On a rare sunny morning on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, a red banner may as well have waved over a string of sleepy businesses waking up for the first time. Busy hands at Green Apple Books and Devil’s Teeth Bakery’s joint new operation doled out texts and egg sandwiches, York Street

Sitting in a hospital bed with nothing to do but draw, Michael Kreiser was a creation machine. Even before a surprise hip replacement left him sedentary, he committed to creating at least one piece a day after coming home from his day job. Kreiser was thinking about Kendrick Lamar’s album Damn. It was here, in a moment of post-operation inspiration, that he hit upon his big idea.