues.”

Doll-making became that avenue because it allowed him to bring multiple creative disciplines together. “I’m interested in sculpture and hair and makeup and puppetry and photography,” he explains. “They could all be expressed through this one focus.”

Rather than trying to appeal to a broad audience, he developed a highly specific visual identity.

Treating Creative Work As Intellectual Property

From early on, McKenney approached Pidgin Doll as a brand. “I’ve always thought of it as a brand right from the beginning,” he says. “Most artists should be thinking about their work as IP and not just art.”

That thinking shaped how the brand evolved. Consistency was key. “I was very intentional about making sure that the way Pidgin looked was very consistent and had a sort of brand identity really early on.”

This aligns with findings from McKinsey & Company, which highlight that creator-led businesses with strong, recognizable IP are more likely to sustain long-term value than those built purely on content output.

Expanding Beyond A Niche Audience

While the original audience for high-end art dolls was small, content allowed McKenney to broaden reach without changing the core aesthetic.

“I had my own audience of people that collect high-end art dolls, but that’s a pretty small world,” he says. “So I really tried to cater it to a larger audience.” He did this by diversifying content formats while staying visually consistent. “I tried to make my content as versatile and as varied as possible,” he explains.

All of my experience has shown that creators who operate across multiple formats and platforms are significantly more likely to build sustainable businesses.

When Audiences Become Participants

A turning point came when audiences began interacting with the aesthetic directly. “When I was starting to get a lot of fan art and people replicating the makeup… that was a real moment where I was like, this is really resonating,” McKenney says.

Digital environments like Highrise extend this behavior further. Instead of recreating the look offline, users can now express it directly through their avatars.

Like many creator-led businesses, Pidgin Doll operates with multiple revenue streams. “The core revenue streams change every few months,” McKenney says. “Sometimes it’s content… sometimes it’s a collection of dolls… sometimes it’s brand sponsorships.”

A Practical Takeaway

For creators and brands alike, the lesson is “Create work that genuinely moves you,” McKenney says. “Don’t worry so much about it fitting into this career or that career… your career will find you.”

Pidgin Doll did started by building a clear and consistent identity, and became something that could extend—from physical objects to content, and now into digital environments where audiences can engage with it in entirely new ways.

This article is based on an interview with Joshua David McKenney on my podcast The Business of Creators.