“In a couple of months we can release our first product, a t-shirt — all we need to do is find some money and come up with a design”. This was in essence our conversation, well over two years ago…
Jack and I had both created our own “brands” while at university — both subsequently falling short because of the very same thing mentioned above. Instead of focusing on what the brand stood for, the story it should tell, and the very goal it wanted to accomplish, we both created aesthetically pleasing graphics that sit on top of a piece of cotton known as a t-shirt. Our goal: sell them to anyone willing to purchase. As a result, we felt that this time we would try and do things differently.
Set ourselves a brief: ‘Go out and…’
First and foremost we wanted to set ourselves a brief — a word or sentence that would help form the concept of the design. Our idea: finish this sentence “Go out and…” We spent a few weeks coming up with designs, deliberating whether these should go on the front, the back etc. but something didn’t quite stick for us. We started to think what an amazing opportunity it would be to work with others. One of our core beliefs was that better work comes from collaboration, so creating designs with other artists & designers seemed like a natural fit.
“Let’s collaborate with artists”
Following on from this idea we discussed a way to reach out to the wider creative community. We wanted to spread our message of positive collaboration through a practical application of that idea — spread the word through participation of others. After more thought, we decided this would be best for future releases, after we’ve properly introduced ourselves and our brands values.
Our call to arms
Having spent more time considering our brand values, and deciding we would use our first release as an opportunity to introduce OLDSTCO to the world, we wanted to include one of our key strap lines (Independent collaborators) as a basis for the design. This would act as our initial call to arms, the idea being that those who share these values will also be interested in our brand. We then set our sights and our pens on a design.
Print samples
When we’d decided on a design we were happy with we wanted to create some samples so that we could see the print as a physical item and to get an idea of the quality of the garment used. We both come for a product design background, so product testing has always been an important part of the process. We opted for American Apparel t-shirts, as although these are the most expensive, they offer the best merit for fit and feel.
Always chek for spulling mishtakes
Once we had 2 samples made (by the lovely folks at www.tshirtstudio.com) we were chuffed to be able to start shooting some pictures in preparation for the release and subsequent full print run. It wasn’t until one of our friends pointed out that we had spelt ‘Independant’ wrong that we realised the need to change the design before ordering 24 of the same. What followed was a fair bit of post production work to the photographs of the garment, you’ll see this in some of the early images.
It’s all in the detail
Having corrected the previous mentioned spelling mistake we also decided to create a print for the inside of the garment— we wanted to make this look and feel like a premium limited edition item. We also decided to create an area within the design in which we could include the edition number of the garment (1/24), further solidifying the notion that the item purchased was one of few, going back to one of our core values “Established Never, always limited edition” — you’ll see this on the neck print of the t-shirt.
We also want to offer that feeling you get when you receive a gift on your birthday — so without spoiling too much, let’s say you’ll find some nice surprises when you receive your garment in the post :)
Our call to arms t-shirt is available to buy now and is limited to 24 pieces
