This comes straight from the desk of Threadless regular, Torakamikaze. It’s a coloring book! But it’s not just any coloring book, it is comprised of illustrations from some of the extremely talented artists at Threadless. In fact, only members of the Threadless Alumni are featured in Activity: A Coloring & Activity Book. In all, 42 different Threadless Alumni participated.Â
The book is 56 pages of pure awesomeness and is available now from Lulu for just 10 bucks. Below is a list of all the participating Threadless Alumni members.Â
I’ve been a fan of Glenn Jones, or Glennz as he is known on Threadless, long before this blog was born and I became consumed with indie T-Shirt culture. I’ve always been impressed by the wit of his designs. Glennz art always make me smile! What Would MacGyver Do is one of my most used Threadless tees – I love the confused looks that come about whenever I wear that wonderful shirt.Â
This is the 20th Indie Tee Spotlight and to celebrate, I’m featuring one of my Top 5 favorite tee designers – Glenn Jones of Glennz Tees. We talked a bit about why he stopped submitting designs to Threadless and what it has been like running his own line. And I of course, I got the scoop on what’s up with all of the Darth Vader themed tees. Is Glenn a big Star Wars fan? You’ll need to read on to find out!
Coty: Glenn, you’re one of the top printed artists at Threadless. What made you move away from submitting to Threadless? Any plans to maybe submit to the site again?
Glenn: After doing a bit of work with the guys from Despair.com, we just started talking about a possible partnership as an independent project. They have a lot of experience with production and fulfillment so we were able to combine our strengths and idea of having my own range of tees was something I had thought about for a while. I’m just really enjoying growing my own range of designs at the moment, but I might submit to Threadless again in the future.
Coty:Â Dark Side of the Garden is one of the classic and iconic Threadless tees. Since then you’ve done Self Maintenance and have previewed the concept tee, The Lords Breakfast. Is it an understatement to say that you’re a huge Star Wars/Darth Vader fan? Of the 6 films, which is your favorite episode?
I wouldnt say I’m a huge Stars Wars fan, but I just find parodying Vader really funny, I’m always having ideas based around that, I just can’t seem to get it out of my system! I think Return of the Jedi would be my pick.
Coty:Â Do you focus 100% of your time on Glennz Tees or do you have a day job?
Glenn:Â No, it would be great if that one day became the case, but at the moment I do freelance work as well. I left fulltime employment just over a year ago because at the time the t-shirts were something I was just fitting in when I could. I knew if I wanted to give Glennz Tees a good go I needed to have some more time to focus on that, so freelancing allows me to spend time everyday so it has worked really well.
Coty:Â You’ve built up a pretty large catalog of tees at Glennz. Which is your favorite design and why? Which Glennz tee has been your best seller?
Glenn:Â It’s really hard to say, I like them all but I’m a bit biased!
Coty:Â Your designs show that you have a love for comics. Who are 5 of your favorite superheroes?
Glenn:Â Yes, you’d probably think that, but actually I’ve never been into comics – I just find the parody of heroes and villains amusing.
Coty:Â Do you ever miss simply submitting a design and having someone else worry about printing and promoting it? Do you enjoy running your own business?
Glenn:Â That’s how it has worked really well with the Guys in Austin, I concentrate on the shirt designing and leave the printing expertise to them. Obviously I’m a bit more involved in the process but it’s working really well!
Coty:Â Many brands like to keep new designs “secret” up until the big release. You, however, showed off a bunch of concept designs on your Behance page that later made its way to the Glennz site. People can now vote for the next Glennz tee. What made you go this route? What has the response been like from Glennz regulars?
Glenn:Â I thought about this for awhile, because yes we are showing our hand a bit, but I’m always designing new tees and I find it really hard to decide which ones to print first. Rather than just having them sitting in a folder we thought involving our customer in the process would help and it has. We’ve had a great response from people visiting the site.
Coty:Â What are three things that you’ve learned about the tee industry or business in general since starting Glennz Tees?
Glenn:Â I’ve learned lots of things, and I’m alway learning more which is great, a few things would be:
Patience is important, you can’t expect things to happen over night.
Be open to changing your way of thinking as we go. We’re always learning and tweaking stuff on the site, which I think is great because it’s all about evolving and trying to make things better all the time.
It’s not just about the design on the shirt, its the whole package – shipping, customer service are just as important and we’re always trying to improve what we do.
Thank you to Glenn for taking the time to chat a bit! I look forward to covering Glennz Tees in the future and I wish you a gazillion T-Shirt sales!Â
Congratulations to Evanimal for winning the first ShirtFight with his entry, You Might Need More Than A NightLight This Time! Evanimal took home the $2009 prize and you can pick up his design for just 15 bucks. I have to admit that I am huge fan of ShirtFight’s product shots -- love them!Â
Check out the official announcement in the video below and find out what this weeks new Shirt Fight theme is (hint: it has to with ANIMALS and PEOPLE)!
You can also watch this episode on Vimeo, Viddler, YouTube, blip.tv and download and sync all episodes to your iPod or iPhone by subscribing for free to Co-Tee TV in the iTunes Store.
