Have you ever asked yourself what Writable Flex was doing in our printing foil selection? It seems that many of our customers had asked themselves the same question. The idea was to offer customers the chance to add even more personalisation to their products with the provided marker.

However, Writeable flex hasn’t been ordered very much, and when it appeared on products, often the design was not even intended be written on. This tells us that customers either didn’t have a need for it, or didn’t really get it. That’s why we have decided to discontinue Writeable Flex at the end of January.

Some of you might have liked Writeable Flex and would like to continue to offer customers the ability to write on designs. Not a problem. Actually, there is absolutely no difference between Writeable Flex foils and normal Flex foils, which means you can use a non-permanent marker and continue to write on your flex designs.

No time for panic: we won’t be deleting any of your products. We will simply be replacing all of the Writeable Flex designs with standard Flex foils. When will this happen, you ask? On 31st January, the Writeable Flex category will be removed and the products converted accordingly. And that’s it.

Thoughts, comments and complaints are, as always, welcome here or in the forum.

Brilliant! The collection of Spreadshirt Shop Partner videos has grown and is tickling the number 50. There’s all sorts of stuff in there, some good, some great – but, we want more! Create a video for your shop and send the link to us, or comment about it below. It doesn’t matter if you show us unpacking your shirt, simply hang it on a clothesline, show us some shirt examples with music or play some blues on the harmonica. It’s anything goes here. We’re looking for some new content here, so grab that camera and get your film-making career up and going!

Words, words, words. English has got lots and lots of them and their number increases year to year (this year we passed 1 million). With all of the other ways to look back on 2009, I find words to be an adequate way to review the year.

But, how in dictionary’s name do they select a “word of the year”? There are two ways. You either let a computer collect statistics for all print and online publications (Global Language Monitor). Or, you have lexicographers and word experts subjectively choose their own word (Oxford and American Dialect Society). As much as I like Oxford’s selection of “unfriend” as their Word of 2009, I’d rather trust a machine in this case.

Lone words on a shirt can really make a statement, especially when you use the right colours and fonts. All you need to do is play around with the T-Shirt Designer for the best result.

Without further ado, the Word of the Year 2009 and some runners up (Global Language Monitor).

Now, a word of the year doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have one on a shirt. But, I would invite you to put your favourite word across your chest. I would create a t-shirt with this word. What would your favourite word be?

Remember that colour chart you had to make in art class, well here’s the chance to put it to good use. When designing a shirt or product you may feel a bit unsure of what product or print colours to select. Along with this hefty decision comes the uncertainty of not knowing if your selected colour combos will work well together on the end product or present the appropriate look you were going for. To help aid in this decision process I’ve compiled a few hints and tips of what works well together.

Rules of thumb:

#1. If going for a bold look try selecting colours that are complementary of each other on the traditional colour wheel. Examples of good combos include; purple & yellow, orange & blue and red & green. By bringing these opposite colours together you will create an end product that will stand out and not get lost in the crowd.

#2. If going for a more subtle look choose colours that are from the similiar hue. Examples include; orange & yellow, pink & red and this light blue and navy hoodie by cute-monstr . While a nice contrast is achieved it is not as bold as mixing complementary colours.

#3. Try to avoid placing the same colour text/design on the same colour product, i.e. black text on a black shirt. While some people may actually desire for this hidden brand of messaging it is not recommended for all, since you may end up with a product where the text or design is hardly visible. (If you look close enough this black tees actually has black text on it)



#4.When in doubt select black or white. If not sure if your hot pink design will look good on a yellow shirt or if your black design will look good on a gray try selecting black or white, like this shirt from 2smartmonkeys . These basic no fail colours look good with pretty much any text/design colour. And also remember if still unsure play around in the designer with the different colour combos until you find something that you or your end customer will like!

Last week we had to put the breaks on orders. Some of you may be looking for an update before Christmas, and we wouldn’t want to keep you completely in the dark worried about orders placed before last week’s deadline. Now for some words directly from our production director, Jürgen: “We did it! Thanks to the hard work from our colleagues in Leipzig and Legnica, who put the petal presses to the metal through the weekend, and all of the orders which were made and paid for by midday Thursday are on their way to your door.”

So, our production centres once again back on track, even though we received about 30% more orders than planned. That may not seem like so much to some, but the simple fact that our products are hand-made on order and each a one-of-a-kind product, that is a huge number. For those still on the prowl for gifts, you still have time to pick up a gift certificate and let them create their own custom, personalised apparel.

We wish you all a merry, relaxing and happy holiday!

First, the bad news: we can no longer guarantee that any new orders placed will be received in time for Christmas. If you are still looking for a personalised gift, there’s still something to put under the tree:

Our gift certificates. Don’t underestimate the power of a gift certificate: your special someone can create their own custom apparel in the colour and size they want. You can give them what they always wanted, by letting them choose and create it themselves!

I know that this may inconvenience some, but I would like to ask for your understanding. We are certainly delighted by the huge amount of orders coming in over the last few days and thank you for your continued trust. But we also do not want to make any promises we cannot keep and leave you standing there empty-handed.
continue reading ‘Christmas Craziness – Ordering Deadlines Prematurely Reached’

There are thousands of shirts on Spreadshirt’s Marketplace which make the claim to contain some form of humour. Does that mean that there is something there which will tickle your funny bone? Perhaps. The true judge here would be in the eye of the beholder wearer.

What exactly constitutes a fun shirt or funny t-shirt? Some might argue that it should make others laugh or smile, it could blatantly offend, it could utterly confuse, it could even get you a date. Whatever your intentions are when wearing funny shirts, it is a great way to proclaim your sense of humour to the world and grab a few seconds of attention while someone stares at your chest.

This collection is based on some suggestions from our forum, Marketplace performance in humour, my own ideas of what a funny shirt would be, along with a few random pickings. Coin flipping was involved as well. Here they are then:

Swen from The Shirtpage loves clear, bold shapes. His designs are simple, strictly geometric and reduced to the bare essentials. It’s like wearing minimalism. His technically oriented job could very well be the source of his inspiration. Don’t miss his impressions of Leipzig - I totally agree. Swen in interview.
continue reading ‘Pure Geometry – Swen from The Shirtpage in Interview’

Those hardcore Spreadshirt users who trust themselves (or Google Translate) on the German Blog might have already seen it. Searching for Spreadshirt on YouTube would have also led you in the right direction. For the rest of you: we produced a short TV ad. We thought we would test how Spreadshirt would fit into the wide world of TV adverts. I think it came out great! If you would like to see what was aired, you can check out the short version of the spot (with the German voice over).

We’d certainly like to hear what you think! How many shirts did you see?

This is the first year I plan to do (almost) all of my shopping online - especially when I look at videos like the one above. Given, this is in the United States. Given, it’s on Black Friday. But there is a sense of madness there which I have experienced late on December 23rd, looking for a pair of striped socks for my dad. Never again! Thank you Internet. Here are 6 more videos that will make you glad you bought online.

Our ordering deadlines are quickly approaching (standard shipping before next Thursday 17th December at 11 a.m. GMT)! You don’t want to be in crowds like those above, do you?

Oh, and don’t forget: our 25% discount on selected products (which also happen to make great gifts) ends tomorrow at the stroke of midnight.