Art Doesn’t Sell

In my experience as a designer and curator, there is a truth about the apparel world that has become apparent. If my hunch is correct, this probably spans the whole world of art:

Artsy fartsy doesn’t sell in a mass consumer market.

I don’t wish to discourage any artist from designing in their own voice, but typically, people enjoy simplicity; generic ideas, easily understood and recognizable.

By artsy farty, I am referring to esoteric ideas, themes, and execution.

For example, my best selling shirt at shirt.woot.com was Death on a Pale White Unicorn.

Whereas Death took only 1.5 hours, the piece over which I labored most, Plunder All, was received with only mild enthusiasm by the shirt.woot market.

Whereas Death on a Unicorn is easily understood, “haha, I get it, its… Death on a Unicorn, plain and simple, but whats this pirate about? He has brass knuckles but he has Love tattooed on his fist? And whats with the octopus with the keyhole in the head?”

Plunderall is not.

One may argue that shirt.woot is a vacuum in which the preferences of the consumers are very specific, but this is not the case.

In most avenues I’ve observed, there is rarely an exception.

Teefury.com started out attempting to be like their sister company Designbyhumans by starting out selling very artistic designs, then over time, the market tended to gravitate towards a Threadless-y Woot-y genre but uniquely Teefury-y.

It seems every business tries to dictate it’s theorectical market, but eventually the consumers from the web will eventually put them into a niche.

At Teefury, since we sell a different shirt every 24 hours, we still have a wide selection of genres we offer, but the obvious winners are pop culture related.

I’ve sold over a dozen shirts through Teefury. In the beginning, I started with artistic designs which took hours to create, and years of refining my skillset.

But to date, wonder what’s been my best seller? Ceiling Cat and Darth Tut. Both pop culture references.

What made my artsty fartsy designs fail? Frankly, unless you are in a niche market like Design By Humans, the majority of the population does not have the palette or affinity for esoteric expressions. They simply don’t have the ability or desire to understand a different language.

We are still very much like animals. We still exhibit the fight or flight tendencies in our decision making. We desire social validation and acceptance as community beings so if you apply this theory to products, we want a product that communicates a positive and acceptable message to the rest of the world. We don’t want to scare anyone into thinking we are different.

To wear something that is difficult or even unable to be understood, you might as well be wearing something with a foreign alien language.

We live in a world of symbols. Male/Female bathroom signs are universally understood. The color red, a sign of urgency, skulls typically represent death, etc.

As artists, we can help to create new symbols, but we must teach the world first before they understand it and are at ease with it. So there are two paths.
1. Design using symbols that already exist.

2. Be the forerunner in defining a new set of symbols, or way of expression, until it becomes accepted, if ever.

The latter is the true artist’s journey, so it is most difficult.

But it seems, that once you define a way of expression, you will have defined your niche, so you can rarely deviate from it once settled into popularity.

BTW, did you know that even with gallery art, the top selling designs are typically generic? Landscapes, abstracts, dogs, and portraits.

So what should you design to be successful?

It depends on your market, but typically

1. Look at trends. If you observe enough of the market, you will see consistency, an affinity for certain topics, or specific design aesthetics.

2. Include pop culture references. It’s a no brainer for Marc Ecko and Adidas to be partnering with Lucas Films to create products that are Star Wars related. Star Wars is widely understood and enjoyed.

Immediately, when people see the symbols or imagery related to Star Wars, cha-ching. You know it’s $$$$ MONEY $$$$.

If you look at Threadless, you will see alot of other topics that are pop culture/cult following related products.

Video games, zombies, tv/movies, etc.

Piggy-backing on something that’s already popular is the easiest route to getting sales, and attention.

There is a legal issue here. You must parody, or coyly design in a manner in which will allow you to skirt copyright infringement issues. Thankfully, parody is a route.

3. Keep it simple stupid. Don’t deviate too far from the normal way of expressing ideas, and don’t be complicated in artistic expression. Solid low color designs are king. You want to create a design in which, someone walking by in a second understands what they are looking at. This is related to symbols. Symbols are simple images. Just as we recognize a smiley face with a cirle, two dots and a semi circular line, you want your image to be almost just as simple.

*** Addendum by @Hydro74 Twitter
4. Emulate popular styles/trends. “uniqueness is rare and not demanded by consumers or companies thus emulate what sells with a splash of creative twist.”

…..

Recently, these are a few submissions I’ve seen at different sites which are obvious winners if they are printed. These are full of win. Obviously, it doesn’t take a expert to recognize them as good sellers.

Although, the skills exemplified by these pieces are professional, I would chance to say that, concepts sell most shirts, so these could have been done by a crappy artist, and they would still sell.