Coty’s Thoughts:
Wolves Vs. Werewolves by Dance Party Massacre. Good: Brings back the acid wash look, super soft feel, screenprinted label and tagless for itch free comfort, fun design, lots of amenities added to every order. Bad: High price point, but, it is a high quality product. Price: $27.95.
Greg Kerr from {miles to go} clothing has just printed and released his newest tee called St. Sebastian. The artwork of St. Sebastian was done by the designer godmachine and is a play on an egon schiele piece where he paints himself the martyr as Sebastian. The print is humungous (14.5 inch x 20 inches) and is printed on a black American Apparel tee. Only 80 of these boys were printed and each of the tees are hand numbered. You can pick one up from {miles to go} for $22.99, but remember, {miles to go} is part of the Attack of the Coupon Codes so be sure to use the coupon code “friends” to save an additional 20% off!
If you’re  regular reader of this site then you’ve probably read either Part I or Part II of my Ongoing T-Shirt Design Contests series of posts. There are great opportunities out there for budding artists and T-Shirt designers to make not only a quick buck, but also a name for themselves. Today I take a look at 5 more of these contest sites. Let’s see how they differ from some of the contest sites I’ve covered in the past.
As always, each of these sites have different sets of rules and regulations. It is important to note the differences in terms of exclusivity and rights to designs. And of course, your pay day and royalties (if any) will differ based on the site.
1. ShirtFight.How it Works: Every week ShirtFight releases a new contest theme. Artists then submit a design based on the weeks themed challenges called Shirt Fights and compete amongst the rest of the designers to get the most votes for their design submissions. Submitted designs are limited to eight colors. Tees from ShirtFight have a current launch cost of $15. Selection Process: The highest rated designs and most discussed have a greater chance of being selected by the ShirtFight staff, El Presidente and Miss Etti. There will be no more than 21 shirts being sold on the site at any given time (based on sales). Rights: If a design is selected by ShirtFight as a winning design then ShirtFight will have exclusive rights to use the design commercially. Designers cannot submit their designs to other sites until the one week Shirt Fight theme in which they entered is over. If the design is not chosen for print after the one week period then they are allowed to submit to other contest sites. This is great for designers since many sites do not allow you to use submitted designs until a 60-90 day grace period passes. Pay Day: Winner receives $500 cash if their design is chosen. Official Rules.
2. Teextile. How it Works: Members submit designs to Teextile and if the design passes the Teextile screening process it then enters into general voting by the Teextile community. Teextile sells a different tee every day for a 24 hour period. Submitted designs are limited to 8 colors. Tees from Teextile cost $15. Selection Process: The Teextile staff will select designs on a weekly basis and the designs that are chosen will be based on score, comments and community activity. Rights: During the 24 hour period that your tee is on sale at Teextile it cannot be sold or used on any other contest site. You can use it on other sites after it is done selling on Teextile. Pay Day: Designers are paid $4 for every t-shirt sold, however, there is a threshold. The $4 payout is only for the first 500 tees sold. After 500th tee, you will be paid 2 dollars per tee up to the 1000th tee sold and then a buck on every tee sold thereafter. Official Rules.
3. BlackEyedT. How it Works: The twist at BlackEyedT is that all submissions must have the word “Go” in the design (i.e. Let’s Go Dancing, or Go for It!). The goal of BlackEyedT is to provide shirts with go action designs that will let people express themselves. Designs can have up to 4 colors. You can download a BlackEyedT T-Shirt Template Kit here. Tees from BlackEyedT cost $12 to $24. Selection Process: Tee designs that are submitted to BlackEyedT must pass a screening process by the BlackEyedT staff and if approved it will be posted to the BlackEyedT site for community voting. Rights: All submitted designs become the temporary property of BlackEyedT for the duration of 120 days. If your design is not selected within the 120 day period you may elect to assume full rights by contacting the BlackEyedT staff. BlackEyedT retains exclusive right to all tees chosen for print. Pay Day: If your design is chosen for print at BlackEyedT then you will receive $500 cash and $100 credit to use at BlackEyedT. You will also receive an extra $500 for every 1000 tees sold, however, there is a maximum of $2000 that you can earn (4000 tees sold). Official Rules.
4. Springleap. How it Works: Springleap is a T-Shirt contest site based out of South Africa. All of their materials are sourced from South Africa. You submit your design to Springleap and the community votes. Submitted tees should have no more than 7 colors (this includes the base coat of white). Tees from Springleap cost $19. Selection Process: Every month Springleap will select the top 21 designs and will have them printed and made available for sale. Rights: Springleap retains all rights to winning designs. You may not use the designs for any other contest or competition for up to 90 days after the submission date. If your design is not chosen as a winning design within 90 days then you regain ownership of the submitted design. Pay Day: The prize system is a bit intricate, but, they do offer some amazing prizes. First of all, the top design (from the 21 selected) will receive R7000 ($707), a poster of their design, and each of the 21 winning T-Shirt designs for that particular month (amazing!). They also receive R2.00 ($0.20) for every tee sold. The runner-ups will receive their winning design in T-Shirt form and will also will receive two other tees and a limited edition poster. Runner-ups also receive commission on every tee sold, R1.00 ($0.10). Official Rules.
