The relatively-new-to-Spreadshirt.com partner Glarkware is no newbie to the t-shirt universe. His almost daily re-introduction of designs and addition of new gems are almost sure to induce a spout of laughter or brow-raising. As the slogan “Storied Shirt Jobbery” forewarns, each of Glarkware’s shirts is coupled with witty, ironic, informative and entertaining stories. Dave, the man behind Glarkware and the numerous other Glark Industries pursuits, talks about his move to Spreadshirt, gives us a quick lesson on Canadian pronunciation and graces us with his good-humoured nature. The interview with Dave from Glarkware: continue reading ‘Storied Shirts of Glark - Interview with Glarkware’

The Graphic Design Agency Büro Destruct’s shop is a classic on the international t-shirt shop scene and those into design might have come across their work, knowingly or not. This group of four Swiss designers are prolific in bringing out absolutely top-class work. Their designs, like the faceless bearded man above are brilliantly minimal, yet still seem to radiate warmth in that minimalism. In addition to the Spreadshop, you can get a real idea of the vast spectrum that their work by taking a look at their posters. Loptez from Büro Destruct interviewed: continue reading ‘Minimalistic, Stylistic, Simply Top-notch - Büro Destruct Interview’

I’ll go out on a limb and say that we’ve all stared at something long enough that another form appeared. Animals on the Underground is based on that very common fact and is living proof that day dreaming isn’t just a waste of time. Animals has grown since the first “discovery” by Paul Middlewick in 1988 and the team of Paul, Nick and Jon allude to some upcoming developments with the concept. During the interview, Paul delves into the history behind Animals, the shop, his approach to design and (don’t tell the emu!) reveals his favourite animal. Come and take a ride with him through Animals on the Underground.

What is the story behind Animals on the Underground?
I got the idea when I was travelling on the Tube. It gets very boring commuting daily on the Underground, and I’d stare at the map as I waited for my train.
After a while, I started to see shapes in the tube map, particularly animals. I sketched them down and Animals on the Underground was born. Since then, I have picked out over 20 different animals from the intersecting lines and stations on the map, including an Emu and a Penguin! I decided the internet was the ideal medium to bring the troupe to a wider audience, and set up the Animals on the Underground website in 2002.

When did the first t-shirt appear?
We started to print our own merchandise to sell on the site but found that the effort of printing individual items on a supply on demand basis was not feasible while trying to hold down a full time job. So, in 2006, we found Spreadshirt and set up a shop to manage the orders for us. Since then, we have received a regular steam of orders which have been fulfilled without any input from us nor any problems or complaints; we just get sent the commission - what a dream!

What do you do outside of Animals on the Underground? continue reading ‘Elephants, Emus and Whales, oh my! Animals on the Underground’

A relatively new Spreadshirt shop with a lot of potential has gotten off to a great start. Teknique takes a house music approach to t-shirt design, mixing colourful apparel with even more strikingly colourful designs to create a really bold shirt. Read about the man behind the scenes, his approach to design, his thoughts about Spreadshirt and about t-shirt culture in the UK. Our interview with Richie from Teknique: continue reading ‘In Bold Contrast to High Street Fashion - Teknique in Interview’

Our CEO Jana Eggers recently met up with designer Daniel Casarella from Barking Irons in his New York studio. He revealed what designers should keep in mind when creating a good t-shirt design. He essentially points to three things which are important for a successful design:

1. Balance – how and where the parts of the design are placed on the shirt
2. Typography – the choice of font and its proper use to effectively communicate your message
3. Research – a good design should always be able to tell a story and stories are much easier to tell when you really know about the history behind it.

P.S. The Barking Irons apparel in our Exclusive Collection is still in stock and Summer is certain to bring along some new stuff.

Custom-tshirts.eu is a partner shop based right here in the UK. It has a snazzy and creative new layout and a wide range of designs and slogans for men, women and emos. We ask Maria about the story behind her shop and the connection between France, Bristol and t-shirts.

