Goals running to June 12 & Victory!
I've decided I want to put forth a valiant effort on trying to win the Threadless Loves Lollapalooza contest.
I figure, if I put out the best work I can possible, after the 90 day design prison, I will
a. resubmit elsewhere
b. print it myself and get back in the sellin game
I think if I do put out some epic designs, even if I lose, all will not be lost.
I would like the final designs (prolly 2-3) to represent my abilities. I don't want to water down the imagery by cartooning like I did with some of the woot designs. Although I will probably use the cartooning style, but embellish to the point where its quite involved. We'll see.
First though, Im going to finish two freelance gigs. I hope to finish one this week.
1. Possible Protest the Hero design. If they agree if my price, if not I'll submit to a contest site, most likely DBH.
2. Koi design for Sentimental Nate
...Victory!
I finally set up my old Pentium D 2.8, 2gig computer for my parents. Their old one sucked so bad, anytime I would hop on to do anything, my blood pressure would rise. I got them set up with Outlook, some Popcap games, and Picasa.
I used to hate Picasa, but for a home user that wants to look at family photos and what not, it's perfect. Perfectly free too... Thank you Google!
Now my peeps can enjoy a slideshow of the family, especially the new addition, Zack the grandson.
My old machine had Media Center Edition on it, and I never played with it, because it was a poor product, BUT HARK! It has Gem Master on it. Gem Master is a Wild Tangeant game from back in the day. My dad used to play that thing like crazy.
;j
2 comments:
very cool entry.
don't forget to link to your threadless stuff - I look forward to buying more soon.
I'll miss you on shirt.woot, but hope you poke your nose in every so often.
I'm hoping you get some free time soon. and not just so you'll be able work on the portrait! :)
I'm a cheapskate so I won't buy Revelations until the next DBH sale but when I do it will be the fifth (or sixth?) shirt of yours I own. DBH, Uneetee, and woot -- I've gotten them all. I'm no expert on the tshirt business but my advice is to make designs YOU like (don't pander to the audience), let the designs make the rounds at the contest sites, then print the ones that don't win yourself. There are a bunch of guys (and also jaynajaynajayna) who print their own shirts and also submit to DBH, Threadless, etc. and I think you should do the same. Let the audience come to you. We will.
Check out cottonwerks.com -- Olly Moss, Slaterock, and Jublin designed all the shirts there. Did they sell the designs to cottonwerks or do they run cottonwerks? I have a hunch that you could find a partner or two to set up an online shop with. Maybe Ray Frenden? He seems to be in the same boat as you -- loaded with talent but with a style that doesn't quite fit the norm at the big contest sites. You could probably skim through the profiles on Threadless and find plenty of talented artists who have 50+ designs that didn't win, there should be at least a few of them who would be interested in selling the shirts themselves.
Has Uneetee been good to you? They print some nice shirts but their Voting section is weak. The odds of winning there seem much higher than at some place like Threadless where they get maybe 80-100 good designs a month but only pick about 25 a month to print. Uneetee may only print 4 designs a month but they only get about 8 good designs a month to pick from.
Next suggestion: contact some of the non-contest sites and see if they want to buy any of your stuff that didn't win. I'd try at Enclothe, GoApe, FantasticBonanza, etc.
Also, contact Upso about doing a Threadless Select shirt. Those are usually done by past Threadless winners but not always. Show him your body of work then keep your fingers crossed. And again, DON'T PANDER. Don't try to "make a Select", just make something that you think kicks ass and show him. Here's his contact info:
e: info [at] upso [dot] org
c: 419.283.6313 (email preferred)
Lastly, if you really don't want the hassle of printing your own shirts check out Redbubble or maybe Zazzle. Redbubble shirts cost a fortune but they do sell (just not to cheapskates like me). Zazzle has a bit of that Cafepress stink about it but I'm not sure it is deserved; their quality may be high.
Anyway, the point is, don't give up. I say this for purely selfish reasons -- I want to keep buying Jimiyo shirts -- but so what? If you keep making shirts and I keep buying them it is a win-win.
Post a Comment