As an entrepreneur, you already understand the importance of marketing. However, we live in a world over-saturated with it. Understanding which methods of marketing are more effective can be tricky, with ads before every video, every three pages of a magazine, and billboards every hundred feet. Advertising can also take a good chunk out of your budget and may sometimes lead to strategies that yield little results. [Read more…]
7 Tips to Help with Your Custom T-Shirt Brand
What Is Your Brand?
Unless your goal is to fill the generic t-shirt rack at Walmart and convenience stores, your custom t-shirt line needs to have an identity. There needs to be meaning behind the name and purpose behind the product. When someone is digging in their closet and feel in a certain mood, they’ll bust out a certain article of clothing that portrays that mood. When someone has a party to attend and they want to portray a certain image of themselves, they’ll bust out a certain article of clothing that will portray that image. When someone…well, you get the idea. Your custom t-shirt brand should convey a sort of attitude, belief, or idea you feel is worth representing.
Who Is Your Custom T-Shirt Brand For?
Billabong started out making durable board shorts for surfers in Australia. Now the company has grown into a brand that isn’t just for surfers but for those who love a laid-back, sunny day filled life on the beach. The Hundreds is all about trendy, urban alternative street culture where as Starter has found a revitalization in the ironic hipster scene. Who is your custom t-shirt brand for? Finding and understanding your demographic is key in creating a successful brand. If you’re producing your own line of custom t-shirts because you feel a certain idea or style you like is hard to find, then marketing to like-minded individuals will increase your chances of success. Once this happens, your brand will appeal to those who are attracted by certain elements of what it represents.
Honest Feedback Is Golden
Friends are awesome. They’ll bail you out of a Mexican jail after a wild night in Tijuana. Well, unless they’re in there with you. True friends will always support you, but sometimes, that can be a problem. Especially, if you’re in the creative field. Ideas and creativity can be stifled by overly supportive feedback. Don’t limit feedback to just friends. Find opinions from a variety of people you know will be constructively honest and thoughtful regarding what you’re trying to accomplish. The more honest feedback you get on your brand, the better of an idea you’ll have on the direction you’re taking.
Make a Quality Product
We talk a lot about quality t-shirts and screen printing here at Oh Boy. It’s the staple of our business and should be for anyone serious about their custom printed t-shirts. Quality is everything and first impressions are paramount at any level of the fashion industry. If you believe you have a quality idea, then the finished product must be on the same level. Do the research. Look into the different types of fabrics and garments that are out there. Work with the best material your budget allows for. Far too many times we’ve seen great design ideas stifled by poor execution. The level of quality represents the amount of respect you have for your custom printed t-shirts. It must be up to your own standard. We have a great piece on the type of garments used in the screen printing industry here.
Market Effectively
Budgeting is essential for any small start-up so it’s important to ensure money is being invested wisely. If you’re in the garment industry, then your custom t-shirt needs to be seen. It’s a very good idea to invest in hiring models and photographers that will capture the essence of your brand. The models should represent what your brand is about. The photographers should be able to manifest your vision into work that does your line justice. You don’t want your brand to be seen as amateurish or cheap so the services you hire shouldn’t be either of those two. Of course, if you’re on a budget, you shouldn’t pour all your money into marketing, but ensure that the money you do spend yields professional results. Remember that in the creative industry, you get what you pay for. Creating an online presence is also key when marketing effectively. Utilize social media to all of it’s potential.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
We can sit here and pretend we don’t know the lyrics to Hanson’s “mmm bop” or Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”. We do. Especially after a few pints. We all love one hit wonders, but in the creative industry, a one hit wonder is you want to avoid becoming. Having an incredible custom t-shirt that sells is awesome but the last thing you want to do is bet the success of your t-shirt brand on just one hit. Ideas for the next round of clothing must always be coming. Ideas that still represent the brand, but are fresh and different. If you’re mostly doing custom t-shirts, also consider tanks or sweaters. Avoid pigeonholing your clothing line, but continue to perverse the essence of your brand.
