“I came up with a massive list of things to accomplish in order for Beau to launch. I broke up everything I needed to accomplish and learn into 3 sections: brand, website, and legal.”

Brand: Assuming that you are creating your own brand, you probably have an idea of a niche or target audience. It is key that your brand fills that niche, or offers something unique in it’s own right. Brand development comes in three stages: your brand logo, planning, and shirts.

Logo: When making a logo, you want to create something that depicts your brand, but also incorporates what your brand is about. With Beau, our logo was created to show our minimalist designs and their simplicity. A logo is a key tool for brand recognition, a memorable logo can keep your brand fresh in the consumer’s mind.

Planning: For most Indie start-up lines, finances can be limited. Personally, Beau was brought to life by the two of us working all summer long. A sacrifice has to be made. Currently we are college students and are making ends meet financially out of our own pockets. We put all of our funds towards bringing our fans and customers the best possible product we can. Don’t let it scare you though, it’s a very rewarding feeling to have somebody enjoying what you put a lot of hard work and time into. The key is to create a plan, like I am drawing out here, with your finances. Microsoft Excel is a great tool to keep track of everything. The best tip I can give you is to be as organized as possible.

Shirts: Artistic talent is essential, if you have little you can always sketch your ideas out and use artists to create your designs. But that doesn’t have to stop you. Beau Clothing was lucky enough to use Cameron Hagedon, one hell of an artist and designer and friend. Places like Emptees.com are places where you can find talented artists. If you don’t know any artists personally, they can help you create your clothing’s art. Just remember that there are always resources out there to utilize.

Printing: Do your research, our biggest tool was google. We lived on sites like bandwagonmerch, and t-shirtforums just asking questions and gathering information. Prior to Beau, I knew nothing about Plastisol inks. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Email anybody and everybody whom you think would have valuable information. God knows how many emails I wrote just acquiring information on what material went best with what inks and what tagging sizes were recommended for each size of shirt. One tip for everybody: American Apparel. It is just gold made of fabrics. Everybody loves it and, frankly, if you are selling to somebody who doesn’t know much outside of Gildans and Hanes, they will put your shirt on and fall in love. Most likely, they will never take it off.

Shipping: If you plan on shipping out shirts, which most indie’s do, packaging is the last chance to make a positive impression. If financially possible, make something amazing and memorable. However, for most cases, including Beau, that is hard to accomplish. Just remember, with every penny you earn, put that penny back into your brand. Including packaging. But, until then, make sure your shipping does not hurt your image. Make sure it’s secure, doesn’t fold, and makes it there quickly. Uline.com provides a lot of products for packing, folding, and shipping your shirts nice and neatly.

Website: The first thing a consumer will see is the quality of the site. Bigcartel.com and Storenvy.com provide a great template and a cart. If you know web design at all, you know that building a fully functional cart is kind of a hassle. For Beau, we were forced to pick up a CSS book and learn from scratch in order to make our site stick out from the cookie cutter ‘Bigcartels’ of the world. Jquery is no fun, but there are plenty of tutorials online that help teach. Sohatonaka.com is one of my personally favourites. Soh is a genius and very helpful as well. As for CSS, check out this site; again a lifesaver. If possible, we advise that you leave it to the professional and shell out the dough.

Domain: As far as domain names go, try and purchase one that is unique and memorable. If that happens to be your brand name, perfect. For Beau, we went with thebeautee.com as a little play on words to create the”beauty” in a sense. And if you do decide to use a Bigcartel, the folks over at Indielabs are very helpful at providing set up to link your new domain name.

Legal: At first we thought this would be one of the most difficult parts, it turns out it was the opposite. Make sure to get a hold of people who know something about business law – an accountant, lawyer or, in our case, your business professor. You can figure out a lot of the basics via Google and forums, but legalities are not something you want to mess up. It would be the biggest buzz kill to have to shut down everything you have worked so hard for just because you didn’t fill out the right paperwork. From our experiences we have learned a little. You should be alright with just a DBA, but you’re much better off filing for a Limited Liability Corp. (LLC). But again, check with a pro. In the UK this would be a Limited Company, check other countries for legalities.

