Well thankfully, no akward conversations with our CEO Jana Eggers - although it would never be an akward conversation - she is super nice and I know she LOVES to talk about t-shirts! Jana has started a new series of videos on YouTube called What’s Jana Wearing - these are great little clips where she shares the story behind what t-shirt she is wearing.  Check out this video about the “I heart” design

Here are some of the other videos from the What’s Jana Wearing series:

• Vol. 1, Num. 1. - Jana at the Spreadshirt Boston Office
• Vol. 1, Num. 2 - Dewitt Jones
• Vol. 1, Num. 3 - La Fraise (you really should see the hoddie she is wearing!)
• Vol. 1, Num 5 - Partner shirts - check out some of these CNN Headline t-shirts
• Vol. 1, Num 6 - Jana Goes to MIT
  

If you want to see more of what Jana is saying about t-shirts, triathlons and sometimes bacon - follow @jeggers on twitter!  Don’t forget to follow @Spreadshirt on twitter too.

Important information for your customers: Christmas Ordering Deadlines 2009
Santa’s elves aren’t the only ones working hard in the weeks up to Christmas: we also have quite the amount of products to produce by hand. As the production times tend to increase this time of year, we would ask you to inform your customers about our ordering deadlines so they know that they will get their gifts before 25th December. There’s a brilliant little chart in our FAQ section where you can find information about all EU countries.

The ordering deadlines for the UK are:
Standard Shipping: order must be made before 10:59 a.m. (GMT) on 17th December.
Express Shipping: order must be made before 10:59 p.m. (GMT) on 20th December.

You can find a wide range of their famous front page headlines from their very first print (Horse Dope Sensation) up through their September 2009 headline about the Labour Party (Labour’s Lost it). My favourite is certainly the “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” shirt. Check ‘em out:

Have fun reliving and wearing some of the most famous (and infamous) headlines in British newspaper history.

How does it fit?
As you can see in the photo, my girlfriend first got her hands on the shirt I think it fits her well. Of course, the shirt in size M fits me wonderfully, too.

What do you like about the shirt’s cut?
The cut is great, I can’t complain.

Does the shirt’s colour meet your expectations from how it was presented on our website?
I chose white and am completely satisfied with the colour. The shirt has an excellent white colour, without any discolouring.

Did anything change after the first wash?
I haven’t been able to see anything yet. The quality seems to be very good and clean. I don’t expect to see any decrease in the quality after a number of washes.

How did you fare with the ordering process?
The ordering process was very easy and user friendly. But, you get used to things like this when you’ve done it more than once.

Simon gave the shirt 5 out of 5 points. Thanks for your feedback Simon! Be sure to see a couple of more product reviews in the coming days!

What are your favourite Facebook Pages? Maybe some of you have your own pages for your shop or business – if so give us the link and we can “officially” shake e-hands. Here are a few Pages I like:

Ben & Jerry’s
Snikers
Gap
Pringles
Red Bull
Ice Cold Beer

And what are your favourites?

1. Men’s Classic T-Shirt (6)
2. Women’s Classic Girlie Shirt (33)
3. Men’s Slim Fit T-Shirt (84)
4. Men’s Hooded Sweatshirt (20)
5. Cooking Apron (141)
6. Men’s American Apparel T-Shirt (175)
7. Mug (31)
8. Men’s Contrast T-Shirt (69)
9. Women’s Hooded Sweatshirt (444)
10. Men’s Long Sleeve Shirt (23)

You can see that the top 5 are “stable” and the most movement comes with the mug and the apron. Of course, the long sleeve shirts have finally made it on the list, as many had asked why it hadn’t hit the top 10 before (it wasn’t cold enough I guess). And here comes the most important part of the post: this list doesn’t mean that you should go out there and design mugs and aprons only, nor does it mean that your shop is set-up wrong if its product range matches your niche. If it fits your shops direction, there is absolutely nothing wrong with offering more women’s apparel or mixing in a few Exclusive Line products. But, mixing and re-sorting (also your designs) are two good keywords for making good pre-holiday changes.

Now that I am living in East Germany, hanging out and working with those whose lives were most certainly changed 20 years ago, it’s a great time to look back and reminisce on the past two decades and beyond. Of course, we would take a look and see what our Marketplace has to offer:

“What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage.”

Where were you 20 years ago?

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Henning and I wear exclusive shirts from “HASENFARM – Manufaktur für Fellersatzstoffe” (loosely translated as HAREFARM – Manufacturer of Fur Substitutes).

What do you like about how the shirt looks?
It’s a black shirt, which can rarely be surpassed in its simplicity. But that simplicity really enhances the silver glitter design of the hare skull over the crossed carrots.

