The top selling designs at Spreadshirt.com in the past few months has been a design from Spreadshirt shop partner Amorphia Apparel. Amorphia Apparel has also received lots of press and blog attention for their great t-shirt designs. All of this is the work of Jeremy Kalgreen, founder and proprietor of Amorpia Apparel. So we thought it was time for an interview. I called Jeremy up to talk shop. When I asked for a photo Jeremy sent me this awesome Spreadshirt-esque self portrait (I think it would make a great t-shirt design too). I really enjoyed talking with Jeremy. Here is what I learned about the man behind the t-shirts…
The History - A New Skill Every Summer
Jeremy told me that he didn’t start with the intention of creating a t-shirt business. He just wanted to learn a new skill. Each summer he decided to learn something new - so he taught himself to screen print and designed t-shirts just to wear himself. Screen printing is hard work, so Jeremy started to look for a printer and that is when he found Spreadshirt and he was happy with the selection and print quality that we offer. Then he needed to make some money so he turned on the shop feature of Spreadshirt and that is how it all started.
Amorphia Today
What started as 1 t-shirt shop has grown into 3 successful shops. After success with Amorphia Apparel, Jeremy decided to set up a shop dedicated to science - thus WearScience was born. He also has a shop called Teach the Controversy. Jeremy wanted to try out a shop that was focused on one theme rather than an assortment of t-shirt designs. So far, so good as the science designs have been very popular.
Jeremy’s Favorite T-shirt
“I can’t really choose, but perhaps today I think Ill have to go with Roach Celebration”
So you must have been a Scientist?
Nope. He just liked the science idea. The science design came together and “it just worked.” A lot of other people have liked the science idea too.
How long does it take to design a t-shirt?
Jeremy says the idea percolates for a while, once he has a grasp on the design he estimates it takes about an hour and half to create the vector and another hour and half to add it to the website.
Advice for Spreadshirt Users
Jeremy suggested that if you want to sell t-shirts you should stick to shirts you would wear. Jeremy recommend that you avoid designing for trends and what you think is popular. His advice is to design things that you would like to wear and then find those niche groups that would also like your shirts. When he was getting started he would post his shirts on MySpace to groups that he thought would appreciate the designs. Jeremy credits Spreadshirt’s flexibility for helping him start his business. On the advantages of print-on-demand - “Spreadshirt gives you the freedom to experiment” and “There is no real cost to just trying things out.” Jeremy commented that Spreadshirt allows you to “learn as you go” rather than having to know all the rules ahead of time which has made it easy for him to get into the t-shirt business. As for pricing - Jeremy says he likes to keep prices as low as he can rationalize and that $15 seems like a fair price for a t-shirt.
Famous T-shirts Sightings
Jeremy has sent his t-shirts to the author Harlan Ellison and he created a design at the request of a band to wear at the SXSW music festival. Marta from Gnooze is wearing an Amorphia Apparel t-shirt in this video.
Happy Birthday Spreadshirt Blog. I was so busy blogging that I almost forgot about the blogs’ birthday! August 22 is the anniversary of the Spreadshirt blog. 2 years and 814 posts later I still love blogging about t-shirts. Back in July of 2006 someone left a comment on my blog about this company Spreadshirt. I was happy to find a better place to sell t-shirts and I never thought it would lead to all of the fun and learning. I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing about t-shirts, Spreadshirt and just fun things on the internet. As always I welcome your feedback - please let me know what you would like to see more of on the blog.