The biggest thing to take out of all of this is to sit on your computer and do hours upon hours of research. Become an expert in your niche and field. We are not saying we are, but we are striving to be. And another thing, there are tons of people willing to help you. When you tell anybody in your community that you’re going on this adventure, they will do almost anything to help along the way. Don’t waste that help, it’s a life saver. Never be afraid to email and ask questions!

Ryan Kovach,
Beau (http://www.thebeautee.com/)

If you want to replicate the above effect all you need asides a little time and some basic sewing skills is a pair of old tights and some elastic. Form tiny balls and attach them together with elastic then arrange them on the inside of your tee in a pattern of your choice; harlequin, grid, or even random and get sewing! It doesn’t sound like much, but with these simple materials you can end up with something rather stunning! If you like the effect then why not go mad and do the same to some leggings too!

Check out Menichelli’s sketches if you have the time… www.francescamenichelli.com.

“We’ve been having several tee designers and tee stores crowdsourcing their ideas and inspiration through our design community instead of doing it themselves. ..now that anyone with a general idea of business (not creativity) can start a tee line.”

There’s the beauty of the service, anyone can start a highly popular t-shirt brand, no more begging to commission top designers from sites like Threadless, now they will come to you! 99designs will help you host a “design contest” where thousands of designers compete to create a design you love, or your money back! Here’s how it all works:-

As with the rest of the business world, the t-shirt sector has its “bad apples”, one of the first to come to my attention following an initially positive review here at Buy Tees was Teextile.com. They still remain the worst offenders in poor if not non-existent customer service, sending out t-shirts late, sometimes never at all, and even neglecting to pay their designers. Today I received another comment at my post Teextile – A Rip Off? which highlights all the crimes and misdemeanours of this relatively young venture into the world of t-shirt crowdsourcing. Here’s what the designer Warren Hart had to say on the matter:

“I let them use one of my designs ( SLF ryu shirt ) (http://www.fourninjas.com/shop/product/1006828) to sell in January of 2010. They have yet to pay me a dime for the amount of shirts they sold. In total they owe me about $300. For months I’ve asked and asked for my money and nothing. Just one sob story after another. They were quite rude to me as well. Now they don’t even respond. P.S. Tanga.com have ripped off my design as well.“

A few days ago I also received a comment from a reader complaining about the French t-shirt community site Wordans.com:

“Wordans has very poor business skills! I ordered shirts for a festival I was attending, their web-site claimed it would take 5-10 days and it took my shirts over 16 business days to reach me. When I cancelled my order they said they would not give my money back and I should have put a rush on my order even though I ordered with more than sufficient time!“

Now, despite the awful example of Teextile, perhaps the most crooked and conceited t-shirt community on record (read these comments to see why!), I might be blowing things out of proportion. Although I have a suspicion that most t-shirt buyers experiencing problems with customer service and shipping times may simply be on the receiving end of companies that are a victim of their own success. For every Threadless, Design By Humans, Cafepress and Spreadshirt out there, obversely there are dozens (if not hundreds) of failing t-shirt companies and ‘Print On Demand’ t-shirt sites, and it’s simply a matter of under-manning and underfunding. Without enough staff and a decent contingency fund there’s little most t-shirt companies, or any company for that matter, can do when demand outstrips supply.

Then again, I’d like to see a single instance of say a car designer, a commercial architect, or a governmental advisor in a quango who hasn’t received monies for their services. The truth is that certain t-shirt communities out there are getting a very bad reputation amongst designers, far worse than they will have garnered through a dissatisfied clientèle. Without design, the lifeblood of all t-shirt communities, there is no community, there are no t-shirts, no customers, no profits, absolutely zilch. It seems extremely short-sighted for any company, no matter what they sell, to cheat their own designers, do they think we are all fools?

The time is at hand, I believe, to stand up against the commercial bullies, the cheats, the crooks and the thieves in the t-shirt industry, and the best place to start is with the current worst offenders, Teextile.com.

Above is a button to include on your own blog, site, or social network page if you want to help stop this ever pervading problem. If you wish you can link to this post or http://buy-tees.net/2010/03/teextile-a-rip-off

or not, the choice is yours. I simply think it would be a good idea to make it clear that we’re not going to take this s*** off any t-shirt community again. In the UK we have something called Trading Standards that to a degree can guarantee customer rights, along with our own Statutory rights. In America the best they can offer is the Better Business Bureau which seems to be something of a voluntary organisation with little legal clout and a tendency to ignore those companies that haven’t signed up to their register. Useless.

