Snowboarding!
2.27.2008
I'm going snowboarding this Friday and I am ultra stoked. I haven't been in over 2 years and it's been pure agony hearing recounted tales of friends who've taken trips in that time. But it just never worked out for me to join them, and I didn't have my own board and hated renting one and never knowing exactly how it'd feel. Well about a month ago I decided that it was time to not only get my butt back on the slopes, but get myself a decent board.
As it turned out, finding a board my size that was both affordable and attractive proved difficult. Either they were new models in the hundreds (which I refused to pay), or they were dirt cheap and looked awful. If only I could design my own board...
Well I did a bit of research on board composition and came up with a fairly simple plan - buy a good but ugly board, sand it down, repaint it, and clear coat it with car finish. After a few days on Ebay I found an SIMS board that was in acceptable condition and bid on it, eventually winning it for just $26! It arrived via UPS yesterday so I packed it into my car and drove over to my friend's house. Together we sanded it down and repaired a few dings and then put a few coats of white on top. Once that dried I attacked it with sharpies for the new couple hours and left it overnight for him to clear coat in the morning. I got a text message that it was done at about 11:00 and finally got to see it this afternoon. I'm in love! Having my own board that I've done myself is a bit of a dream come true!
Check out the pics:
(More pics in my flickr)
And the icing on the cake was that it came in the mail accompanied by another package: the tees! And let me tell you - they look BEAUTIFUL. Check the site Saturday, March 1st!
Labels: custom, design, DIY, projects, snowboard
posted by Mr. Linty @ 5:03 PM,
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March 1st!
2.17.2008
So in keeping with my goal to release new goods on the 1st of every month, the beginning of March will bring a new tee, "Fish, Etc." and some other goods. The new tee design looks like this:
It'll be the same colorway for guys and girls on chocolate American Apparel jersey tees, as always. This design is actually pretty old - a couple of years now. I submitted an earlier version of it to Threadless (which never won) and a second altered version (which lost as well). But both submissions scored highly and I received a lot of helpful feedback. The problem with the initial concept was that the objects weren't arranged in this shape - it was just all in a giant circle, which was pretty boring. The second version introduced the whale shape but it wasn't clear enough (in fact, most people thought it looked like a brain...).
Still, about half a year ago I got an email from a tshirt company asking to buy the design (version 2). I turned them down though, knowing that I wanted to release it myself. So here we are, in 2008, and it's finally getting printed! It's always exciting to see ideas go from paper to digital form to printed tee. It's a long and sometimes grueling process of sizing, color matching, and close communication with the printers, but in the end, when I see folks buying the tees and sporting them around proudly, it's totally worth it!
Now, as for the "other goods" mentioned... Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I imagined I've established a bit of a reputation for starting things without finishing them, so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut until they're in stock and ready to sell... But I will say that from the designs that have been submitted, I'm very excited with how it's turning out! :P
Labels: design, designs, Eric info, graphic, linty fresh, new products, tshirt info
posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:04 AM,
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New shirts on their way in...
2.11.2008
Well last week I put in the order for a new print... Well, technically it's pretty old... I designed it almost two years ago as a threadless submission. It scored moderately but some suggestions were made for revising it, so I did, and resubmitted it. Again, just moderate. So I changed it one last time and instead of submitting it yet again I kept it in a file never to be seen again... Until now!
(I know this post is pretty lame without a picture of the design - I'll upload one when I get a chance)
In other news, the new shirt is selling pretty quick (especially in girls' sizes). So if you've been waiting, you may want to pick one up soon. Also, I'm in the early stages of getting things together for a mobile shop. I think I've mentioned this idea here before, but basically I want to deck out a minivan with decals and logos and throw in some shelves stocked with tees. Then I'll cruise around Atlanta and see if anyone's interested in making a street side purchase! It should be quite an adventure, and one I plan to go on again if it's successful.
Anyhow, that's all for now.
Labels: design, designs, new products, tshirt info
posted by Mr. Linty @ 4:08 PM,
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