…..

This is the way of the world peeps.

One of the only places I’ve been successful with my own brand of art has been Designbyhumans.com, as it’s market gravitates to being somewhat esoteric and artsy fartsy. It’s built its consumer base as such, but if you notice the shirt of the weeks/months, you will also notice that it’s not necessarily the most artistic designs that win. It’s mostly allovers, abstract designs, and designs that have a wide appeal by being mildly trendy, but not overly similar to trends already existent in the apparel market.

It doesn’t necessarily take extraordinary artistic ability to win.

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How to Design for the Apparel Market

What is networking? Why is networking important? Why am I writing this and how does it have to do with Too Legit? All of these questions will be answered in the following Facet of Legitimacy.
Let’s say that you need to find a job. You spend hours and hours and come up with a resume that highlights everything you have ever done. You go to the local stationary store and buy some really nice paper to print your resume onto. After this, you drop off your resume to several local businesses that might be interested in employing you. Do you realize how many applications for employment all of these businesses get? Do you understand what your chances of getting employed are? Your chances are slim. A much easier approach lies on the inside. If you know someone on the inside of the company, business, or corporation, they will most likely not have a problem helping you out by recommending you. This would save time, money, and energy on something as simple (but important) as getting a job. And how would you get “on the inside”? Through networking, of course! This is just one example of the wonders good networking and contacts will have.
So what exactly is networking? Networking is the act of meeting new people in a business or social context. Networking is something that everyone experiences pretty much daily. Meeting someone new at the coffee shop in the morning or going to a conference and trading business cards. Networking sets up future interactions and mutually beneficial relationships among two or more people, businesses, or institutions.

Networking comes in many different shapes and forms. For example, networking with potential clients and customers differs from networking with potential resources and manufacturers. Being knowledgeable of the different types of networking and how to network within each will definitely show positive results. In the end, you will have stronger contacts and a better platform with which to run your business off of. In the next few paragraphs, I will go somewhat more in depth into each type. However, due to the broad scope of networking, it would be almost impossible to include all the information available.

Social Networking sites are extremely important when it comes to networking. Personally, social networking sites are the reason for Too Legit’s existence and are what continue to keep it alive. The most popular social networking sites to date are: Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, in terms of overall users and traffic. All 3 are invaluable resources that are key to almost any business’ success in this day and age. The ability to connect and communicate with people all over the world in a matter of seconds has made networking online extremely easy and important.
Be professional and know who you are talking to at all times. It’s the little things that count. Using correct grammar and punctuation could be the deciding factor of whether or not you get that manufacturing account you have always wanted or that interview on a prestigious blog. I have talked with people who use subpar English and they definitely do not impress me. Think about it from the big business’ perspective: You are looking to do professional business with someone and they are talking to you as if you were their old friend from high school. Not cool at all.

Twitter: Twitter is a free, real-time short messaging service that allows people from all over the globe to connect and read about what others are doing. I use Twitter on a daily basis and it allows me to quickly send out information to a large group of people (followers) and lets me see what is going on with them (following). For any established or upcoming business or brand, I HIGHLY recommend you sign up for your own Twitter account today and begin using it. I cannot explain how many contacts I have gained from simple 140 character interactions with people. A more detailed article about the use of twitter and its benefits can be found on the BA blog here.
MySpace: Over the past year or so, my activity on MySpace has decreased substantially. Partly because I find MySpace annoying due to the fact that it is crawling with spammers who have no desire to connect; only to gain the most friends, (I don’t understand the thrill of having a million friends that don’t know you, but whatever floats your boat) and secondly because I don’t really go on my personal MySpace very much either. However, for an upcoming brand, MySpace can be a valuable tool. You set up a page with your brand name, pictures of your products, info on the brand, and maybe a link or two to your website/webshop and you’re good to go.
Facebook: I look at Facebook as a MySpace 2.0. It has all the functionality of MySpace, but is cleaner, faster, and overall, more refined. Facebook allows you to create a fan page of your business, brand, cause, etc. and suggest to your friends that fan page. People who aren’t your friends can also “Become a Fan” and follow updates that you make along the way. There are no crazy layouts on Facebook, but you can still include pictures of your products, links to external sites, and a brand bio.
By no means are these the only social networking sites. There are easily hundreds of sites you can join to get your business out there. A couple of them are Digg, Flickr, DeviantArt, and LinkedIn. Each of these has a specific genre or theme to them. For example, Flickr is all about pictures, DeviantArt is about art/design, and LinkedIn is about business. (All of my social networking links can be found at the end of the article.)
Other good online resources include forums and websites directly related to your business. Since my major focus is fashion and clothing, I found sites such as the forum on Hypebeast.com, the forum on Lurk99cents.com, tshirtforums.com, and the talk and resource areas on emptees.com very valuable when it came to meeting new people, discussing my product, and collecting contacts.