What we really need is an independent body, funded by all the major t-shirt sites as mentioned before, i.e Threadless, DBH, Cafepress, Spreadshirt etc. This body would essentially provide a seal of approval for new and old t-shirt communities, including a ratings system that is recognised world-wide by the industry and the buying public. The ball is in their court now, who knows, if we all stand together on this it might just happen.

It’s available when you subscribe to the world’s only wearable t-shirt magazine… yes it’s printed on a t-shirt! I’ve written about T-Post.se before, Buy Tees and T-Post have even run a competition in the past. But if you’re still confused you should check out their rather amusing video here. But what’s most fascinating about the Make Or Amen Break It tee is the story behind the design.

It all starts with a 1960′s band called ‘The Winstons‘, they had an enormous hit – it was a Grammy winner – but on the B-Side was a song called ‘Amen Brother‘ which lay dormant and ignored by the masses for decades, literally decades. When Hip Hop came along so did the dubious art of sampling, a backbone of the sound of many major players in the scene by the 1980′s.

So here’s what happened, NWA discovered this little known gem and exploited it for all it’s worth. It’s a minuscule 6 second break by The Winstons’ drummer G.C. Coleman who died in 2006 and it changed the face of Hip Hop forever. If you think of all the DJs and bands that have sampled this track it makes you wonder. If only Coleman had had a decent lawyer he’d have probably been able to buy out the whole of the music industry with all the royalties. The man who created the most famous drum loop in history died as a virtually obscure musician.

You can read all about this story on T-Post’s latest t-shirt issue or take a look at their article at http://t-post.se/past-issues/item/root/make-or-amen-break-it.

Mind blowing.

VintagePimps.com has been selling vintage t-shirts since 2004 and enjoy every second of it, if anyone is in love with retro chic and cornball nostalgia, across the board mind you, it has to be these guys. They sell their finds at Ebay and remember these aren’t reprints, in fact they may be the last of their kind in the world, so you’re going to have to pay through the nose for a slice of T-history. Here’s one of theirs I’ve picked out…

Vintage Prince T-Shirt (1982)

Totally mad original Prince tee, way before he became ‘symbol’, you know, back when he knocked out stompers like 1999 and When Doves Cry. This ultra rare, and take it from me almost all of them for sale at Vintage Pimps are, excellent condition Prince ’1999′ Tour t-shirt will set you back a massive $200 and only in a small size!!! Yes for Prince fanatics and potential stalkers only. Okay maybe not, but he is open to offers, not sure how much anyone can knock him down, but I bet that in the next few years this one will end up at a retro/vintage store in a trendy quarter of a city somewhere with a price tag at double that amount.

I thought whilst I was roaming around Ebay land I’d check out what else was on offer there and realised it wasn’t so easy to find genuine originals. You have to watch out, the word ‘style’ is a big giveaway, it means it’s a reprint, some might be fakes too, if they include a photo of the tag and it looks genuine or you know your t-shirt history you might even snap up a few vintage bargains without the seller even realising what they had! For mere mortals you will most likely come a cropper from time to time, so many merchandise t-shirts have been reprinted time after time, still if it’s obscure you’re probably safer.

Still I did find another major Ebay seller who specialises in genuine vintage tees, their feedback is superb and they try wherever possible to include all the info they can on each shirt including photographing labels and any defects. Labels give you a big clue, it doesn’t take long to realise if a t-shirt printers was even established a few decades ago, let alone if they had a license to print at the time of the original license. Sounds tricky but if you do your research you could make a tidy packet from selling on used tees just like Black Rebel Vintage.

Vintage ‘The Runaways’/Joan Jett ‘School Days’ European Tour T-Shirt (1977)

This seems to be the real deal, especially when you look at tag and the price, which is a record-breaking $1,499! Yes it’s rare but I can’t ever imagine paying that much for a tee, and I have a horrible feeling that someone probably dropped it off in a local charity store without even knowing the value. The fact is there are people willing to pay this much, imagine what an original official 1950′s Elvis T-shirt in mint condition would for? Probably enough to buy a new car at the very least.