Keep at It
Failure is almost guaranteed. That’s kind of a harsh statement to read especially if you’re trying to get a business off the ground, but it’s the truth. However, it’s in our failures where we learn the most about ourselves. One road may close but we can always find another path. And if there isn’t one, we can get our machetes and axes out and make one. If you truly believe that you have a solid idea that can become successful, then make that a reality. Success doesn’t normally happen overnight. It happens through long hours and missed lunches. Believe in yourself and believe in your brand.
Choosing the Right T-Shirt for Your Clothing Line
Creating your own clothing or t-shirt line is a very ambitious project. Getting it off the ground is tedious and time-consuming. There are numerous details involved in the process and your project can easily go off the rails if they’re overlooked. However, you’re not easily discouraged. You have a vision and a creative statement to make and your clothing line will succeed thanks to the right t-shirt. We’re going to help you make that happen. (Conclusion at the end)
The most important aspect of a successful t-shirt line is the t-shirt itself. You could have the Mona Lisa of t-shirt designs that would have people pausing and admiring the screen printed artwork, but if the shirt’s fabric doesn’t feel good, if the fit isn’t right, your work might not see the light of day. When your customers reach into their closets for their favorite t-shirt, you want it to be yours. Every shirt worn is an advertisement for your brand.
Think about your favorite t-shirt. Why is it your favorite? How does it feel? How does it fit? How was it screen printed?
These are the characteristics you must consider when choosing the right t-shirt.
Your customers will appreciate the extra effort and attention to detail you gave into providing a shirt that fits and feels great.
What makes us experts on this subject matter? Well, this is our thing. We’ve worn, screen printed, and washed just about every garment in the industry.
We’re here to save you the time and danger of navigating through the minefield of blank t-shirts.
This list, organized by weight class, will be the difference in whether your shirt becomes a favorite or a car wash rag. This might be quite a bit of information, but your brand deserves a well-educated decision. [Read more…]
Order Minimum in Screen Printing
Minimum. it’s a fun word to say. Aside from being a three syllable word that playfully bounces out of one’s mouth, its meaning holds a lot of importance in screen printing t-shirts. That brings us to our next word. Quality. Though it may not have the same oral panache, its meaning is as equally important in this world of screen printing. Quality is the essential aspect that defines a service or product. Here at Oh Boy Print Shop, quality screen printing is our game.
Our minimum order amount is 24. Why is there a minimum? There’s quite a bit of work that goes into the process of screen printing t-shirts. The most tedious aspect of the process happens before the actual screen printing. This involves the ordering and shipping of the blank t-shirts from the wholesaler or manufacturer, the digital preparation of the artwork, and then the printing and burning of the screen. Because of the amount of technical work and labor involved in this process, the pricing is reduced when several shirts are ordered. An order for 1 or 2 shirts would cost as much as an order for 100 shirts. [Read more…]
Best T Shirts for Printing
It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon as you’re taking a stroll down your neighborhood. The sun, usually arrogant in its radiance, is being agreeable and isn’t burning your skin to a crisp.
Suddenly, something brushes past your knee. You pause and gaze upon the dorkiest but cutest little pug you’ve ever seen. “Sparky!” his owner calls for him. As the owner apologizes for Sparky’s enthusiastic greeting, you picture happy ol’ Sparky’s face on a t shirt and, boom, a new project is born.
When it comes to creating a t shirt, the choice of blank is just as important as the design itself. While some may think any old t shirt will do, the reality is that the quality and style of the blank shirt can make or break the final product. [Read more…]
How to Submit Your T Shirt Design
Submitting Artwork for your T Shirt Design
You’re an aspiring fashion designer and you have an amazing idea for a t shirt design. You want the whole world to wear it but it has to look as good on a shirt as it does in your head. Or….you’re a coach and you’ve just assembled the greatest little league baseball team to ever step foot on a diamond. You need jersey t shirts that represent the awesomeness of your team. This is why high-quality artwork is essential in the screen printing process. When we say, “high-quality artwork”, we’re not talking about Picasso or Monet level creations. We’re not art critics. We’re talking about the technical process in which a design is made. Your artwork and t shirt design idea deserves a great finish and that’s what we’re here to ensure.