Networking in person can be a lot more complicated and difficult than networking online for several different reasons. First, when you are online and are “posting” information, sending e-mails, and interacting with others, you are able to type out what you would like to say, edit that, and then send it. In person, that is not the case. Someone asks you something and you respond right then and there. Being careful about what you say and how you say it is very important because someone’s reaction will be completely different depending on how they hear what you are saying.
In addition, it’s harder to pick up on tone of voice online because, well, you aren’t hearing them say it, you are reading it. Your tone means a lot, so that is something to watch out for. Coming off mad or overly sarcastic can lead to a negative interaction between you and a potential contact.
If you go to an event or conference, be sure to take along some business cards to handout to potential clients and contacts and other information about who you are and what you do. It would be stupid to go to a conference without having anything to leave with someone. You have to understand that people converse with a ton of people at these sorts of events. Without something to trigger their memory when they return home, there is no way they will remember you.

So why is networking important? As Albert Schuster, president of Network in Philadelphia, once said, “Networking offers another avenue to reach vendors, customers, future business partners… It allows you to present yourself and your networking objective in a much more personal way than an advertisement, promotion, or an online resume can.” Without a strong network of friends, family, contacts, and clients, your business will ultimately fail. In order to be successful, you must have help from other people. Meeting new people and connecting with them will definitely help you in the long run.
When talking with someone, whether in person, over the phone, through e-mail, or by any other means of communication, be sure to be human, and more importantly, be yourself. The worst possible thing that you could do is make someone feel as if they are just another number in a vast list of contacts you have sitting on your desk. Creating a personal relationship will enable you to stand out and rise above the noise. In addition, if you put up a false persona of who you really are, the value of your connection will usually decrease. Being genuine is a top notch way to win true friends, valuable resources, and goes hand in hand with the ultimate goal, being successful. Moreover, being genuine is, in large part, one of the main ideals that Too Legit was originally based upon and continues to build upon.
Lastly, I want to make a point of never being lazy. Networking is most effective when you do it constantly and consistently. You need to network when you don’t really have to. Yes, networking is a lot of work and takes time, but once you have successfully made contacts, it is very valuable and rewarding. In addition, make sure you engage people as often as possible. Don’t wait for them to get back to you on a call or e-mail, call them first!

At first, networking wasn’t a large priority for the brand. I would design the shirts, get them printed, and try to sell them. That was it. I thought it was just a simple market. You make something that the consumer wants, and they buy it. That is not totally incorrect, but there is a lot more to it. Since then, I have grown a greater appreciation for the powers of networking. Through the Too Legit Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, I have accumulated many contacts and friendships that have been useful already and will continue to be useful as time passes. Anyone can have a clothing brand and sell a few t-shirts to their friends and the local crowd, but a good brand has a national or even global following. The only way to reach out to the people not directly in contact with you is to network.
Although networking online is not the only way to network, it comprises the bulk of how I network. As the brand is still young, I have not attended any shows to date. However, in the next few months that will change and I will most definitely meet new people and create new contacts.

All in all, I can’t stress it enough that creating mutually beneficial relationships that are meaningful and personal is one of the most, if not the most, important aspect of creating and expanding a business whether it be a clothing brand or not. Sign up for social networking sites, actively connect, and be able to describe who you are and what you do to any person that might walk up to you.
I doubt very many people read through this whole article as it is rather lengthy. And even so, I have left out a lot of things and will probably write a Networking Pt. 2 post at some point. This is the first Facet of Legitimacy to date so please leave comments or message me with any feedback you might have. I want to make this series as informational and as helpful as possible. I know that I’m not some big brand, but I do feel that I have a small bit of knowledge that I’d like to share with people.
Thanks for reading.

-Chris
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/toolegitclothes
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Too-Le…ng/79830493302
MySpace – MySpace – Too Legit Clothing – 17 – Male – SAN JOSE, California – myspace.com/toolegitclothing
Site – http://www.toolegitclothing.com
Shop – http://shop.toolegitclothing.com

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

Networking for clothing lines

When writing your brand statement, what your aiming for is convincing your target customers that your brand is exactly what they’re looking for. If your products aren’t giving people a solid idea of what your brand is about, your “About” page is your only hope. It also helps to be pretty specific about what your brand means rather than establishing yourself as a brand with no real meaning. I’ve seen tons of t-shirt lines that I didn’t really understand right off the bat, but got a better understanding and appreciation for once I read their brand profile. I’ve also seen a bucha brands who’s brand profile do absolutely nothing for making their brand look good, and in fact do the opposite. It automatically makes me pass over the brand and look for something better.

