Wellesley High School junior Michael Tufankjian’s budding License Plate Designs venture is borne out of both his family’s car dealerships and his own desire to start a business that incorporates recycling and sustainability.
Tufankjian launched the outfit this past spring, converting old license plates into unique works of art. Now he has begun selling pieces at Wellesley Holiday Boutique in Wellesley Square, with 25% of proceeds going to Boston Children’s Hospital.
“The idea came to me when I saw some discarded license plates at my family’s car dealerships, and I wanted to figure out a way to reuse them,” he says. “I have taken several business classes at Wellesley High School and have always wanted to start my own business.”
While License Plate Designs is Tufankjian’s first formal business venture, he has taken steps in this direction in recent years. He served as fundraising chair for a program called Youth in Philanthropy in Wellesley this past winter/spring, where students designed and sold t-shirts to benefit metrowest nonprofits. He also led sales for a company in his business class that sold sweatpants and donated $500 dollars of profit to the American Cancer Society.
Tufankjian makes the plates by hand, at home, cutting and selecting letters and symbols for each piece, which he says take a few hours to complete. As you can see from the photo above, assorted Wellesley-themed plates are available, as are just about any designs you desire.
“I would be happy to create a Swellesley sign as well,” says Tufankjian, who as a one-man operation for now appears to have a very full plate indeed.
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