How does it fit?
It fits like a fist to the eye // like a lid on a pot // like a glove – it fits well and has some room: size L sits ideally on my 187 cm tall figure. I also have the feeling that the shirt gives my silhouette a v-like form which I only tend to see on other people.

What do you like about the shirt’s cut?
I don’t like to swim in my shirt, nor do I like the slim fitting, stuffed sausage look, so I like this shirt’s form. I’d have to add to this the fact that I feel comfortable in all of the shirt models which I have in my shop. Another positive note about the organic shirt is its reduced impact on the environment.

Does the shirt’s colour meet your expectations from how it was presented on our website?
It’s exactly how I imagined it to be: black! And yes, the image on your site really does have the colour #000000.

Did anything change after the first wash?
Washed it inside out, used liquid detergent and nothing changed – except for the smell, which is something of a mix of mountain meadows and chemicals. But that has just about everything to do with my choice of detergent.

How did you fare with the ordering process?
The ordering process itself is quite simple, but I find that the special foils, like the one I chose, aren’t exactly portrayed on the site as clearly as they should be. Especially the matte and glossy effects (gold, silver, pink …) don’t have enough bling-bling. Unfortunately, you can’t see this on the products in the product view. This could definitely be improved upon.

So, Henning also added that he gave the product 5 out of 5 points and is altogether satisfied with this product and would recommend it to others. Thanks Henning! More customer reviews to come!

Who are you and what do you do?

I am one of the Twardrobe winners and I write about things I win.

What do you like about how the shirt looks?

Hm, I wouldn’t exactly call it rock and roll. The heather grey is a little grainier here than in the American Apparel shirts. The first thing my neighbour said was, what kind of recycled shirt is that You can see a few inconsistencies in the fabric in a few places, a little like an old pullover with small lint balls in it, but somewhat finer.

How does it fit?

It fits very nicely, luckily not a slim cut, but also not as wide as a sack, so it’s pretty classic, great!

What do you like about the shirt’s cut?

All in all it’s pretty good. The seam on the neck and sleeve cuffs are a little too wide for my liking. But, the longer I have it the more I like it. It has a very natural feeling to it.

Does the shirt’s colour meet your expectations from how it was presented on our website?

At first I was a little surprised, as I had remembered it to be a little lighter, but after taking a look at the product image again, I see that it is exactly as presented on the site…

Did anything change after the first wash?

I couldn’t tell. The shirt maybe got a little softer after the first wash, but still is not nearly as soft as my cats. And you ask yourself one more time why the hell my little kitties seem to love to lick my new Spreadshirt deliveries from top to bottom.

Does the shirt’s name appeal to you, or would you use another name for it? If yes, what would you call it?

The name may be a little misleading for some, but if my neighbour pulls the right name out of nowhere with one look, then I would say it’s a fitting title.

How did you fare with the ordering process?

Everyone knows that time is money and you never have enough of either. So, it could have been a little quicker. But, it’s not complicated, especially if you are a regular customer…

That’s it from our first tester – thanks Steffen! So, what about those other Twardrobe testers? Let’s see your feedback!

Patterns and forms can be found just about anywhere. Take a look around the room and I bet you can find a number of examples of natural and man-made patterns. They often get ignored. Not at ctrl-clothes.com where these modern, abstract forms are front and centre. The triangles, squares, lines and shapes are certainly fresh and original, and remind me a little bit of a mix between my geometry class and class trip to the modern art museum. Give the Tunnel? shirt a good long look and you might get lost therein: certainly works brilliantly as an eye-catcher. But, shirts aren’t the only things greeting you at ctrl-clothes: you are presented with quite the innovative, interactive store front (based on a Manchester street – see below). Here’s the interview with Ben, the man behind ctrl:

Where are you from and where do you live now? What’s the weather like there?

I live in the Northern Quarter, Manchester. It’s currently nice and sunny, although it usually rains!

What do you do, other than t-shirts?

I’m web/graphic designer, but I do a bit of DJing in my spare time.

What’s the story behind ctrl-clothes?

ctrl-clothes.com was originally setup in 2005 when I graduated from university. It started off as a little project which I could use to increase my own portfolio, as well showcase the work of myself and a few friends/up and coming designers and illustrators. The idea was only ever to have a few designs on sale at a time, with a limited number of each item to be produced and sold before being removed and updated with a new design. This way the store would constantly be evolving, with each item being a limited edition. This would mean that you would be extremely unlikely to bump into someone else wearing the same tee. I hate it when this happens, going to university in a small(er) city (than Manchester), where there were only 2 or 3 cool shops to buy clothes from, it was always fairly likely that you will see at least one person in the same top as you. With ctrl-clothes.com I wanted to change this, at the very least I wanted to make items I want to wear.

