How to start a Clothing Company » Uncategorized

Screenprinting vs. Direct to Garment Digital Printing(DTG)

Jon Kruse — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:29:45 +0000

I wrote this article for my blog, Tee Spotter. I review and write about clothing lines and similar topics. I figured this would be a good resource to post here.

@Tee Spotter on Twitter

Hey all. I’ve been thinking about writing this article for a while now and after asking for feedback, some people had a genuine interest in the subject, so I will do what I can to shed some light on these printing methods and all of their mysteries. If you have any questions when I’m done, feel free to ask.

Screenprinting and Direct To Garment Printing(we’re going to call this DTG for short, to save my fingers some typing) are two very different methods of printing onto t-shirts. In this article I will explain the differences between each of these methods, the pros and cons of each, and how to decide which one is right for you.

Screenprinting is exactly what the name states, printing with a screen. Your artwork is first broken down into separate layers, one color on each layer. Each of these layers is then transferred on to a screen, and the design is burned in. This burning process makes holes in the mesh of the screen so that when ink is pulled across the screen, it gets pushed through the mesh and onto your tshirt. This is repeated for each of the layers(and colors) until the whole design is finished. There are many different kinds of ink that are used for screenprinting, but I think I’ll save that for another article.

Direct to garment printing is a digital print of your artwork directly on to the shirt(hence the name). Think of a huge ink jet printer with your shirt inside of it, that is basically what happens when using this method of printing. Unlike screenprinting, all of the colors are printed at the same time and there are no screens or different kinds of ink involved.

So what are the pros and cons? Well, both methods have quite a few…

Screenprinting is high quality, it lasts basically forever, there are more options as far as what you can do with your artwork(foil, puff ink, fuzzy ink, and so on), its great for larger orders of shirts(for bands, clothing lines, etc.) But, it is more complicated to design for, each color has to be on its own layer, which sometimes the printer will do for you. Also, color matching can be more difficult and can cost extra on top of having limited colors(usually around 6-12 max). Screenprinting costs more in general because you have to pay for the screens, and the set up. Keep in mind though, you’re paying for higher quality, so it can be worth it.

DTG has its own pros and cons though. Unlimited colors is a pretty big plus. It costs less. Its a faster process. Its a great choice for someone printing just a few shirts, but for someone printing many, it isn’t the best choice. The quality of the print is much, much lower. It will fade in the wash. Its even more difficult to match colors since the printer(not the person printing the shirts, the actual printer) has to mix everything itself. If you want to print on dark colored shirts it costs extra to pretreat the shirt and do a white under base that is probably going to show through on the edges of your design anyway. I guess if you don’t care about print quality, DTG is okay.

Now, how in the world do you tell which kind of printing you should use? It’s actually not that hard to decide…

If you…
Are printing a large number of shirts
Have artwork that is 6 colors or less
Are looking for high quality, long lasting prints
Need exact color matching

Then I suggest you go with screenprinting. It will take care of all of these and then some.

If you…
Are only printing a few shirts
Have artwork with lots of colors and/or shading
Have a small budget
Don’t need colors to be matched

Then DTG might be a better option for you. It will save you money and still deliver what you need.

I think that I covered mostly everything there is to cover on this topic, I may have missed a few things but nothing major.

Please keep in mind that I don’t know EVERYTHING, I’m not saying that someone who needs a lot of shirts can’t use DTG or that someone who only needs a few shirts can’t use screenprinting. I’m more so just trying to give everyone a better outlook on these methods and how they are meant to be used. The decision is totally up to you, I only want to help you in making that decision. Hopefully I have done that. Like I said, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

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Screenprinting vs. Direct to Garment Digital Printing(DTG)

Don’t start a clothing company

Jon Kruse — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:13:27 +0000

Let me first say that starting a clothing company has been an amazing experience for me personally. I have met tons of amazing people in this industry and had tons of positive customer feedback and I wouldn’t change anything. This post is just meant to make you cautious about getting into this industry.

First of all the t-shirt market is over saturated. If you think you are going to become the next quicksilver, Johnny Cupcakes, or Marc Ecko you are in for a rude awakening. It is so much harder now to break out in this market because so many people are doing the same exact thing as you. I get around 25,000 unique visitors to this site every month. That’s 25,000 people wanting to start a clothing company.

It’s expensive. Paying for quality designers, screen printers, and shirts are expensive.

