| Graphic tees area hot product, but they're | | | | and improve it slightly. Adding a modern twist to a |
| treacherously difficult to sell effectively. For every | | | | classic design, portraying a popular figure, or mocking |
| great idea, there may be a dozen competitors | | | | a well-known trend are all good ways to stand out |
| already offering similar shirts -- and for every original | | | | while relating to previous efforts. It can be hard to |
| idea, there's a skeptical market eager to turn it down | | | | find the line between an homage and a knockoff, but |
| for either a) being too ironically self-referential, or b) | | | | there's a simple rule of thumb: |
| betraying the cause of ironic self-reference. Here's a | | | | Four: Make something you'd actually wear. Better yet, |
| simple checklist for avoiding these pitfalls: | | | | make the shirt you wish they were already making. |
| One: Pick a design with your buyer in mind. There's | | | | Chances are, you're not the only one who wants it -- |
| nothing worse than a product desperate for a | | | | or if you are, you won't be the only one to see the |
| customer. In technological fields, this can work | | | | appeal. Too many designers of graphic tees are |
| because the product makes new things possible, and | | | | satisfied with a design that's merely something they |
| customers will show up to do them. But with graphic | | | | think someone else might like to own. But if you can |
| tees, you should think of your prototypical users | | | | make the kind of graphic tees you wish you could |
| before you imagine exactly what you're selling them. | | | | buy, you're not likely to be your last customer. |
| Two: Sell where they live. Your ideal customer is | | | | Five: Remember that no trend lasts forever. As |
| drastically overpaying for a dingy apartment in | | | | popular as graphic tees are now, they will some day |
| Williamsburg or Berkeley, so you can't take this too | | | | be supplanted by other forms of expression. People |
| literally. But there's one place where real estate is | | | | may decide that they're tacky, or that they're too |
| almost unlimited and basically free: you need to find a | | | | expensive, or may come up with some completely |
| way to get your customers to look for your graphic | | | | new justification for wanting to wear something else. |
| tees online. The most effective way is with an | | | | Fortunately, good design is forever. If you follow |
| inviting, well-designed website, and some | | | | these tips, you'll be able to come up with designs |
| search-engine aware marketing strategies. | | | | that can make the jump from graphic tees to |
| Three: Do the same thing, differently. The only | | | | another medium -- and in business, especially fashion, |
| certain way to sell graphic tees that will appeal to | | | | the most important thing is to live to sell another day. |
| your customers is to find something they already like, | | | | |