Ramblings
3.18.2008
I think the real catalyst for getting Linty Fresh out there locally is going to have to be in-person sales. I'm going to be selling at ICE for sure in June, but I don't think it'd be a bad idea at all to think about doing some smaller shows to. ICE is great but it's only twice a year, which seems a little hit-and-miss. Either way, local recognition will be a huge step for me, especially if I'm ever going to think about opening a shop... which I am.
I know, I know, it's a LONG shot from where I'm at now, but it'd be just too awesome to run a little Linty Fresh storefront and maybe even employ some of my friends. I'd have a little gallery section showing off local young Atlanta artists' work, a "work-in-progress" bulletin board where people could check out my preliminary designs, and of course all kinds of LF goodies from tees and hoodies to skate decks, shoes, snowboards, and art prints. And at that point I might even consider doing collaborations with other guys (I've got dozens in mind from Flickr and Emptees alone)
...But on the other hand, the one thing I've been ultra stubborn about is doing all the design myself up to this point. Everything. Every piece of packaging, every character, every graphic on the site, every image shown on a product page, and especially every tee. It's tempting to hire other artists; from a profits standpoint, it makes complete sense. I'd be getting all kinds of new flavors and styles which would certainly bring new customers to the site, all for a couple hundred more than I'm currently spending per print. But I refuse! This probably sounds like megalomania, but I guess what I'm trying to get across is that LF isn't just there to make me as much money as possible. If it were I'd pick a theme and start hunting for other artists instead of tackling it all myself.
A few sites I frequent have done this. Coincidentally, a few of them started around the time LF did, but their ranges of styles and designs surpassed me ages ago. It can be a little discouraging, to be honest. But what I try to focus on is that fact that LF has always been (and will hopefully always be) more about me as a person and an artist than just a site with cool designs. Not that I'm in any way ragging on those other guys - I keep in contact with a lot of them and buy their stuff, even - it's just not my gig.
In a way, I almost approach LF as a portfolio or a photo album, a documentation of my progression and development. The cool thing is that this seems to be appreciated and respected by a lot of guys in the industry. And that's one thing that blows me away in all of this - the support from the competition! I recently found out that I was getting traffic from Seibei, the owner of whom I know and have chatted with a few times. How cool is that? Despite being competitors, he's totally plugging me on his links page.
Just one of many things that make me love this - it's just one awesome experience after another.
Labels: business, ideas, indie craft experience, linty fresh, seibei, tshirts
posted by Mr. Linty @ 9:53 PM,
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Busy busy busy...
3.13.2008
I think I mentioned a couple months ago that one of my goals for 2008 was to get Linty Fresh to a point where I could quit my day job. It seemed like a pretty lofty and unreasonable goal at the time, but it looks like it may not be so unattainable after all! This month has been a landmark in LF history, already bringing in more sales than any other month in its history, which is super exciting for me. For the first time I'm getting a steady flow of sales every day, and that consistency is key in determining whether or not I can live off this.
So I just gotta say: thank you guys! The support you've shown in your input, your blogging, and your purchases is just wonderful! When I started LF a couple years ago it was my dream to make it my living, but I never thought things would progress so smoothly and with such awesome experiences and people along the way!
So that means more new stuff more often! April 1st is going to be a big day for the site, so be sure to check it as soon as the month rolls over. Here's the lineup:
For starters, I'll be releasing two tshirts: the first is a reprint of UPC, but I've made a few adjustments - the design is going to be 25% larger (12 inches wide) and I'm also printing a little running zebra on the back hip. Here's what it'll look like!
The second tee, which I've named "Epidemic", is based on the drawings I recently did for my snowboard. It'll be white as well:
You can't tell too well from the pic, but this print is a whopping 6 colors! It'll be the first time ever and I'm super stoked about getting them in!
Apart from tees, April 1st will also bring the release of 4 new belts! I've also reordered all the ones from the first series since they're selling fast. So yeah, be sure to check in on the first of the new month to get your hands on all these goodies!
And again, thanks. Thanks so much. :D
Labels: belts, epidemic, eric terry, linty fresh, tshirt design, upc
posted by Mr. Linty @ 4:59 PM,
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UPC all gone!
3.05.2008
Well as you may have noticed, over the weekend I sold out of my first tee ever: UPC! Crazy. It's the 2nd most-viewed shirt on my site which is so weird to me. I really never thought it was all that spectacular, and as other designers have eagerly pointed out, it's been done before. So do I reprint it? Hm. On the one hand I've gotten at least half a dozen emails asking me to do it, but on the other hand I want to get new stuff in the store...
Help me out guys! To reprint or no? Another thing to consider is that I've got 2 more white tees in the queue, and one that's black on white just like this. I just don't know if it's a good idea to take a step back like this, even if it's a seller...
Labels: designs, linty fresh, reprint, tshirt info, upc, zebra
posted by Mr. Linty @ 8:35 PM,
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SURPRISE!
3.03.2008
They're here! Linty Fresh belts! This was just a test run to see how they sell, so I've only made 5 in each style (and I'm snagging the Smile one for myself I think!)... So uh, get one!
Labels: belts, designs, graphic, linty fresh, new products
posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:11 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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They're here!
1.31.2008
Dude, guys, gals. It's so totally stocked. And looking rather awesome. Custom tags are SIIIIIICK!
I've got the feeling these are gonna go pretty darn quick...
Labels: designs, graphic, linty fresh, new products, site info, tshirt info
posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:46 PM,
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Does this guy even do tshirts anymore?!
1.04.2008
Of course I do! Just having some fun experimenting with other stuff, yanno? Here's the latest projects from the LF workshop:
Basically my day went like this:
9:00 AM - Had a whim to do some custom kicks.
12:00 PM - Ate lunch while further contemplating the kicks.
3:30 PM - Entered a Marshalls and purchased some Pony's.
8:00 PM - Fulfilled my whim. Not 100% happy with these as the colors seemed to vary depending on what surface I was using the markers on, but in the end I'm cool with it. I'll still wear em, I mean.
Anyways since uploading these shots to my flickr, I've gotten 4 requests to design custom pairs! So who knows, maybe this is the future of LF! Either way, if you're interested, hit me up and I'll see if I can't figure a way to get one to you. :D
Also, it's 2008!!! And what better way to go into the new year than doing what I love: sitting for hours in front of a computer screen tugging at pixel points. Yeah, yet another tshirt design to add to the shelf. As in, the digital shelf. I'm still waiting on the info to come through for my loan application, so until then things are at a bit of a standstill tangible-goods wise. Here it is:
This is actually for a competition over at Emptees, which I've been perusing a lot lately. It's a nice little community of other tshirt vendors and designers, which means, unlike Threadless, you can actually get some useful information out of the other members. I've already got some A+ advice on what kind of business structuring works best for the industry, plus other stuff on shirt brands and what not. Oh, and I managed to hook up with one of the printer guys on there and he'll be handling my next batch. It's super affordable and his screens are 20"x25"! (Most are 16" x 13", so they can't do full front prints like he can!) Anyhow, the theme of the contest is "In Dreams". Which is open-ended enough to afford space for some of my newly lovable toothy characters (now as bunnies). I'm happy with the design, and whatever happens with the contest, I'm planning on printing this soon. As in, '08. Ha.
Labels: design, Eric info, graphic, linty fresh, shoes, site info, sneakers, tshirt info
posted by Mr. Linty @ 8:34 PM,
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