tFuse – Fusing Talent And Recognition

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Want to be famous? Want to be famous for making t-shirts? Good. tFuse is a community that uses t-shirts and video to promote all types of artists. Following in the vein of many t-shirt crowd sourcing sites out there, this company offers a little something extra in the way of video exposure to ensure their artists get as much exposure as possible. After a hefty 7 month beta tFuse are ready to bombard the unsuspecting public with your greatest offerings. What’s particularly interesting about tFuse and the people behind it is their focus on creative and artistic talent, they’re not just following the traditional route of dipping into the usual pool of t-shirt talents out there, they’re giving a worldwide shout to all artists from every background, using the medium of the t-shirt as a primary tool for publicity and exposure for the unsung heroes of the artistic community.

I’ve argued this before and will again (I’m sure), essentially there are slow routes and quick routes for making a name in the arts world, take graffiti for instance, many names in this modern urban genre have made it big through public recognition, word-of-mouth, one fan telling another and so on. Not stuffy old galleries in the back streets of trendy city ghettos, but every street in every town in every city of the world. Another way an artist can boost their profile in the public arena is to print t-shirts, the more people who wear them the better known their work will become. This is exactly the philosophy of tFuse and then some. Combining t-shirt art with video promotion is probably one of the fastest ways any artist can reach the public immediately and in quantifiable numbers.

Yes I think the logo needs work, I’d have thought within 7 months something more imaginative could’ve been sourced, but hey they have enough artists on their books, what about asking them to create one, I’m sure they could offer a good incentive? Talking of incentives, they offers lots of ways to earn money and t-shirts in their referral program, so if you aren’t to au fait with creativity you can still join in and make a few bucks, or rather FuseBucks.

If a friend likes your t-shirt they’ll ask where you bought it, they’ll check the source and most likely won’t want to but exactly the same design (unless you’re actually twins a la ‘The Shining‘ – those doppelg√§nger types out there really freak me out). So back to the point, they buy another design, they wear it, now two of your works are on ‘public display’ somewhere in the world and so the ripple effect has begun. I’ve never believed in network marketing or pyramid schemes, but I do believe in the power of fashion to spread the message as fast as possible. So many large charity movements like Live Aid have used t-shirts to viral effect, so why not artists? Now don’t get me wrong, their use of videos isn’t as cut and thrust as your usual corporate dross out there, it’s all creative no matter the format, you won’t get far making a video of you telling the world to “buy my tees – they are great”. No, this is all about personality, brand identity, a unique reality that the public will either lap up or won’t. Just the way comedians conjure up a scenario, or writers and directors set the stage, the public want to be enticed, enveloped, engulfed in the minds of their favourite bands, artists, and celebrities in general. The only difference is you won’t have a big PR firm doing it all for you, you have to do it yourself, which is really the name of the game these days.

The site is still a little bare right now, but that can work to your advantage, the less competition there is the more chance you have of becoming established before tFuse really takes off. Just imagine combining the power of Youtube with Threadless and you’re half way there. All it takes is a little imagination and a lot of hard work and perseverance. Are you up to the challenge? Do you want to be the next t-shirt idol? Then take a look at what you’re up against right now… read more