If you don’t want to be looked over there’s a few major things you should ask yourself while defining your brand:

What does your brand name mean and how does it relate to your products?

What kind of theme is prominent in your designs?

What principles do you stand by?

What words can you use to describe your products?

What are some notable features about your t-shirts?

If you can tackle those questions then you’re on your way to writing a great brand profile. Try to avoid cliches like claiming your brand is “unique” and “something new”. Don’t mention how everybody is tired of going to a party and seeing 3 people wearing the same shirt and that your brand will be the one shirt nobody has. Those are just fillers people use when they don’t really know what the hell their brand is actually about. None of this stuff will have a great impact on whether or not a potential customer will consider buying your items. Instead, focus on describing what makes your brand so unique and cool rather than simply saying “We’re cool and unique!”

Don’t make a buncha statements like “We’re here to take the clothing industry to the next level” and “We’re gonna change the t-shirt game forever!” That kind of talk is nothing but your company’s generalized goals, goals which many other brands also have. It doesn’t increase the chance of gaining new customers.

Don’t flood your brand description with unnecessary information about yourself or your team. Things like “We always wanted a clothing line and finally our dreams have come true” and “We each have our own unique styles and ideas” do nothing for the potential consumer learning about your brand. You should only mention things about yourself that relate to the brand. If you have a line of fishing t-shirts it’s okay to say you’ve been fishing all your life. That kind of information actually adds to the brand experience. Knowing that you and your best friend have been trying to sell tees for the past 3 years doesn’t help in highlighting the brand itself. People don’t even care about you until you’ve proven yourself.

Read the rest of the article at t-shirt magazine

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

Creating a Good Brand Description

This is the first in a series of articles that will delve into one concept or theory in the field of psychology and explore the ways in which it applies to your business. Because the knowledge that we have gained from psychology is based on general human behavior, it may be applied to the population at large and used to better your company and the relationships with your customers.

One of the most well-known theories of psychology is that of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning applies to the process of learning and describes how reinforcement or punishment modifies an individual’s behavior. A behavior increases in frequency if the outcome of performing this behavior is positive, a reinforcement. In the same fashion, a behavior occurs less often if the result is negative, a punishment. Now this all may seem like common sense, yet there are still companies that provide subpar goods and/or customer service. For example, if someone purchases a t-shirt from your online store, only to receive it and see that the design is unintentionally off-center and the seams have fallen out, they will regret their decision to buy from your company. These defects in the shirt can be seen as a punishment, since the individual spent his or her money and basically traded it for something that was simply not worth it. Likewise, if a customer comes to your company with important concerns and your customer department staff member is rude and unhelpful, he or she will feel a sense of bitterness and frustration (I am quite positive everyone reading this article knows exactly what I’m talking about). Before you know it, these customers will no longer want to have anything to do with your company because they fear the disappointment of losing their time, their money, and even their spirit when they rely on your company.

On the other hand, if you and your company go above and beyond with your products and customer service, you will see much better results with your business! Receiving a t-shirt that you’ve purchased and having it be what you expected for it to be is good, but opening up a package and seeing that the contents are 10 times better than you predicted is even better. Although you may have spent a good amount of money on this product, you may end up feeling rewarded because you got more for your money than what you had anticipated. We all know this feeling. This rewarding feeling as a consequence of purchasing from your company is a reason for consumers to want to stick with your company to fulfill their need for the type of product that you offer, whatever the product may be.

Not giving customers what they truly deserve for their money’s worth is a big no-no. If you punish your customers with bad products and services, they will indubitably shop elsewhere, especially if their first purchase from your store or their first time contacting your customer service representative has left them with a second-rate product and/or negative emotions. As consumers, we like getting what we pay for and having our purchases meet or exceed our expectations. No one likes to be let down. Treat your customers as though you are building a relationship with them. You cannot build a relationship if you do not put in the effort to earn the other party’s trust and respect. Since you are building a symbiotic relationship with each consumer, your company benefits from having customers purchase your goods, and your customers benefit from receiving products that fulfill their needs. Do what it takes to please each and every one of your customers, because these relationships need to be mutual and reciprocal if you want your customers to keep coming back for more.

In short, you should always focus on your customers and their needs in order to reward them for taking an interest in your company. This reward is a reinforcement that will help you secure a community of consumers. More consumers means more business, and more business means more profits. Never forget that by rewarding your customers, you, in turn, are rewarding yourself.