Shirt costs

designer: $200-300 (you’re going to have to pay at least $200 if you want a decent design)
shirt cost for 50 screen printed shirts on AA: $400- 500

each shirt costs $12-16

You would have to sell 35 shirts at $20 just to break even. This is why starting out is hard. You are trying to compete with the big companies on prices and quality but won’t be able to turn any real profit until you grow bigger and can do higher print runs. In the beginning it’s all about cash flow. If you can get sales constantly coming in you can make a business out of it and grow.

It’s tons of work. You need to constantly be coming out with new designs. Contacting blogs about sales and engaging your customer to maintain your shop. Ship out products or hire someone to do that for you. All of this requires a lot of work.

There are a lot of other ventures you can do besides starting a clothing company that would probably be easier. I applaud anyone that takes that leap of faith and goes for it. For me it has all been worth the journey .

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Don’t start a clothing company

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. RIP Steve Jobs

Jon Kruse — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:42:12 +0000

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Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. RIP Steve Jobs

20% OFF Discount Code for Thread’s not Dead

Jon Kruse — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:56:55 +0000

I have an exclusive discount code for the readers of my blog. Use the code “HOWTO20″ for 20% off Thread’s Not Dead.

Threads not Dead is an e-book written by Jeff Finley of Go Media with the help of many big names in the clothing industry (including myself).

What if the most prolific and influential people in the modern t-shirt design scene got together and discussed everything they wish they knew when they started? That’s exactly what we have here. Inside these 10 chapters is 117 pages of essential strategy pulled from the success and failures of some of the best in the biz. Key topics include design, freelancing, band merchandise, personal branding, marketing, sales, printing & production, retail, e-commerce, and more.

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20% OFF Discount Code for Thread’s not Dead

The facebook comment widget rocks

Jon Kruse — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:12:07 +0000

Allowing customers to comment on your products is a great way to get them involved more in your company. In the past users had to sign into your e-commerce site to leave comments. You would get an e-mail to verify your username and it all took a time and was a little bit annoying. Today facebook has a comment widget that makes it easy for users to leave comments on your site. If they are logged into facebook all they need to do is just type their comment and click a button.

I recently did a promotion where I gave away shirts for the best comments on my shark week shirt. You can check out all the comments on http://store.mediocoreclothing.com/product/shark-week

Some of my favorite were:

“ARE YOU KIDDING! A shirt all for shark week! I live, eat, and sleep, shark week. Just kidding I don’t because I don’t leave the TV to live, eat, or sleep. Can’t miss an awesome shark attack or a feeding frenzy on a whale carcus! This is the reason why I was born shark week was dedicated to me because it’s in my birth month….that was totalyl on porpose for me of course.”

“There are a lot of shirts out there that have a “Motto”, but this one actually has a mantra to live by. I started living every week like it was shark week. I would sneak up on unsuspecting prey and jump out in front of them, teeth glistening in the sun. The guy at the bus stop gave up the bench for me. The guy behind the counter at the 7-11 said I didn’t have to pay for my slurpee! I even got a date with that cute waitress at the Waffle House cause, just like a shark, I waited for the right moment and she was cornered when I jumped and bared my evil pearly whites! This shirt has made my life complete! Today I plan on swimming down to the Porsche dealer and doing the jump attack. I know I’ll be driving home in a new convertible! All thanks to my new shirt….and my new mantra!”

“The definition of the word Shark means: A creature that will literally eat your face off. I learned this from my studies in Marine Biology while earning my Doctorate at the Prestigious University of Austin Community College. For a man to create a shirt that truly embraces a shark and the culture humans have built around it means that the man himself must have been a shark in a past life. This also meaning the man must have sexual intercourse with a female partner at least 3-5 times a day. He must also have a genitalia so massive, it could cure even the biggest of shark’s hunger. He is also a badass who can tell Sharks to back the fuck off by punching them in their damn faces! SHARK WEEK! SHARK WEEK! SHARK WEEK! Shark week tames my inner shark! I would beat the shit out of Shark Boy and Lava Girl because I am a shark. Swimming is for pussies Michael Phelps, I’m a fucking Shark and will destroy you in the water. ALL MY FELLOW SHARKS, WHERE YOU AT?”