5. Fair & Bare.How it Works: Fair & Bare believes in only using Fairtrade certified cotton and waterbased ink – they are environmentally friendly! Traditional designs can be submitted to Fair & Bare along with simple slogans and “concept” ideas for non-designers. Fair & Bare follows with the same community voting model as the previous four sites mentioned. Submitted designs should be six colors or less. Tees from Fair & Bare range in price from £12 ($16.87) to £16 ($22.49). Selection Process: You rate submitted designs on a scale of 1 to 10 and you can either choose to “rubbish” a concept idea or vote to have it printed. Tees with the highest votes has the best likelihood of being printed. The Fair & Bare staff has the final say on which designs are chosen for print. Rights: You may not submit your design to any other contest or competition for a period of 45 days after submission. Once the 45 day period has passed you are free to use the design however you like. Pay Day: For every tee selected for print, designers will receive £200 (US $300), a copy of the shirt, and residual payments for every 250 tees sold. Winning slogan submissions will receive £50 ($75). And finally, people who submit a “concept” or “idea” that is chosen for print will receive £50 ($75) for its use. Designers that use a “concept” that is then picked up for print will receive £150 ($225). What’s even better is that if Fair & Bare ever increases the prize amount, all previous winners will be paid the difference between the old and new amount. Official Rules.
This is the last Never In Wonderland chat before Darren and Kass move away to the Philippines. A secret birdie told me that they’ll be giving away a bunch of NIWL t-shirts raffle style. A bunch meaning 15+ free T-Shirts! How to get in on the free tee action? Send in a picture of yourself in NIWL gear via the NIWL MySpace and you’ll be entered into the raffle. Good luck!
The last 7 or so months blogging about the indie tee community has been amazing! I’ve been having so much fun writing about some great indie tee brands and designers. And I’ve met some amazing people during this time.
I just wanted to let you guys know that along with this blog, I now also write at T-Shirt Magazine and Tee-Junction. Moust from T-Shirt Magazine has been awesome to work with and through him I have been able to interview some up and coming designers and brands, some of which, I had never heard of before. Likewise, Adam Fletcher of Tee-Junction has been such a pleasure to work with! He has given me creative freedom to write at Tee-Junction on a daily basis and I have been having a blast doing just that.
The video blogs have been doing great! I currently have two shows that are available for your viewing pleasure. I’ve re-branded my Glorious Nonsensities Tee Review podcast, it is now called Co-Tee TV! I thought that the old name was a bit long winded. Co-Tee TV is now available on Vimeo, Viddler, Blip.TV and most recently, YouTube! If you’re into the YouTube community than feel free to subscribe to my videos – you’ll be notified each time I post a new episode!
And it gets even better. All past and future episodes are now also available on iTunes! This is amazing for me especially since I am such a huge Apple fanboy! What does this whole iTunes thing-a-ma-jig mean to you? Well if you’ve got iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to my podcast and have all episodes of Co-Tee TV downloaded straight to your computer. And if you’re an iPod or iPhone user you can sync Co-Tee TV episodes so that they go straight to your portable device. Pure awesomeness.
Coty Loves Threadless TV has been going good as well. Despite a lack of Seesmic activity, I have had a positive response from regular readers of my site. I will be adding Coty Loves Threadless to my YouTube channel from now on, too, so that I can take advantage of the huge community of YouTuber’s. Pumping out two video blogs every week has been a fun experience. Didn’t think I would be able to pull it off, but, I have and so I will continue to pump out original and fun content!
And finally, Twitter! This social network has been amazingly good to me. The amount of interaction that is possible, instantly through Twitter, blows mind. If you’re on Twitter then add me, I am twitter.com/cotygonzales.
A huge thanks to all the readers at cotygonzales.com! I appreciate all of your support. You are all awesome.
It’s a big week at Threadless! First the Spring Cleaning sale and then 9 new tee releases! This might be too much for me to handle. Olly Moss’ Shoot The Baddies was my Threadless Pick of the Week but watch on to see how I score the rest of the tees!
It’s that time of the year – the long awaited Threadless $5 Spring Cleaning Sale! If you’re in need of upgrading your wardrobe then you’re in luck because Threadless has tons of tees on sale and marked down to 5 buckaroos. Exciting! And the selection for the $5 tees is not that shabby either, they’ve got 348 tees marked down at the ridiculously low $5 price tag.Â
And if that weren’t enough, they’ve got a bunch of tees marked down to $10. Granted, the $10 price tag is not as enticing as $5, but, many of these are normally priced from $18 to $25. So, it;s a great deal at either the $5 or $10 price point.Â
Will you be picking up any of the marked down Threadless tees? I know I will – it’s just a matter of sifting through and picking out the ones that I want!