The format which is sure to produce the highest quality screen print is a vector file. It’s mostly associated with the graphic design program Adobe Illustrator. Vector artwork files are favored by the screen printing industry because of the format’s ability to be scaled from large to small, and vice versa, without losing any of its quality or fidelity. Thus, artwork created in vector format will always be in the highest quality resolution. Exactly the quality you want your t shirt design idea to be.
My artwork isn’t in vector format
Let’s say, however, your design is going to be created in Adobe Photoshop or another design program. Well, the name of the game here is high quality. High resolution is priority number one. It will make or break how your artwork looks. If your t shirt design has lines that are ultra clean and smooth, we need to ensure that these details are retained rather than the result being comparable to the graphics of an 8 bit 1980’s video game. This means that if the resolution is low when scaling the artwork to a larger size, unlike vector, it will become distorted, blocky and even blurry. Now unless your artwork was actually of a 1980’s video game, then this is something we definitely want to avoid. Your artwork deserves the best treatment.
Using this format, there are a few steps that can be taken to ensure that the integrity of the design is retained. Most design programs have settings you can choose to ensure high resolution. The most important setting is Dots Per Inch (DPI). DPI is the measurement of the amount of dots per inch. The highest measurement is 300, therefore, your artwork should be created in 300DPI at the size you want it on the t shirt.
Because this format isn’t vector, we encourage that the artwork be created in the size you desire it to be screen printed. Remember, scaling it larger than it was created will cause the artwork to lose aesthetic integrity. Picture it printed on a t shirt and then make sure it’s created with the dimensions you have in mind. We can always scale it to a smaller size if needed. This will not affect the quality of the artwork at all.
Once your artwork is created, it’s ready to be submitted. If it’s in vector format, then send us the Adobe Illustrator file or the EPS file, a PDF is fine too. If it was created in Photoshop, submit the PSD file saved at 300DPI.
We can understand how this might be a bit confusing for those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of preparing artwork for screen printing. If you have questions, we are more than happy to help you with them. After all, this is a team effort and we’re in this together. Our goal is to create something we can be proud of which is a high-quality final product.
Custom Tees: How to Get the Best Value
Creating custom tees can provide you with a world of possibilities but that’s not to say that you need to pay a small fortune for awesome, custom printed t-shirts.
Here we take a look at the many ways in which you can save money on your order.
T-shirt Design Ideas to Try on Your Next Order
The world of custom t-shirts offers never ending design possibilities. You can choose any color of the rainbow for your ink to use on virtually any style of t-shirt imaginable. So we thought that we’d put together a definitive list of fresh t-shirt design ideas for your next screen printing order.
1. Opt for a fresh Pantone color
Why not go for something that you wouldn’t normally opt for? Like a bright orange, cornflower blue or a spring green.
[Read more…]
What is Tri Blend? An Essential Guide
Tri Blends hold much prestige in the world of t-shirt printing. We take an in-depth look at tri blends and all that they can offer to the business or individual who may consider screen printing on these t shirts.
What is Tri Blend? Let’s look at a little history
Tri blends have come a long way since their introduction to the market nearly a decade ago. Today, American Apparel offers this fabric in fourteen different styles and nine varying colors. It’s true to say that this fabric is likely the most influential to have emerged over the past ten years and today can be found across a variety of fashion industries.
The material composition of Tri Blend: Going into a little detail
Tri Blend was introduced in 2006 as an answer to a market need for a fabric that boasted the resilience of polyester and the comfort of cotton, while being balanced with the draping potential of rayon.
More specifically, and for those who really want the full details of what this material is comprised of, Tri Blend is made up of 50% Polyester, 25% Ring-Spun Cotton and 25% Rayon.
Custom Company Shirts That People Will Actually Wear
Custom company shirts are always screen printed and given out as free t shirts. You know the ones, the ones that fit badly, feel ugly, and are hidden away in your closet. The ones you can’t quite throw away because you may need a shirt when it’s time to mow the grass, change a flat tire, or fell a tree. Well, there’s a better way! Here are some tips to create custom company shirts that people will love to wear again and again.
