We have a goal of building a nationally recognized lifestyle brand centered around our original, friendly, whimsical cartoon characters called Yin & Yang™. The core foundation of the brand is to be positive, fun, uplifting and inspirational with a subtle, playful, underlying message of unity. We hope to bring a little joy to our customers through our designs and slogans!
The World As One™ brand is both a passion and calling for husband-and-wife team Jim and Kari Reed of Fort Dodge, Iowa. Jim serves as the company Director of Inspiration while Kari serves as its Director of Happiness (with each highly focused-on customer satisfaction). Through their brand, they share a desire to make the world a little friendlier, a place with a little more unity, and a place where individuals recognize and appreciate people’s shared commonality versus focusing on their differences.
Here’s hoping you enjoy the spirit of the World As One brand and message as much as they do!
YEAR 1997
In 1997, Jim Reed Jr. (son of the late Dr. James and Ruth Reed of Fort Dodge, Iowa) was recording his first and only album (in CD format) called Vision. The album would eventually be finished and released in May of 1998. One late fall night in ’97 while sitting in the upstairs studio of a local artist and designer, he was looking through a book of graphics contemplating whether to incorporate a peace symbol or Yin Yang symbol into the liner notes of his upcoming release.
INSPIRATION
His goal was to weave a subtle message of peace and unity throughout the album art, centered around one of the album’s songs entitled Harmony (which was a call for racial unity). Though he ended up using the peace symbol in the artwork, staring at the Yin Yang symbol, comprised of its opposing yet complimentary black and white swirls in a vertical position, the image rotated in his mind’s eye and he saw a little smiley faced cartoon character with a black eye patch and white face. In that instant, he knew he was onto to something reminding him loosely of the iconic yellow Smiley Face popularized in the 1960’s. Continuing to stare at the symbol, he envisioned a companion character with a white eye patch and black face. Together, the complimentary pair of characters maintained the balance symbolized by the Yin Yang. He gave them the names...Yin & Yang!
THE CONCEPT
Excited by the potential of what he saw in his head, he shared his idea with a good friend, John Hale. John agreed that the idea had a ton of merit. Working to move the concept forward, they each reached out to different artists to develop renderings to bring the characters to life. The results from both artists, while unique, differed from the friendly, whimsical cartoon characters that Reed saw in his head. They were more chiseled, stern looking, DC comic, super hero-like in nature. Disappointed by the initial results, the idea stalled but Reed continued to think and dream about what could be.
Years went by, but the idea was never out of mind for Reed. He would occasionally jot down ideas and notes that he kept in a file. He knew in his heart that these characters had the potential to be something big, symbolizing unity in a friendly, non-threatening way.
In early 2015, he was searching the internet trying to jump start the project. Looking at different brands and logos online, he stumbled across a thick black oval logo with the word Retro within it. He also really liked the font. As he stared at the oval, it reminded him of the old-time cartographic world maps in oval form.
The light bulb went on. After years of envisioning the characters, Yin & Yang, suddenly he had an idea that tied the characters and the theme together when the words “World As One” came to him.
Excited by what he could now clearly visualize, he reached out to his friend Don Vogel, Owner of Choice Printing in Fort Dodge. He explained his vision, put a Work-for-Hire agreement in place and shared his ideas with one of Don’s standout designers, Ann Sullivan-Larson. The vision was clear, the two characters, Yin & Yang, in the oval with their arms around one another with the words, World As One incorporated above and below the oval for comparison (in the chiseled “Retro” font like in the logo Reed had found online). Ann proceeded to come up with a stylized page of variations.
THE BRAND IS BORN
Based on those stylized variations, he knew he finally had a winner around which to build the brand. Energized by the progress made, Reed went on a tear over the first weekend of March Madness 2015. Poised with a laptop computer sitting in a recliner in the lower level of his home, Reed spent the next four days watching basketball and developing the World As One brand, coming up with multiple product lines (Unity, Spirit, Sport, Team, Oneness, Colors), multiple design ideas, color schemes and a business plan.
It was during that weekend that the company tagline (now it’s mission) was born: Promoting peace, love, unity, equality, teamwork and togetherness...one piece of apparel at a time!
He seemed to be on a roll. Despite the immense progress, how to get the product to market and the cost to do so, still seemed overwhelming. The pages of detailed content wasn’t enough to get the concept over the hump and out of the idea stage. It remained a paper tiger in a file cabinet.
LIFE CHANGES 2023 & 2025
Many more years would go by. Then came the life changing events that all people face, the death of his Mom, Ruth Reed in August of 2023, and his Dad, Dr. James Reed, MD, in September of 2025. Those losses impacted Reed in profound ways, one being the acknowledgement of his own mortality. Realizing that he himself was in the last quarter of his own life, Reed knew that if he was ever going to make the World As One brand a reality, the time was now. If not now, the idea might one day die with him.
He shared his dream with his life partner and wife Kari Reed. She agreed that the idea had enormous potential. Most importantly, she validated that the brand’s message of unity was much needed by today’s world. Together, they began the process in earnest on Friday, October 31, 2025, meeting with a trademark attorney, vetting screen printers and embroidery companies, and gaining insight from a successful Etsy shop owner.
Over the next seven months, they proceeded to put all of the pieces in place culminating with the launch of their Shopify store and website on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. After 29 years of dreaming, thinking, plotting and planning, the idea finally went from conceptual to operational. Given the prevalence and exponential growth of online sales and ecommerce via platforms like Shopify (things that didn’t exist in 1997), perhaps the long timeframe might have worked to the brand’s advantage. It is with great anticipation that Jim and Kari work to make World As One a financially successful, nationally recognized brand respected by its fans and followers and delivering on its motto and mission:
Promoting peace, love, unity equality, teamwork and togetherness...one piece of apparel at a time!
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