The other awesome thing about this widget is it will post the comment on their facebook if they chose to. So your comment is shown on their wall to all their friends, it is an great way to get more traffic to your site. I also setup this widget on my friends site. You can check out this widget in work here http://www.seibei.com/im-fat-lets-party-177

Get the facebook comment widget here

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/comments/

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The facebook comment widget rocks

Characteristics of Successful Clothing Company Owners

Jon Kruse — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:54:38 +0000

I haven’t written an article in a while and thought it was about time to get back into it. I see a lot of people entering into the clothing game and I can usually tell by the type of person they are if they are going to succeed or fail.

I get a ton of emails from people thinking of starting a clothing company. The people that want every answer before they start and need their hand held through the process usually don’t make it very far. Asking questions and planning everything out is crucial but actually taking the initiative and doing it teaches you so much more. The most important part is just getting the ball rolling. You might not have all the answers now but you will figure it all out down the road. This one characteristic is what I see all the time with successful clothing company owners.

Owners that think positively are much more likely to succeed. The hardest time for me was in the very beginning when I wasn’t getting those first sales. Every problem was a set back and I could have quit at any time. Most of the people that are successful have just weathered the hard times and are stronger because of it. If you can be strong and think positively in the darkest hours everything will come together in time.

Knowing your market and your customer is a must. I feel like a lot of people believe they have a brilliant idea but they don’t connect with their market. No matter how much you want to go and do your own thing you need to remember you need a customer to sell to.

You can’t be a walmart. What I mean is you can’t sell products to everyone. There already is a walmart and it sucks. You need to define your market and go after your niche in the market place.

TEST EVERYTHING! No one wants to put up a ton of money to see find out if you will succeed or fail test everything. We live in a time where you can connect to people around the world through the internet. Go onto forums like mintees.com and see what people like. Ask your friends on twitter. Try and stay away from family and friends and take everything with a grain of salt. When you print shirts don’t print 1,000 because it’s cheaper print 50 or less and see what sizes sell the best. Use your money wisely and test everything so you can make better decisions in the future.

Constantly recalibrate. This goes along with the idea of testing everything. Once you see what works and what doesn’t you need to recalibrate. I have noticed in my personal life I don’t make very many decisions that are set in stone. I am constantly figuring out what is the best option at that time from the information I have.

Be a person not a business. I remember in the beginning with myspace friend adders I would go on and add tons of people. Jeff Finely from Go Media wrote something about how having 100 devoted followers is more important to having thousands that don’t care about your company. At first I dismissed this idea. I just wanted to take the easy route. Looking back it was a big mistake, I wasted all this time adding friends on myspace, which took forever, and what I should have been doing is connecting with people on a more person level. You can do this on facebook, twitter, through email, your blog. Be the awesome person people want to buy stuff from.

Get others to help you with your company. Limit what you do to only the things you’re awesome at. If you’re a great designer but don’t know web design get someone to help. If you’re a marketing genius and have no clue about design get a designer to help you with some shirt designs. Your company will be stronger in the end.

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Characteristics of Successful Clothing Company Owners

Jonas Bevacqua found dead

Jon Kruse — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:33:09 +0000

An autopsy was scheduled Wednesday for the co-founder of an Orange County-based clothing company found dead in his Laguna Beach home, authorities said.

Jonas Bevacqua, 33, helped found LRG, or Lifted Research Group, in 1999 with Chief Executive Robert Wright. Bevacqua also was the Irvine company’s creative director.

“Jonas was a mentor to an astonishing group of creative individuals at LRG who will carry his vision for many years to come,” wrote Wright and Chief Financial Officer Charlie Moothart on the company’s website.

In an interview published earlier this month by the fashion website Hypebeast, Bevacqua said the company sought to bridge the gap between what he viewed as the segregated worlds of music, art, skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding.

Bevacqua is survived by his fiancé, a son, seven siblings and his mother and father, according to the company’s website.

The cause of death was under investigation, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. It was unclear if any foul play was involved. A spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was not immediately available for comment.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/fashion-designer-found-dead-in-laguna-beach-home.html

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Jonas Bevacqua found dead

Denzel Washington’s 2011 commencement speech

Jon Kruse — Tue, 24 May 2011 05:35:07 +0000

I started watching this speech and it is pretty bad in the beginning but I let it keep going while I made some food. At 6:45 is when it starts getting good and I would advise you to fast forward to this point.