What inspired or motivated you to open a shop and how long have you run the shop?
As a graphic designer I wanted to put my skills and creativity to use. I moved to Bristol from France and found in this alternative city that t-shirts were definitely the perfect media to let people express original ideas. I opened the first version of my shop in September 2007. I recently launched the second version, which based on the idea of a large t-shirt where the content appears, making it look nicer and more user-friendly.

How did you learn about Spreadshirt?
I came across Spreadshirt while searching for customised t-shirts on the web. I saw it was one of the biggest providers with a large range of t-shirt styles, which also offered the possibility to open my own shop.

continue reading ‘Interview with Custom-Shirts.eu’

Sjeurt is a Spreadshirt partner shop from the Netherlands – a shop with humourous and graphically sophisticated designs which certainly work on the international stage. And because others could learn a little something about shop design and marketing from Sjeurt, we thought we would take a look at the man behind the scenes, Marcel van Wijk.

How long have you been using Spreadshirt?
I opened my shop in 2006 and started right off with a premium account because I saw its potential.

What inspired or motivated you to open a shop and how did you learn about Spreadshirt? continue reading ‘Interview with Sjeurt.nl’

Tee Junction is the current site of the former Spreadshirt employee and author of this blog, Adam Fletcher. Besides loads of t-shirt deals, there´s some good industry talk on the site as well.

These days, a very nice interview with the man behind the Amorphia Apparel t-shirt shop (for his UK shop, go here), Jeremy Kalgreen, was published and some parts put a big smile on our face. This is one:

I love working with Spreadshirt. There is no way in hell I’d do it silkscreen if I had to do it over again. I want to do the fun part: designing shirts, building websites the creative stuff! I don’t want to have to deal with the boring stuff: billing, shipping, managing inventory and all that noise. But most importantly it leaves me with basically zero overhead and that zero overhead gives me absolute freedom to experiment.

I can make a new design and bring it to market and it doesn’t cost me a penny. If I was silkscreening I’d have to thrown money down up front to make the screens and to print my first batch. That means I’d have to be sure the design would sell, or else I risk losing my shirt. With Spreadshirt I’m free to just try things out, anything that pops into my head is fair game. The only rule is that it has to amuse me, if it does that then we are good to go. Even if it is a joke that only myself and probably two other people in the world might find funny then so be it, I’ll roll with it. If something doesn’t stick no worries. I guarantee you I wouldn’t be in this business today without that flexibility to experiment freely and find what really seems to work for me.

Thanks for the kind words, Jeremy!

For all the others: You can read the rest of the interview here.

Melih (33) has a goal: “We communicate Islam in a language young people can understand, without sacrificing our values in the process.” The shirts in his shop, StyleIslam, focus on the Muslim faith - not in the way you would find in brochures, but with style and character from the point of view of a designer who has taken a good look at the graffiti in his city. A portion of the online sales from his shop is donated to AIDS orphans in Africa. Our interview with Melih:
continue reading ‘Interview with StyleIslam’

Printable Timbuk2 bags at Spreadshirt

As part of my job, I glorify products. This time, it’s easy, because it sure is hard as hell NOT to like Timbuk2 messenger bags. The ones you can pimp with your personal design at Spreadshirt now. Sound cheesy? Well, you just look at the bags. They are simply very very good fare. Can you ever be more of a bag in this life, than being a Timbuk2 bag? I doubt it. They have it all, these bagalicious beauties. Geological Durability (for they will probably outlive you, son), humble and pragmatic origins (bike messengers, the ones with titanium skeletons, carried them riding SF streets. In the fifties, their predecessors were in use by pole men fixing telephone lines). Ok, what was I supposed to say? Ah yeah. HURRY, WE HAVE LIMITED STOCK OF THESE ONLY! The above bag, by the way, is with a „Space Invaders“ design. By way of an example. The middle panel is printable. See interview with Lizzy from Timbuk2 inside the post.

continue reading ‘Timbuk2 messenger bags – print them with Spreadshirt’