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!

• 100+ sales: 5x exclusive newsletters to your customers (consultation with the winners, created and sent by Spreadshirt).
• 50-100 sales: 5x free flyers for your shop (our graphics team will create the flyers in consultation with you, your logo and your designs. We will then send the flyers to the 5 winners).
• 1-50 sales: 4x help re-designing your shop-layout (e.g. we will create graphics, banners or teasers specifically for your shop).

We will randomly select the corresponding amount of winners from all of the Shop Partners who fall into each of the categories. We will then contact them via e-mail.

Hold your horses – that’s not all … of course, we would like to help you increase your sales: a 15% off everything in your stores would be a good start, don’t you think? This promotion runs during the same time as the above-mentioned contest 9.11 – 23.11 (brilliant, aren’t we?) The voucher code is: NOVEMBERSALE.

This voucher code is valid for the entire contest period from 9th to 23rd November 2009 and gives your customers a 15% discount on all products. You are free to use the ad banner which our graphics team put together for you. You can find out more information about this promotion in the forum.

Happy sales!

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:
Click here to view the embedded video.

Some of you might have answered this question in a recent customer survey: how many of the products which you buy at Spreadshirt are meant as gifts for others? I’ll spare the drum-roll and get right to the answer: a little less than half of our customers intend to give the products they purchase at Spreadshirt to someone else as a gift. We have some very generous customers, I must say!

With the biggest gift-giving season just around the corner, we thought we would make it a little easier for our customers to find the gift they want. We have a brand new Gifts page! We’ve given them an interactive flash teaser to play around with and get right to the very category and gift they are looking for. There are six categories to choose from, each with sub-categories, allowing you to find gifts by price, gifts in one size (accessories), gifts for family and friends or gifts for holidays.

We invite you to take a look at the pages, and if you think that one of your products would fit well in any of the categories, then let us know! Go to this forum thread and let us know the category, design ID, link and product image for your suggestion.

But how do you make it into the top 100 and become the next Damien Hirst of the spreadshirt Marketplace?

Rule number one: keep it simple! Take a look at the bestselling designs in our T-Shirt Designer, for example. You quickly realise that the designs are kept very simple and are only one or two colours. That certainly makes sense, as many of our customers also end up writing some text on their shirt and use the designs to compliment their statement or even complete it. Products which only have one design on them are less common (29%).

Bestselling Designs

Current events are also a factor of success. Successful designers react quickly and creatively to current events (take Michael Jackson’s death as an example) and also create designs in preparation for large events (Football World Cup) – be careful about copyright in these cases. You can also take into account our customers’ general wishes as they enter search terms into our designer.

Here are the most searched-for terms from 2009 to yesterday for the UK:

1. DJ
2. stars
3. heart
4. music
5. gay lesbian
6. crown
7. obama
8. dance
9. wings
10. sex

Another well-known Marketplace designer secret is that success often is found in niche designs which convert better sales as the usual blockbusters. These niches can focus on things like extraordinary animals, obscure sports or unheard-of cities. A good indicator for empty niches can be the often searched for terms which end up with 0 results (we listed these back in September, too):

1. s
2. netball
3. heartagram
4. cougar
5. edelweiss
6. rollercoaster
7. rhodesia
8. fanny (ahem, not sure what they were looking for )
9. obamanos
10. miata

A further success factor is, of course, the price. Too high, and no one buys it. Too low, and you earn peanuts. Here are a few numbers to help you out here:

• Average commission for sold designs (average): £1.43
• Average commission for sold designs (median): £1.60
• Highest paid commission for one design: £21.02

Well, I hope that leaves only the following question left to be unanswered: why don’t we have Neo Rauch’s or Damien Hirst’s paintings on the Marketplace yet?

If you guys have any further questions about stats, the Marketplace or the price of rice in China, please feel free to use the handy comment box below.

You can simply download these from our Flickr page or right click and save the images. Then you can upload them to your user area and select it as your shop background under “Profile – Shops – Shop Layout”. If you go the extra step and set your theme to “Winter” under the “Selected Design” drop-down, you will be sure to get your customers whistling their way into the holiday shopping mood!

• Women’s Hannah Trousers by IVEE – you can go just about anywhere with these versatile trousers – from yoga to shopping trips and everywhere in between.
• Women’s Zoe Jacket by IVEE – combines well with the Hannah trousers and provides an elegant, yet sporty look.
• Commute 2.0 Messenger Bag by Timbuk2 – I love Timbuk2’s bags – durable, practical – and now customisable! This bag will make your trip through the airport a breeze. Check out the video below.
• Men’s Bowry Hoodie by Barking Irons – This hoodie is a prime piece of apparel and a joy to wear. I was able to slip on one of these after the photo shoot and I sure felt like I was a throwback from the 19th century.

As you may well know, these products are available in limited amounts: “first come, first served”!  A sweet video of the Timbuk2 bag in action and some more model photos after the click:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The case of the apron: when we market our aprons as grilling aprons in the summer, this practical accessory grabs 1.6% of all sales. As the holiday shopping season kicks off, this number more than triples: in December 2008 the apron – this time marketed as cooking and baking apron - took off to a height of 6.6%. Seasonal marketing most certainly plays a role in strengthening this trend. Of course, this is only one example of how products can be packaged better and perform stronger in winter or summer, depending on the shop, niche and the audience you are targeting.

With the holiday season approaching, be sure to have some accessories ready in your shop for the gift shoppers. Here are other accessories which perform quite dandily:

• Bags
• Organic baby bibs
• Umbrellas
• Mugs
• Baseball caps