Name: Ray
Posts by Ray:
Lowdtown is Closing Down – Clearance Sale
March 4th, 2010This post has been a long time coming, but it should definitely clear everything up for those confused with the state of Lowdtown.
First of all, to save the drama, Lowdtown will be closing in the next month or so. As the story goes, I was contacted by an artist who has a logo concept very similar to mine. Though I didn’t hear of the artist til he actually contacted me, he apparently copyrighted his logo, and I made the mistake of never doing so. Immediately after, I had to remove everything with the mouthcan logo and the lowdmouth logo.
As you can probably guess, this caused a whole mess of problems for me, and is the reason I had to take down nearly half of the products listed on my store. And as you can imagine, this is at a huge financial loss to me. Especially so because he contacted me literally weeks after I had received my Winter line. To make matters even worse, I’ve been working with Hong Kong since late 2009 and finally received fitted hats in February in which I spent several thousand dollars on; I will not be able to sell those off either.
It is hard to explain how frustrating this is for me, considering I’m a college kid who put my own hard earned cash into making Lowdtown, and the reason why I was able to do wallets and sweaters was from the culmination of my hard work and dedication for Lowdtown. With this event, I pretty much lost all the profit that I’ve been building up to make my future lines even greater.
So what I am asking for is your support. I’m having a clearance sale where I’m literally going to try to get rid of all remaining stock. Shirts will be $6, and the crewnecks will be $12. These prices are pretty much the price I bought them at, so it’s an unbelievably good deal for you guys. Please tell your friends and spread the word about it; I just really need to cut my losses and try to rebuild.
On another note, please don’t harass the artist who contacted me, because the logos are in fact very similar. It’s an unbelievably unfortunate coincidence on my part, but I would’ve thought the same thing if I were him.
On a happier note, I can promise you with my utmost conviction that the rebirth of Lowdtown will be glorious. I’ve already been working on several projects that will definitely put Lowdtown on the map. I’m not one for braggadocio, but I have a secret project that I’ve been developing since November 2009 that I think will blow everyone’s socks off. I’ve never seen it done before, and I’m more than excited to see what everyone’s reactions will be.
Lowdtown, as you might’ve already guessed, will be going through a complete rebranding. I’ve shared the concepts for the new logo with a bunch of my designer friends, and I’ve gotten really positive responses so far. In addition, the website will get a complete overhaul. I’ve been really flexing my web design muscles lately, and if all goes to plan, the new website will be the slickest and sexiest yet.
I’ve also been receiving an amazing amount of support from my twitter followers, so I just want to thank all you guys! I’ll probably post up WIPs and sneak peeks when it gets closer to the relaunch, so if you’re interested you should follow me: @Lowdtown.
Right now, I’m shooting for Summer 2010 (probably late June or July), which is a really ambitious date, but hopefully I can pull it off. I’ll keep you guys posted! Thanks again for all the support!
-Ray (Lowdtown Friends & Freaks)
iPad FFFUUUUUUU
January 27th, 2010I decided to make a FFFUUUU cartoon to explain my frustrations of the new iPad in a sophisticated manner.
Lowdtown Winter Release
January 20th, 2010The Lowdtown Friends & Freaks Winter Line is out now!
The Cleanbean Crewneck:
This is a character concept I’ve been working on for a while, you’ll definitely be seeing him again in the future!
The Voracious Crewneck:
An update to the Insatiable tee.
Unikid:
A collaboration with Attila Szamosi of Peachbeach. I did the character, and Attila did all the type, background, and coloring.
Lowdtown Leather Wallet:
The first accessory for Lowdtown. A high-quality, slim-profile wallet with an embossed Lowdtown mouth on the front and type logo embossed on the inside pocket.
Hype! Lowdtown Winter Release on Thursday
January 20th, 2010The Lowdtown Winter Release will be on Thursday Jan. 21, 2010, which is also the one year anniversary of Lowdtown!
Get Ready!
Lowdtown Q&A: Logos and Packaging
January 4th, 2010Questions:
Hi Ray!
I was just looking through some online articles and stumbled on your site. I’m also a young entrepreneur and I’m looking to start up a sneaker accessory brand for sneakerheads! There’s so much stuff to consider when starting a brand, so I absolutely appreciate the tips that you wrote on your blog. And I think it’s so important to reach out to fellow startups. The dream of success!
Amazing job with everything! I think the main thing that’ll be a big cost for me is the design part (I’m not a designer, unfortunately! Haha) and of course the inventory part. Since you were a student at parsons, do you know how much it is to get like logos and packaging designed?
Thanks! Your graphics are amazing — if ever I make any money, I promise to buy a t-shirt.