Vintage Harley Davidson/Evel Knievel Tee

Supposedly 30 years old, it looks new because it’s ‘deadstock’ as in stored in a box or crate for decades without being sold to the public. It’s an incredible $999, again a mad mad price, but obviously it’s real slice of  Americana. Who knows, you might see one like this crop up at your local thrift store one day. You know what to do if it does ;)

If you’re thinking of retailing genuine vintage tees through your own store or site you might want to check out the British fashion sourcing company The Vintage Clothing Company. They sell real vintage tees by the pound (as in weight) to vintage fashion shops around the world. They grade them by quality and rarity, essentially nothing new gets through. Well worth a think if you’re tempted to set up shop.

But as always when it comes to real vintage bargains, the first place to check out is TeeCycle.org – they donate $1 from every sale to charity and even if their tees aren’t as rare they’re cool and affordable!

Vintage Beastie Boys Tee (Ladies)

Original Beastie Boys tee for women in a large size for just $15 + $3 shipping here!

Here are a few more worthy mentions:

Thriftstore Cowboy

Ghetto Vintage

Stormcrow Vintage

But to be honest you’re better off popping down your local boot fair, thift store, charity shop, flea market, you name it, if it’s cheap and local the effort of finding a rare vintage tee is worth it!

Kenzo Minami has to be one of my all-time favourite abstract artist/designers, he’s worked with some very big names such as Nike, MTV, Reebok and the Sci-Fi Channel. Murals, backdrops, graphic design, packaging and of course t-shirt design are just some of his talents. Here’s what he has to say about his astounding work. “It makes sense that I studied both philosophy and industrial design, one is ergonomics, the functioning of humans in a physical environment, and the other is the functioning of humans in the social and metaphysical environment. As much as they seem to be polar opposites, there is a place they can coexist and cooperate.”

Prism T-Shirt by Kenzo Minami

This incredible piece of t-shirt design comes at a price, not only is Kenzo Minami’s work very popular but it’s usually very expensive and hard to get hold of too. The beautiful Prism tee is available at Blackbird in black in a large size for $118.99 and this was reduced from an incredibly pricey $199! Not something I can afford but at least I can admire it from afar :/

Symbolika are old friends of Buy Tees, a French t-shirt label that’s heavily involved in meditation and trance. Their designs are sketched and then rendered in beautifully precise detail using CAD. Here’s one of my faves by Symbolika.

Time T-Shirt

Here’s what Symbolika have to say on the design… “a thirteen moon phase inside a flower of life grid with a skull and a foetus, representing the passage of time.” I think I’m having one of those 2001 moments, definitely worth wearing if you think you might be attaining Nirvahna in the near future (not the band btw but the transcendental state) then this is probably the t-shirt to wear. Before you sneer at my hippy ideals take a look at the back!

Wowzers. Anyway get this tee for €25 here.

Pattern and Shape t-shirts do exactly what it says in the logo, they create abstract pattern and shape tees for those looking for something simpler yet iconic. Check out this one:

Parallelogram T-Shirt

Definitely not a word to repeat quickly when you’re drunk, you’ll probably something similar when you see this tee. I’m sure that Pattern and Shape’s Parallelogram t-shirt could be used to test for 20/20 vision, or some form of mild psychosis, but I love it. It frazzles my brain, and unlike certain illicit substances, you pay once and can trip out forever. Lol. This superbly simple Andrio Abero t-shirt is available for $23 here.

Jiménez Jurado – Tijuana based designer and illustrator has a great style, I particularly like this tee for the girls available in Volcom‘s featured artists collection.

Foi Jiminez F.A Sheer T-Shirt

Volcom Sliders Jersey Tee

Nope this one has nothing to do with the awful 90s US TV series, loving the 80s pixelated graphic style, oh so retro. Cleverly the design is based on their logo – ooh sneaky. Volcom’s Sliders Jersey Tee is available for girls in XS-XL black for £16.42 here.

Rain Drops & Rhombuses T-Shirt

Here’s a cool tee by Plink Design, reminds me a little of the wallpaper we used to have in the 1970s, it was nice wallpaper, not at all cheap. Probably from Habitat. I miss that wallpaper. Get this superb abstract shirt for $20 in all sizes here.

Red Valentino Ribbon Bow Jersey T-Shirt

I was in two minds about including this tee, the thing is the embroidery is actually an abstract representation of embroidery, or at least that’s the theory from the part of my brain that can remember art college. It’s quirky and according to the nearest females of the species in my vicinity, “gorgeous!” Ah well, we’ll say this one crosses the boundaries of decorative and abstract, still, cute. Get the Red Valentino Ribbon Bow Jersey Tee at Net a Porter for a ridiculously whopping £85. Ouch.