Make sure to check out iamthetrend.com for weekly articles and features! Also if you like this

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Operant Conditioning: What is it and How Does it Apply to My Business?

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Want You to Want Me: The Art of Liking and Persuasion

Here are my previous articles on the subject.

• How to get your cool tshirts reviewd by a t-shirt blog
• How I became one of the top online t-shirt companies by being a nice guy

The genesis for this article was an email I received a few days ago from a new clothing line (who shall rename nameless) that was also sent to about a dozen other blog owners in the industry. I know this for a fact because it the author of the email used CC instead of BCC, allowing myself and all the other addressees to see exactly who he had sent it to.

These types of emails are horrible for two reasons:

1. Unless everyone you’re emailing knows each other, CC is a great way to open up a can of spam – all it takes is 2-3 people hitting “reply all” and you’re suddenly stuck receiving endless emails that you can’t opt out of or stop. It’s literally a nightmare.

2. It’s “lazy marketing” (put so well by someone who responded to this latest email). You’re essentially appealing to a blog owner to take the time and effort to look at your products, and then compose a well-thought out (hopefully positive) review… But you can’t take the time to write them a personal email?

This was the second time in recent months that I received an email like this. I “replied all” on the first one with a very long, and very annoyed rant about the relative lack of consideration, so this time I thought I’d do something a little more productive…

In this article, you’ll find some do’s and don’ts for clothing lines (especially new ones) on emailing blog owners to get some press on your apparel. These tips won’t guarantee you a feature, but they’ll definitely increase your chances.

Read the rest of the article over at popculture tees

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

Do’s And Don’ts: Getting Your T-Shirts Reviewed

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

Selling With Social Media

originally posted on tee biz

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

5000 Twitter Friends in 90 Days

I had the honor of interviewing him to try and get a little insight into what drives him, enjoy!

First and foremost, what is buy-tees.net?

Hmm… well I suppose the clue is in the name heh. It’s a t-shirt reviews blog first and foremost–although it’s probably not quite like any other you’ve read. I do have a tendency to quote the world and his wife and just about every homespun philosophy imaginable when I get cracking on a review. I am probably what you’d call a ‘natural blogger’ – I’m from a creative background in both the fine arts and literature and so I suppose it made sense to hone my abilities by venturing into blogging. It just so happens that I use the excuse of t-shirt reviews to express my opinions to the world.

What drove you to start it?

There are two answers to this. The first was simply to promote a few of my own t-shirt designs, way back when I’d decided to set up my own independent t-shirt label, I was sick of the enormous profits and poor service that many major print-on-demand sites were offering and so I thought I’d have a bash. Promoting the label was a total nightmare, besides which the overall costs of setting up a label were beyond my reach at the time and so I thought a blog would save on marketing costs and be a good way of drumming up business. The second reason came along within a week or two of blogging. Essentially, I found that a lot of other designers were in the same proverbial boat – vis-a-vis they also hadn’t two pennies to rub together and needed quality sources of promotion and marketing without the extortionate expense of traditional advertising such as Adwords or hiring an SEO expert. So I filled the gap, featuring designers’ work in return for a back link to the blog.

I know buy-tees.net is made up of yourself and another silent partner; is there anyone else that is part of the team?  Do you ever have guest posts and if so, how do you go about selecting the individual?

Short answer no – I have had offers – although for the main part they’re rather self-promotional in the main. I’m not exactly an objective reviewer myself, I am however an artist and so I know when I see something conceptually or visually superior and that always urges me on when it comes to deconstructing the mindset or ethos of a brand/designer. I’m also not ‘in it for the money’ as they say – I make a few dollars from the odd banner now and again but it doesn’t even cover hosting most of the time.

I have always enjoyed the company of artists, whatever medium they may choose to specialize in – it just so happens that I believe t-shirt design has until recently been treated as a rather lowly distant cousin of say illustration or graphic design and thought it’d be rather satisfying both personally and for the arts community at large if someone could give this niche a boost.

My partner helps out with some administration of the site from time to time and we discuss our reactions to designers’ work, we like to bounce ideas off of each other and see if there’s anything more I can add to the review than the usual ‘pic and click’ offerings out there.

Read the rest of the article here at assaultblog.com

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

Interview with Paul Baines from Buy-Tees.net

Tim Toomey from Assault Blog and Assault Shirts talks about how to get SEO results without spending a lot of money.

He gives some great tips for keyword strategies, blog strategies and coding strategies.

That video was done for watchteev.com

Post from: How to start a Clothing Company

SEO for Apparel and T-Shirt Companies