Answers:
Hey Ting,
Sorry it took so long for me to respond, I’m actually still a student at Parsons and I’ve had finals for the past couple weeks. Logos range in price, depending on who you hire. And obviously, as with everything else, hiring a professional designer is really crucial. I’m sure you can pay a crappy myspace teenager online for a $100 logo, but if you’re looking to get a professional logo, I’d say it would range from around $400-1000. But considering your logo is the most important thing in your brand that needs to make an impression on everyone, you really shouldn’t be frugal about it.
My version of a $50 logo:
I’m not really sure how much packaging design costs, being that I’ve never made any custom packages. I’m also not sure if you’re asking how much graphics to go on pre-made packaging is or if you’re asking how much it costs to get the packaging itself custom designed. The latter is obviously much more expensive, but that’s about all I can say. If you simply want to get designs printed onto pre-made packaging, I probably wouldn’t expect to pay more than $250.
Hope that helps!
Lowdtown Q&A: How to break even
December 21st, 2009Questions:
Hello Ray,
My name is Justin. I have pondered starting a clothing line. I’ve been doing extensive research because, well, if I do start one I’ll be running off a shoestring budget. Anyhow, I’ll cut to the chase and ask the questions I’ve been wondering about.
Do you make your own shirts, or do you outsource this?
If you do outsource it (I understand the process of outsourcing) does the company making the shirts put the label and hang tag on for you, or do you do this?
If you do not outsource, do you print them up yourself with a DTG printer or screen printer, and then sew on your label, and put your hang tag on yourself? And where do you get your products from? I have researched many, and a lot of smaller operations recommend American Apparel.
I have many more questions, but I’ll leave just one more. I imagine you are a busy person, just as I am.
What kind of numbers do you have rolling in, and are you making a big enough profit to expand your line?
My start up costs would be different from yours, but it helps to have some general ideas, that way I can figure out my break even point.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Justin
Answers:
Hey Justin, thanks for the questions.
I’m assuming you’re asking if I print my own shirts rather than make them, but no, I don’t print my own shirts. I wish I could, but I’m still a student, and it would be too much labor for it to be worth it.
The company I outsource puts in the labels for me, but I put on the hang tags myself, because that’s pretty simple.
I can’t share my numbers, because that’s personal, but I make enough to be able to run Lowdtown only off of the money it makes. Mind you, I don’t really use any of the money I make from Lowdtown for personal things, so I pretty much put 100% of the profit back into Lowdtown.
And I don’t think knowing my numbers will help you figure out your point for breaking even. You figure out how to break even, by figuring the cost of your blanks plus the print and any additional embellishments (labels, hang tags, etc). That would be your raw cost of the t-shirt. Then you figure out your retail price, and subtract your raw price per t-shirt. By figuring out how much money you’d be making off each shirt, you can see how many shirts it would take to break even. Of course there would be a lot of other factors, but that’s the barebones way I use to figure it out.
Good luck!
Lowdtown Q&A: Type Logos vs Graphic Logos
December 18th, 2009Questions:
I would like to start by off thanking you for answering questions for up and coming clothing lines. I’ve learned some things from you and I deeply appreciate it. Your help can definitely make a clothing line dream come true. Most clothing lines feel as though, you are their competition, so why help?
Someday I plan to do a collab with you, or hire you as a potential designer? I love your brand and I plan to follow in your same footsteps.
I have a few questions:
#1 My clothing line does not consist of a symbol logo. It consists of just a word logo. Other brands, such as The Hundreds and Kid Robot rely deeply on their symbol logo. Do you think there is competition between word logos vs. symbol logo brands? I think there’s pros and cons for each logo. I think symbol logos get played out fast, but a symbol logo is more bold than a word logo. In my opinion, word logos last longer because they have a more traditional look, but don’t get as noticed. I understand there are many brands out there that have both a word logo and a symbol logo. My plan is to just stick with the traditional word logo. Later on down the line, I may create a symbol logo, but the chances are very slim.
How can my word logo compete with the symbol logo brands?
Should I switch the design of my word logo with different types of typography and fonts for different articles of clothing? I feel like my word logo will get played out fast if I use the same design for inside tags, hang tags, and t-shirt designs.
#2 In the beginning stages of starting my clothing line, I plan to do most of the tasks myself. The only employee I will have is a designer when starting. When I’m ready to expand my business, I plan to hire others for the brand. What type of positions am I looking to fill when expanding the business? Are you a one man company or do you have others on your team?
Answers:
1. I think your problem is that you’re limiting the powers of the type logo. It sounds to me like your type logo is just plain type with very little editing. What I would suggest is to add your own flair to the type that represents your company. There are extremely powerful and memorable type logos that do simple modifications to make you double take.