Richard Altman is a designer that believes that “the closer we live our lives in harmony with our innate creative abilities, the happier, healthier and more productive we will become”. Who knows, he could be right, still his shirts are nice and jazzy.

Bipolar T-Shirt

Bipolar by Richard Altman (no relation to Robert I suppose?) is cool, crazy but cool… daddio. Get it for $22 here.

Two lovely isometric t-shirts from Babble Tees.

Isometric Green T-Shirt

Isometric Orange T-Shirt

Here are a few more to keep you going ;)

http://www.thegrandsocial.com.au/das-monk/t-shirts/mount-hexx—white

http://www.daviddavid.co.uk/t-shirt/index.html – London based fashion designer who makes a mint in Japan.

A Spongebob Tee …but a little bit Picasso too!

Two essentials to growing a successful independent apparel company is brilliant marketing paired with unique designs. While that may be true, professionalism is still key. A unique design cannot shine in the lime light unless it is presented and marketed well. These items can often be overlooked in the rush of maintaining your business and trying to get your products sold. The result of all this attention to detail should be phenomenal photographs that sell your collection to the market you’ve identified. The purpose of the photographs is to sell your products. The final photographs should reflect your vision and present the way you think your designs should look. The key to all of this is preparation, preparation, and more preparation. Because I cannot go into detail on all aspects of a photo shoot due to it’s unique nature, I will do my best to describe just the three topics below.

1. Photographer
2. Models
3. Location
4. Day of the shoot

How To Choose A Photographer

Choosing the right photographer is the most important piece to the successful photo shoot puzzle. With photographs, people will spend far more time examining the way the clothes lay on the model, the details of the clothing, and the way the accessories work with the outfit. Photographers must have an detailed understanding of light, angle, and posing to bring out the aspects of the design that will be most appealing to your demographic. your photographer MUST understand your audience.

One question to ask yourself is if your collection will be photographed using film or digital. While film created a more organic looking photo it tends to raise costs making digital the optimal choice for any indie company with a low budget. I recommend you ask some questions about experience, equipment and retouching experience before making any final decisions on a photographer. The worst possible scenario is to not ask enough questions and find out the photographer cannot deliver what you need half way through the project. When choosing a photographer for Envee Apparel’s “”Know Your Destination” Spring/Summer photo shoot I made sure that the photographers background and experience matched my goals for the shoot. Our photographer had all of the right professional equipment (Multiple 10MP+ Nikon SLR’s, lenses and light sources) and he had experience in shooting clothing. There are many areas of photography so be sure that your photographer has done something similar before and not just taken photographs of birds & flowers.

When working with a photographer for the first time, it is best to introduce them to your line, explain your approach to the market and if possible, examples of photography you like. If you are going for a specific look, there may be some digital retouching that will need to happen. Digital retouching is a complex art that is usually separate from photography and photographer will usually have an assistant edit the photos post-shoot because very few people are experts in both areas. Be VERY careful when using friends or people that offer their work for cheap or FREE because as the saying goes “you get what you pay for”. Remember, the photographs of your designs are a reflection of you and your company.

Once you have found the photographer that is right for your photo shoot, it is time to plan all of the other elements that make a shoot amazing. I suggest speaking with your photographer about make-up, hair and how to accessorize the outfits for the day of the shoot. If going with a professional for hair & make-up, be sure to complement your product in the photos.

Find The Right Models

The first order of business is to decide if you are going to find professional talent or get together a bunch of friends that will look good on camera. Each method has it’s benefits. It is your choice to choose professionals or friends and will ultimately reflect your choice in your photos. Be sure to let your photographer know what type of talent you have decided to go with. Look for models who can naturally create the curves and lines that will compliment your collection. Although it is possible to emphasize curves and modify body shapes using Photoshop, it is difficult to do it well. Again, the rule should be to try to get the look visually right before the shutter release is pressed. Post processing takes time and time. If the photographer has to take dealing with fundamental model and make-up issues, he or she doesn’t have as much time to work with the overall look and feel of the photographs.

