Taking over the world... one torso at a time!
4.02.2008
I'm very pleased with my decision to do new releases on the 1st of each month. It's a great way to build interest since people can count on it every time. The thing is that it makes my 30th, 31st, and 1st of each month crazy hectic with getting everything set up. It really pays off though - 8 tees and 6 belts went out yesterday! Crazy!
But yeah, hopefully in the future I'll be able to stock them earlier and have things set for release at midnight.
And, I'm out of space! I gotta go get some new shelves from Home Depot today since the Epidemic shirts are coming in Friday and I've got nowhere to put them. I should just bite the bullet and buy myself a nice sturdy shipping table where I can fold shirts and pack up orders and stash stuff under, but (a) I have no space for such a monstrosity and (b) I'm trying to use all LF money for new products. Later (possibly in the fall) I'll take the plunge for all that other stuff, including a scale and a label printer. I'm at the post office every day now and I'm pretty weary of it.
Oh, and regarding that Collaboration design that I did with J3 - this morning I bought his half of the design from him, so I now own it in full and can do whatever I like with the art. I'm thinking that doing allovers are out of my league right now (minimums are like 300 pieces!), but I believe I can simplify the design for a shirt. So that should be out sometime in the summer. (Hopefully in time for the show, but that's doubtful) I know this kind of goes against my vision of designing everything 100% myself, but by the time of its release it'll contain almost none of the original elements of Jared's design, just his style. And it's a cool style and gets along well with the LF vibe I've got goin!
What else... Ah yes! Custom packaging! I was on the phone with Jimmy the other day and we were brainstorming about ways to do it. I'm thinking I'm going to switch to paper mailers so that I can print with regular plastisol ink on screens (just like my tees are done). They'll be patterned similar to the header banner at my store and the one I did as a collab, but it's going to have a comic strip feel to it with a graphic narrative and stuff. If I have time I'll start it tonight.
In a few months I also want to release cardboard gift box mailers. Basically it'll be an item that can be purchased in the store for $5 or so, and it will enable people to send their friend LF goods in a special LF box with custom designs and even a personalized note card that they can fill out at checkout. 
ALSO (goodness, is there no end??!), I just bought this awesome clothing rack from Amazon for only 21 bucks! Crazy! I ordered some new American Apparel goods, too, like a collared shirt and a wallet, because I want to analyze them and see what kind of designs I can work up for them in the future. Oh, haha, and I just got word back from my printer that he's got some badical glow in the dark ink now available for experimentation... Hm...
Finally (to save the most delicious for last) - last night I made some Chinese dumplings (from scratch!) and goodness gracious. They were pretty stinking scrumptious. I'm having them again right now for lunch! Man, fresh food makes me so happy.
Labels: belts, business, business plans, dumplings, packaging
posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:56 AM,
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Onwards and Upwards
3.24.2008
Sweetness!
I just got a sneak peek at my new belts! They look fabulous! I'm super stoked about these. In total, I'll be getting in over 70 new belts this week. About 45 of those are of new designs (4 new designs in total), and the rest are restock of the old styles from last month. Crazy how well these have done - 18 so far. An hour or so ago I sold my last Woodie belt. So yeah, this restock isn't coming a moment too soon.
Meanwhile, in Florida, my Epidemic tees are getting printed tonight. Jimmy should be sending me a photo proof of the first one off the belt. Hopefully the colors (all 6! geez) will look ok and we can get the rest done tonight or tomorrow. He's said all along that they should get here in plenty of time, but I'm getting nervous. April 1st is just around the bend! At least the UPC one will be quick enough.
Oh, and ever since the last print I've been getting one-offs of each design for myself. They'll be totally unique and 1 of a kind. I'm getting epidemic as one-color on AA's stripe tee:
Also, LF postcards are on the way, so I'll get those hopefully tomorrow. Bags should be coming soon too (these are for the show only). So yeh, 72 belts, 150 tees, 250 postcards, and 250 printed bags in the next week... Running out of space here...
I talked to the boss about my tentative plans to leave in '09. I explained that it wasn't a guarantee but since I've been mentioning this plan to people, I figured he'd hear it one way or another and I'd rather it come directly from me. He agreed that C2i wasn't a career path for anyone, but thanked me for being a part of the team thus far. It's been a great job, really, there's just better stuff on the horizon. With that extra time (25 hours a week) dedicated to coming up with new designs and ideas and networking with printers and manufacturers, I could really increase efficiency. It's tough working the printer at C2i all day and then coming home and running around processing orders and making phone calls to make sure things are up to snuff on the production end of LF...
'09, baby...
Labels: business plans, epidemic, one-offs, tees
posted by Mr. Linty @ 9:15 PM,
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