Personally, I’ve always liked the versatility of having both a type and graphic logo. Look at Lowdtown for instance, I have 3 logos that I transition between. I have the main type logo which I use on a variety of labels and business cards. I consider my type logo to be the most professional, so that is the purpose that I’ve given it. I also have the mouthcan logo and the lowdmouth logo. Both of these are obviously very graphic and are used more for brand recognition, because I feel like they are pretty memorable. Graphic logos establish the mood of your brand, in my opinion. And you mentioned kidrobot with their graphic logo. I agree that they use the kidrobot robot symbol the most, but they also have the simple type logo too. Each logo has a purpose and it adds versatility to your branding. However, don’t go crazy and have like 10 different logos, because that would create brand confusion rather than brand recognition.
Open your mind to several ideas and variations. When I came up with my logo, I had to go through several dozen iterations til I came up with ideas that I liked. Try just sketching out as many logos as you can, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find a gem in there be it type or graphic.
2. Yes, I am a one-man operation, but let me tell you, it’s not easy! It’s funny you mention that because I’m currently trying to find some employees to help out as well, but since I’m so attached to Lowdtown it’s difficult to find another person that I can trust it to. Since I’m the main designer, I’m not really searching for another designer, but probably the most important thing that I’m looking for is someone who understands the business side of things. Getting an accountant would probably be the most helpful, because I’m completely clueless when it comes to sorting my own taxes and figuring out how to efficiently use my money. I wish I had more time for marketing as well. If I had someone who can handle that side of the operation of promoting the brand and finding wholesalers, that would be extremely useful.
Thanks for the questions, I hope this helped!
Ray and the Move Monster
December 14th, 2009This is the project I’ve been working on for the past 2-3 weeks. It’s my final project for my 3d modeling class and the assignment was to make an alternative transportation system. Mine’s really unrealistic, of course.
Check it out!
Lowdtown Q&A: How to set-up artwork for print
December 14th, 2009Question:
Hi Ray. First off let me tell you how rad your clothing line is – really awesome! I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I do have a question and I figured you would be able to help through your experience.
What I’m real confused about is the printing method. I’m just about to have a real small launch and I don’t do ANY designs. I’ve hired an artist to do my designs, but if I’m not mistaken he has to do them a certain way for it to be able to be printed. So my first question is, What exactly are the guidelines I need to give to my artist.
My second question is once I get the artwork, What are the steps I have to take with my printer? Do I have to buy the brand of shirts I want myself and tell them the colors to print the shirts on? And should I go with a local printer or have it done online?
Thanks Ray for the info,
Jenny K. The Up-and-Comer : )
Answer:
Hey, glad you like my brand. Here is my advice; it probably varies from printer to printer, but from the 3-4 printers I’ve worked with in the past, this is the method I’ve used that usually works.
First of all, it depends if you’re working in Photoshop (raster) or Illustrator (vector). Vector’s are scalable to any size, so in the case of vector images, all you really have to do is specify the color and the size of the print on the shirt. I’ve learned that it’s always a good idea to show a mock-up image of a t-shirt so that the printer has a pretty good idea of how large the print should be.
In the case that it’s a raster image (ie. done in Photoshop), you would need to have the file of at least the size of your print (ie. 16″ x 24″ or whatever) and have it at 300dpi. The dpi is very important because if you don’t have it at 300, it’ll most likely come out blurry. 300dpi is usually for print and 72dpi is usually for web, so if you receive a file at 72dpi, tell your artist that it’s wrong!
If you have an experienced artist, he or she should probably separate the colors for you, but if it’s not separated, your printer should be able to handle it. In terms of colors, the best way to get the most accurate colors is by using a pantone color book. A pantone color book is a special book that most, if not all printers use that have the same exact color swatches. That way, even if the design’s colors may look different from monitor to monitor, if you have it properly labelled with the pantone number, there should be no mess ups.
It also varies from printer to printer if you need to buy the blank shirts or not, but I personally like buying the shirts myself. That way, you can buy samples to see which blank is the best for your brand. Also, some printers tend to mark up the price of the blank to get a cut of profit off of that, so you should be careful about that.
Local versus outsourcing is always a debate as well. I currently work with a local printer and I love it, because I get to see samples and stuff in person, and it cuts out the shipping cost as well. However, I’m pretty fortunate that I have a great printer nearby, but there may not be good local printers in your area. In the case of that, outsourcing to well accredited places would be ideal.
Hope that helps, thanks for your questions.
Lowdtown Holiday Sale – Shirts Marked Down
December 12th, 2009Lowdtown is having a holiday sale til the new year. All of the t-shirts are marked down from their original price, so it’s a great time to buy!
Go buy something: Lowdtown Store
Thanks!