If you are going to hire a professional or aspiring model and do not have a local talent pool that is free, expect to dish out from $100-300 per person per day. When paying for professionals expect that they will need a professional hairstylist (for women) and make-up artist (for men and women). This can rack up another $500 per day on the low end. When hiring professional talent you lessen your headache as this is not their first rodeo. You will know that when they show up the day of the shoot that they will have everything they need and be ready for a pose-off.

If you have decided to round up a half dozen friends for the shoot, be picky and do not invite everyone you know to show up. Make sure the people you choose will fit your demographic and display the look that you want to relate to your customers. Doing so will save you a ton of cash especially if they are able to handle their own make-up. Know that getting in front of a camera for the first time can be very intimidating. One thing to keep in mind is that first time models worry a lot about posing and you may have to rely on your photographer to coach them through different poses.

Now that you have chosen you models you are ready for your photo shoot! Be sure that your models are aware of what they eat and how many hours they sleep the day before your shoot. Eat healthy (avoid fatty foods), drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol. Some other key things to keep in mind are wardrobe selection, props, accessories, flesh coloured undergarments for the ladies.

Decide On Your Location

When looking for the best location you must first think about how you would like to represent your collection. Larger companies will usually use an indoor studio and change out the props/background to achieve while other pick various locations to use. Whichever your choice you must do three things: research, research and research. A great tool that can be used is Flickr. This is very useful because you can search around locally for places photographers have already deemed photo worthy and at the same time see how well they developed. When shooting outside you are at the mercy of the weather but the possibilities of locations are endless. You may want to coordinate your location search with your photographer.

I would recommend finding at least 10 locations and then narrow the number down to a number you are happy with. Doing so will give you a better understanding of your location options. When I was looking for a location for Envee Apparel’s Spring/Summer collection I had several locations I liked and will use in the future but decided on something that went with my theme well. In the constant battle between good and evil (part of the theme related to the “”Know Your Destination” collection) I thought something similar to a Garden of Eden feel would work best. When deciding your location you should create a story board so you can visually map out what you hope to accomplish at each location. When doing this it may be a good idea to start planning what products/models you would like at each location as well. Before finalizing anything look over your story board to make sure your plan best represents your line. If you would rather play it by ear the day-of, more power to you.

What To Do The Day Of The Shoot

The day of the photo shoot itself is a very important one as you only have one chance to execute it correctly without dishing out more cash (or product) to everyone involved for a re-shoot. I made sure that everyone involved in our Envee Apparel photo shoot received some free gear and swag for participating. Prior to this day you should have already confirmed that everyone will be arriving on time at the set location. For the “Know Your Destination” collection photo shoot I created a nice email with the shoot details, a map and a little blurb about what to expect. It is recommended that you bring snacks, drinks and provide food. If you are providing hair and make-up professionals for your models, make sure that this part has been completed at least 30 minutes before “go time”.

When starting the shoot make sure that everyone is having a good time because the more fun everyone has the better the photos will turn out. As the owner of the company you should be helping your photographer in the different locations and taking a look at some of the photos from the camera before you switch locations. This will help make sure that you are getting photos you can use from each spot. After you are done taking photos in each location get together with your photographer before everyone packs up and leaves and make sure every shot you intended on getting has been captured. After everything is wrapped up, it is time for post production and then implementation for marketing purposes.

—
Robert Hartland – In addition to running his fashion and lifestyle blog, he also owns Envee Apparel – Artistic Men’s and Womens T-Shirts. Please send him an email if you have any questions or just want to say thanks.

I was recently approached by a young and enthusiastic t-shirt label Cubicoola, they seem like a great bunch, happy in their work, determined in their creative vision with plenty of ideas for the future, and that’s when I know I have to tread carefully, the fact is I felt there positives and negatives in their brand, their store, designs and label in general that would need to be tackled.

I and Chris duly warned them about the content of this post and was impressed that they took my criticisms squarely on the chin, they are emotionally prepared, let’s hope I can somehow positively expound upon my observations and conclusions and offer a way forward for Cubicoola. Here are my aims:-

1) Justify my opinions, suggestions, and criticisms.

2) Enable them to build a better, stronger and eventually bigger brand that a larger slice of the t-shirt market can immediately identify as a winner.