Your store front is a real street in Manchester (Houldsworth Street – Google Street View) What is the concept behind your “store front”? Did you create it yourself?

Yes I created the storefront myself. There are thousands/millions of t-shirt sites across the web now, which all tend to look very similar. I wanted mine to stand out from all the others.

With the storefront, I wanted something which showed off the products in simple, clear and interesting way, which also showed off the t-shirts and the designs roots in Manchester. The site is meant to be a bit of fun, I want people to play with site, and through the user interaction to potentially introduce a product they may not usually look at.

How would you describe your shirts in 5 words or less?

Abstract, modern, fresh, personal and ctrl’d.

The target shopper for my shop are those people who are fed up of buying t-shrts from the high street, where the majority of people in every town and city shop, buying the same tees from the same stores. Ctrl-clothes.com is for those people who want something a bit different, something which is almost bespoke just for a select number of lucky customers.

I currently don’t do too much to promote the shop, and what I do do is mostly through social networking sites such as twitter (twitter.com/ctrlclothes or you can follow me at twitter.com/bentopliss) and Facebook. Although I am currently considering some new forms of promotion.

How did you come across Spreadshirt?

I came across the site about a year and a half ago I think, I can’t quite remember. I remember being impressed by the simplicity of setting up your own store, and the benefits which go along with having a spreadshirt store.

What do you like about Spreadshirt and what could we do better?

I love the whole efficiency of the Spreadshirt service, the whole experience is great from initial product setup through to the handling of shipping and billing. I used to get all the t-shirts printed up myself, manage invoicing and organise the shipping. This was a real pain, and just took up too much time. Spreadshirt makes it easy. I just send you my artwork, and create the products and then you handle everything else. It has freed up a lot of my time, which I can use to update the website, design new t-shirts and work on other freelance projects.

Do you have any advice for shop partners starting up at Spreadshirt?

Just spend that extra bit of time to customise your store, there are some many t-shirts sites about now, that you need to do something a bit extra to make yours stand out.

Where do you get your ideas for designing? What happens before a shirt lands on your site?

I get ideas from everywhere, it can really depend on my mood. I love music and the whole culture (fashion/design/visuals) which goes with it. Being a child of the eighties, I’m a bit of fan of eighties popular culture, and that definitely has an influence, as well as things like modern architecture.
Before a shirt lands on the site and ends up on the ctrl-clothes.com wall, it has to go through a rigorous design process starting on my trusty notepad before going digital via Illustrator CS4. The process can end when I can answer “ yes” to the question: “Would I wear it?”.

What do you think about Spreadshirt’s printing techniques - how do you use them for different designs?

I have only used Flex printing so far, and I am pleased with all the results I’ve had, especially the printing onto the hoods of hoodies. I really want to experiment a bit with some of the other finishes, like the flock, but especially the glow in the dark. My style I don’t think would suit some of the glittery finishes, but glow in the dark definitely appeals to me.

What’s your favorite shirt of all time?

I have so many favourites that’s it is hard to keep up, but I’m currently loving this Major Lazer t-shirt.

Have you ever seen a stranger wearing one of your shirts? What did you do?

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen a stranger wearing one of my t-shirts, if I saw someone in the street though, I would probably end up jumping on them or something. That would be pretty cool!

What’s your opinion about t-shirt culture in the U.K.?

I think t-shirt culture is pretty good in the UK, there seem to be quite a few small outfits producing really cool limited run items. Quite a lot of the main stream stuff is a bit naff, but yeah, there are definitely lots of cool tees about if you know where to look.

What are some of your favourite places to visit on the Internet?

Apart from obvioulsy www.ctrl-clothes.com (shameless plug!), I have a bit of a social networking addiction! You can follow me or the store on twitter (@bentopliss or @ctrlclothes). I like to look through and upload my work to user-generated design portfolio sites like behance.net, some of the work on there is really amazing.

I like to keep up to speed with the latest in both the design world and the real world, so sites like www.thecoolhunter.co.uk, www.designboom.com, www.smashingmagazine.com and or course news.bbc.co.uk are all good, as well as all the interesting links posted up by people I follow on twitter. There are just too many to list!

Are you working on any other new designs?

I’ve just finished designing the gallery part of the website (so please take a look, I’d love to know your thoughts), so I will start work on some new designs very soon, as it’s been a while now.

Thanks for the interview Ben!