What do Neo Rauch and spreadshirt Marketplace designers have in common? Correct, they both create artwork and offer them up for sale! Given, the commissions on the Marketplace don’t usually rake in $1 million of Brad Pitt’s money, but rather “only” $1.95 on average. But don’t give up on the Marketplace just yet: compared to Rauch’s work, these designs can be sold more than once, namely 7,832 times (the current record holder “I heart” design). That’s how the top 100 Marketplace designers are still able to earn an average of $180.97 per month. Take that Neo!

But how can you make it into the top 100 of the spreadshirt Marketplace? continue reading ‘How to become a successful Marketplace designer at Spreadshirt’

I am sure that I am not the only one in this boat. Tomorrow is Halloween. I don’t have a costume. I have been told I won’t be let into the party without one. This happens every year. Add to the fact that my girlfriend wants me to get rid of some old clothes – presto! Two birds with one stone: it’ll be a do-it-yourself Saturday afternoon!

I am kind of leaning towards the octopus hoodie from Instructables (shown above). It certainly involves some sewing skills, a few hours of spare time and a hoodie you are willing to shred.

I’m not the trick or treating type anymore, but for those out looking for some candy, this t-shirt trick-or-treat bag from Craftzine is a great way to impress those candy givers (and get you more candy)!

Bargainlist also offers some great cheap and scary last-minute costume options, like dirty laundry, bat or mummy as costumes. All certainly plan B worthy.

Worst case scenario: I’m not in the DIY creative mood tomorrow, and perhaps you aren’t either. There’s always the one-minute-last-minute ninja mask. Yes, that will be it! I just have to remember where I left my samurai sword. Instructional ninja mask video after the click: continue reading ‘Costumeless for Halloween? Last Minute Apparel Costume Ideas’

Today is Blog Action Day, a world-wide annual event where blogs focus on one specific issue to increase discussion about it within the community. This year’s Blog Action Day (with more than 8,000 participants) focuses on climate change, an issue which will affect us all, if it hasn’t started affecting us already.

Every product which is produced has an effect on the environment. T-shirts, and especially the cotton they are made from, are undeniably one of the many, many products contributing to climate change. This can be seen in the short video “Rebel with a Cause”, which I posted back in September. 200 grams of cotton can use up to 5 tons of resources throughout its life. That’s not what you normally think about every day when you put on your shirt. These resources are what we need to start considering when we consume just about anything.

1. Buy Organic Cotton T-Shirts

Our organic apparel assortment has grown to more than 10% of our entire product range. Buying organic means that less resources and chemicals are used in the production of the cotton. Companies like Continental with their EarthPositive products take this even an extra step further providing “wholly ethical” textiles: 100% organic, fair trade, low carbon during production, environmentally friendly materials, low water footprint and low carbon footprint (reduced by 90%).

2. Recycle Shirts

Every product has a life cycle and shirts are no exception. Your favorite shirt will get a hole, the print can fade (but, not flex or flock! ) or you simply don’t wear the shirt anymore. You don’t have to throw it away. Create a shirt blanket, shirtain, shirt seat, frame it or one of these 50 other t-shirt recycling ideas. Donate the shirt. Use it as a rag. Just don’t throw it away – it’s not good for your karma and not good for the environment.

3. Use less chemicals / Wear shirts more than once continue reading ‘5 Ways T-Shirts Can Fight Climate Change: Blog Action Day 2009′

We decided to focus this month’s Trend Report on the shopping days and times which our buyers in Europe and North America really love to click on that buy button. Some of differences between North Americans and Europeans are well known, but perhaps parts of these findings support those differences (siestas?) or provide us with insights (buying at work?).

North Americans best like to part from their money in the afternoon, whereas Europeans tend to hold on to their hard-earned cash well into the evening. The one exception in Europe are the Italians, who strongly increase their buying from 3 to 4 p.m. – nothing like a nice shirt purchase after a siesta, I guess. The average European really gets into the buying mood between 8 and 9 p.m.

You’ll find even more detailed shopping times for the U.S. and a closer look at Europe after the click.
continue reading ‘Trend Report: Favorite Times to Shop for Shirts’

Yup, these days there seems to be a holiday for just about anything. There’s International Bacon Day, International Talk Like a Pirate Day and Towel Day (my personal favorite).

National Punctuation Day on September 24th, however, takes the cake and underlines the importance of correct punctuation and grammar. Punctuation something that people take very seriously (and I’m not just talking about your 8th grade English teacher). It’s a great thing, not to be underestimated, overused or misused; it certainly comes in handy making a text understandable.

What do punctuation and t-shirts have to do with each other, you ask? We asked ourselves the same question and took a look at how our customers use punctuation. We were curious what the most often used punctuation mark was on a shirt and a couple of Spreaders placed bets on the exclamation point! We were wrong! People aren’t yelling much with shirts, they’re rather making points – with periods.