So, you might ask, what’s the big deal, what’s the problem with Cubicoola. Well in truth, nothing in particular, nothing so glaringly obvious that the moment you enter their store you think, I’m off, I’ve had enough. No, it’s more of an accumulative effect, little things, details, presentation, their collection as a whole, the umbrella concept of the Cubicoola brand that doesn’t quite gel. I haven’t sat and thought about a t-shirt brand this long and hard in ages, usually I’m approached by more established brands.

I will begin at the beginning. The store and website design and how I believe it creates a confusing if not even a wrong impression to their market, a market that for now I feel isn’t being targeted precisely or effective enough to make a long lasting success of the brand. The header graphics are too large, too elaborate, too overpowering for a t-shirt store. When a potential buyer arrives they will first and fore mostly want to see the t-shirts above all else. Branding is important, hence the need for a strong and defined logo, however overloading the site with an excess of extraneous graphics will increase loading times, frustrating those on a slower connection, hog too much of the screen for those on a lower resolution, and test the patience of everyone else who is simply there to check out the products.

Funnily enough Cubicoola does offer a few logo-based t-shirts, yet rather than simply slipping this in to the header followed by a few pertinent links they have decided to elaborate on a ‘part’ of the theme of their brand to hammer home the message that you can expect to see illustrated t-shirts… soon – if you scroll down a bit. Don’t ever make a potential buyer work for their shopping experience, make it as easy for them as possible.

This is what their header graphic looks like right now:-

This is what most people would expect:-

Yes it seems rather dull but that’s down to a rather generic logo design, what’s important is that it will load quicker, take up less space on the screen, and includes navigation that will lead far more potential customers to identify with the brand long term. The most important of which is the ‘About’ page link, this is essential to building some brand recognition. People will arrive and take a quick look at the site, wonder why it’s called Cubicoola, what are the t-shirts about, who designed them, where are they, are they organic, screen printed, what’s the shipping, the list is endless. A blog can really help in this instance to forge a greater bond with the customer base, although they do have a Twitter and Facebook account, both of these should again be featured as small icons in the header to further the relationship between client and brand. I’m guessing the name is something to do with a beer cooler, a cubic cooler usually keeps food and drinks cool, if so then why not try a logo along these lines:-

Don’t let a potential buyer come to their own conclusions, work on a strong identity, that will help the buyer identify with your brand, make it as easy as possible for them to feel at home. However personally fulfilling a graphic header may feel when creating it, the fact is most people want to see the products first, then they will want to know a little about the brand, then it moves on from presentation to product design and quality.

So let’s move on to the products themselves, the main problem I have is that the site is a mish-mash of completely different styles that don’t seem to gel together, some far better than other, all fighting each other for some kind of visual precedence on the screen. Take a look at the last label I reviewed SharpShirter.com – they are a collective of all sorts of artists that work together on the label (a dozen at the last count) and yet even though there are vast differences there is a limit to the collection’s eclectic feel, I mean, they could still have been designed by the same designer except for slight variances in style, mood, colour, message and delivery. This is a great example of what a collection should do, how it should perform in the eyes of the visitor, and hopefully turn that visitor into a repeat customer, or at the very least repeat visitor!

I will omit the t-shirt designs that I don’t like and concentrate on those that I think do or have the potential to sell in greater numbers.

AK47 Rainbow Tee

The Rainbow AK47 Tee has the potential to be a very big seller, it’s a very cool idea, smart, clean, provocative. It’s a natural extension to the old “flower in the barrel of a gun” hippie concept, however it’s too simply and plainly drawn. I’m not referring to the spectrum of colours as much as the gun detailing. Take a look at a few images of an AK47 and compare, perhaps it could do with a hand drawn paisley pattern instead of the highly familiar spectrum gradient available in many graphic software applications nowadays. Perhaps it could stretch further diagonally across the front panel, it doesn’t matter if some of each end of the gun is obscured as long as the detailing around the magazine and trigger area are emphasized. It would only take a little black stencilling to complete the idea. To be honest I would like to see this image printed over one shoulder too, almost as if it’s too big for the t-shirt, emphasizing the realism of scale of the AK47. What’s more I have noticed each t-shirt is available in a whole range of t-shirt colours and styles, this isn’t necessary, when you have the right design, just a couple of styles and colours should be sufficient for a best seller.