Denzel Washington talks about putting yourself out there and not being afraid of failure saying “If you don’t fail you’re not even trying.” I feel like a lot of people see the success stories of clothing companies out there but they don’t realize all the failures that went with it. I remember Johnny Cupcakes saying something like it takes 3 years to be an overnight success. I thought it was an interesting commencement speech, not the best but it had some good points.

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Denzel Washington’s 2011 commencement speech

Storenvy Review: Storenvy falls short of its promises

Jon Kruse — Fri, 06 May 2011 23:19:33 +0000

I was excited for storenvy when it was released but it has fallen short of what they originally promised.

Here is what the creators had to say when storenvy was released.

“Storenvy doesn’t want to be just another online store system. There are hundreds of them out there already and have some of the same problems. They require you to drive all traffic to your store yourself, they only offer fulfillment, or made for only stores who are well established. On top of that in this day in age the internet is all about being social. Storenvy wanted to fix all of those problems and build the first Social Store Community.”

Storenvy claims to drive traffic to your site but I have seen very little traffic coming from storenvy to my store. Last month I got 65 visitors from storenvy to my sunglasses site http://totallyawesome.storenvy.com/. My sales are pretty bad but somehow I am the 32nd best selling store out of 442 stores in the clothing company section. I am also the 7th best selling store in the trendcore section out of 68 stores. Since I know how much my site sells (less then $100 a month) I know all of the other stores below me are doing worse.

On the bigcartel site they say nothing about driving traffic to your site or making a social store community but they drive more traffic to sites through their directory then storenvy does. A company like miles to go gets around 600 visitors a month through the bigcartel directory. Maybe bigcartel should use the selling point of not requiring you to drive all the traffic to your store or social store community.

Storenvy seemed like they were going to be the etsy for the non craft market. Etsy is awesome for crafters. They do a lot of work driving traffic to their site, you see them at events and online advertisements. It’s something that a lot of people know about and people go to etsy to shop. I haven’t seen much of an effort on behalf of storenvy to do advertising besides a few blog posts here and there. The bottom line is someone doesn’t go to Storenvy to shop like someone going to Etsy. What happens is someone goes to a storenvy store then sees other stores and may leave your store and shop at theirs. So really you the store owners are bringing in all the traffic then possibly losing your customer when they find something else they want. This also works both ways where a customer may find your products after going to another store.

Jud from conversioneering wrote an article about shopping cart usability

Storenvy made some changes after seeing this post but the add to cart button still needs work.

The add to cart button still doesn’t stand out. Make it bigger give it some color, make it noticeable!

You only get a few pages in storenvy.

Storenvy only gives you generic pages plus a contact, store info, and store profile page. If you are a store owner and want to tell your story this just doesn’t cut it and you need more pages.

I thought the comment and like system was pretty cool but that stuff needs to be on the actual product page. As of right now its back in an area that most people go to your site don’t see. Cool idea but again it falls short.

Storenvy isn’t all bad

There are some cool things they offer. One of those things is a facebook app that shows all your products.

The other thing is that it’s free, and you can also install google analytics e-commerce.

Going back to their original statement:

In the end they are what they didn’t want to be, just another online store system.

I don’t recommend storenvy as it currently is right now. Bigcartel offers a much better setup at only $10 a month. If you’re worried about the $10 a month you have more important things you should be worrying about.

Why use bigcartel

has unlimited pages
e-commerce google analytics
more traffic with bigcartel directory
only advertising your store (no one else)
use your own domain through cnames
better checkout

If your looking for a bigcartel developer check out my company Double Dragon Studios

Also the company that use to print under the name storenvy still does amazing screen printing and is now called Threadbird. They are still one of the best printers out there. Click here for a special deal on your order.

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Storenvy Review: Storenvy falls short of its promises

Stop emailing me!

Jon Kruse — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:16:42 +0000

Let me start out by saying I don’t mind getting email and I like helping people out….. but most of the emails I get are all the same. It’s usually someone that stumbles across my site then proceeds to email me with something like the following, “Hey I’m starting a clothing company, how do I do that?”.

Really?! I have a whole website about this topic. Asking open questions like that will get you nowhere with most people, including me. If you have specific questions I would be glad to help but if you don’t I have a whole website about starting a clothing company use it.

Also I am sorry for anyone that I don’t get back to. My inbox gets filled up pretty quick and I am sure I have missed a ton of emails, sorry.

I feel like kind of a dick writing this post but it has happened to me too many times to count.

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Stop emailing me!