Here are the top five most commonly used punctuation marks on Spreadshirt products: period, apostrophe, exclamation mark, dash and comma. Unfortunately, the interrobang (my favorite punctuation mark) didn’t make the cut – but that doesn’t mean you can’t get one on a shirt. Here are some punctuation shirts I’ve found:

Happy National Punctuation Day!!

I came across this great short film “Rebel With a Cause” by Kristian Labusga, which is now competing for the Politicool Award in this year’s Bitfilm Festival. The film spans the journey a t-shirt takes throughout its lifetime and the “ecological backpack” which a t-shirt ends up accumulating along its way.

It’s just 200 grams of cotton – their story is reflected in their design and each one has its own little story to tell.

That story is much heavier than that initial quote suggests and this film visually takes us through the story of a shirt and the impact it has on the environment. I’ll let the film speak for itself and I invite any comments.

P.S. You can vote on this film and others in the category here.

After awarding two US partners with MOO MiniCard packs in Monday’s post, we thought it’d be a good idea to write about using flyers to promote your shop. Our Spreaducation pages have covered how to create products for your shop and market it online. Most of the tips on how to market your online shop are, well, using online marketing. This is where many of your customers will be found and where online marketing methods will bring them directly into your shop without them having to leave the online sphere.

On the other hand, there is the fact that we (hopefully still!) spend most of our time offline. This is where an offline promotion can catch the attention of customers in the “real” world and bring them to the online one. When we say “offline promotion”, it is less about taking out a full page ad or standing out on the street and forcing a flyer into the hands of every passerby. We are thinking more about targeted use of flyers and stickers. We asked some of our partners in the European forum about their experiences using flyers - and we’d like to hear your opinion here, too! Here are a few highlights we collected from our partner’s experiences:

1. Flyer Layout
Once you have come up with a concept, the next thing to consider is the flyer’s layout. Christbear’s opinion: It’s important that the flyer’s info is conveyed quickly while still making sure the flyer will be pocketed.

The less advertising found on the front the better. A nice picture, a funny saying and always put the site’s address in small font at the bottom right (so it doesn’t get in the way). These are the flyers (or postcards) which I pocket, pin up on my fridge or set down on my desk for a couple of days. And these are the only flyers which I turn over and take a look at the other side.

2. Format and Printing
Quality over quantity: look for a good printer (we’ve had great experience with MOO), rather than worrying about the price. People will think twice about throwing away a high-quality flyer. And vice-versa – if a flyer looks like it was copied onto recycled paper, it is very likely to end up back in the recycling bin.

Popgarten shared the same opinion: continue reading ‘Five Fantastic Flyer Tips! Market your Online Shop Offline’

Congrats, congrats!

A little over a week ago we asked you, our partners, to create new products with the new September apparel for your shops and the Marketplace. Many of you took us up on this request and therefore automatically entered yourselves into our MOO Minicard raffle.

We’ve pulled 10 winners out of a hat and each of them will receive 1 free pack of MOO Minicards from us.

The winners are:

Lucie - Milatchek Shop
Bernd - Warten Shop
Katharina - Katharina’s Shop
Yasmin - Wiesnengerl Shop
Rene - Vakantietshirt Shop
Stephan - Stephan’s Shop
Iris -Ticeforheroes Shop
Dagmar - Exklusiveshirtandmore Shop
Becky - Wonkywear Shop
Robert - Thecasualmusician Shop

In order to claim your coupons for MOO, please write a short e-mail to Kathrin at ktl at Spreadshirt dot net.

If you are wondering how best to use the Minicards, we will be posting some offline marketing tips in the blog soon!

So, don’t wait too long to claim your coupon as they are only valid until 31st October 2009. You can start creating your Minicards here.

As some of you might have read on laFraise’s blog, the winner of one of the largest online design competition prizes ever awarded was announced yesterday. As you can see from the 12 finalists, there was some tough competition to rake in the €15,000.

Can you take the suspense?

You’ll find the winner after the click (drum-roll please, trumpets blare):
continue reading ‘laFraise Unveils 15K Contest Winner’

Jerkass Clothing Company offers a vast smorgasbord of hilarious to knee-slapping t-shirt designs geared towards anyone from the college-aged crowd to those who never really left college. The site is broken down into four categories: Too Cool for School, National Lampoon, Coast to Coast State Slogans and Vintage Tavern & Bar T-Shirts. That means you can get anything from a lederhosen-wearing, bier-stein holding Hans Solo shirt to fictitious and suggestive vintage bar shirts, while dissing your (least) favorite state along the way. Jerkass even has a page dedicated to Milwaukee-based shirts, based on the site’s Brew City-born creators and their takes on regional sports.

Jerkass does a great job mixing in current pop-culture themes you might have seen on SNL or in an 80s movie with witty, original designs. Their use of both Digital Direct and plot print designs highlights the advantages of our different printing techniques. The “Founder and Lead Dance Instructor”, Richard, introduces his story on his site, but I thought there were some questions left unanswered. Richard’s interview:
continue reading ‘Jerkass Clothing Interview – The Man Behind the Humor’