Hug Me Tee (Pink)

The texturing of this design is great, however the perspective is slightly off, at first glance this is a perfect design and composition but it needs tweaking. Because of the enormous amount of detail in this image the dtg printer is over compensating tonally too. Illustration relies on a lot of “shorthand”. Gestures and marks that together give an impression of detail without needing to include every strand of fur of the bear. The legs seem too small, if the bear is sitting down the feet would be far bigger or the head and arms much smaller. Conceptually I love the idea though, it reminds me a little of a scene from the kitsch sci-fi movie “Barbarella” where painted Victorian dolls with snapping teeth attacked Jane Fonda. Needs work but damn close to a total classic – same goes for the original Hug Me tee.

The Eye Tee

The Eye Tee – this should be a fantastic t-shirt, the only problem I have with it is the scale of the print. Even the preview image gives the image of an enormous eye until you reach the product page and see this:-

I’d like to see it take up as much of the t-shirt as possible, and perhaps add a little more tonal shading around the perimeter, leaving less of the eyelid and highlighting the eyelashes with a slight white outline at the tips. Such a close one, nearly great again.

Cubi Cat Tee

I rather like this design actually, it’s really quite strange, it could do with being a tad larger as a print but it works. What doesn’t work is the fact that there are too few illustrated tees (apart from those I’ve mentioned) that have as strong a concept behind them. The detailing of the illustration is great, it’s well drawn and in perspective, it’s simple at first glance and pulls you in on closer inspection.

There is such thing as trying to say “too much”, I think many of the designs suffer from that, a clear idea for a concept, with no more than 2 or 3 well drawn objects sums up most messages. T-shirt design is rather like logo design, you have to say something immediately, people have to know (however weird the message) what’s going on. The more graphic design style tees actually suffer from the opposite, too little detail or concept or both.

It’s frustrating writing this review, I can see there’s obviously talent at Cubicoola, but the real problem comes down to locking down on your concepts, your core audience, your overall strategy. I’d say the strongest pieces are the simple subjects that have been highly illustrated and convey a surface and secondary message, a bear with teeth, a cat’s skeleton. Take a look at a few Jan Svankmeyer animations for inspiration, check out the weirder offerings on t-shirt voting sites like Threadless.com, especially the losers, they reveal the most about what the public want.

it’s much easier to steer a market than form a new one, I’d love to think some of my advice could be responsible for an explosion of activity and profit for Cubicoola, but only time will tell.

We’d like to feature more of them but in all honesty we think the label needs a little work all round, starting with the site/store/shop – it’s a real plain Jane and it’s crying out for some graphic finesse. That asides there are at least a few t-shirts that need to be abandoned pronto, it’s hard for every designer to get off the ground, but take a look around our blog, you can all see what the competition are up to, and for the main part they are masters of the tee universe. Essentially great fashion design (which is in all honesty what t-shirt design is) relies on two main factors. Concept and Conception. You can’t just have a good idea, you have to deliver it too. That is most likely why at least one of their designs has some appeal.

Lip Service by Fera Fera

I’m not sure how much it will appeal to guys, perhaps the gay market, but I know at least one female of the species that likes the concept through and through. It follows all the rules of a successful design, it’s a pun I know, but a play on a saying not so everyday as some out there. The detailing in Lip Service is for the main part great, although I have to admit I don’t like the edge of the shadow under the top lip, it doesn’t look wet, it looks like the beginnings of some sort of skin reaction to me, tiny spots of some kind. Still the tongue is very well designed.

I’m being cagey here I know, I don’t like to trash the hopes of a new designer but sometimes it’s better to avoid mistakes that can prove the downfall of a label sooner rather than later. Remember this is the best design there, I’d get rid of Trucker right now, which I’m afraid to say is a terrible design, the others need a lot more work except for Hello Hello which is sweet but rather obvious and Sookie La La which simply lacks originality. When you’re falling back on emoticons there’s definitely a problem in the creativity department.

Yes Nature’s Resilient is quite well drawn but there’s no twist, no awe inspiring composition, I’ve seen bears, stags, lions, apes, all kinds of animals on t-shirts that can make an impact, but usually it’s one figure, close-up, overpowering the whole front and even back of the shirt, jam-packed with detail. I know Shawn could do this, it just takes time and the right printing equipment to achieve it.

Still, let’s hope Fera Fera have a rethink and come up with more Pop Art style tees like Lip Service for the future, and please, jazz up that site!