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MiNGLED · September 19th, 2007

When I started I decided to brand my t-shirts but in a subtle way. The design is always the focus, front and centre (usually) with the branding as small as I can make it on the back. This isn't for brand awareness, very few people yet know of the name, but just a subtle reminder for the buyer as to where, amoungst the many online stores, it was bought from. Plus as truemeaning said, it's there for anyone who asks.

donsopranojatt · September 30th, 2007

Timbaland wore a shirt that said "Blackpool Bombers" and had some dragon on it. I wanted to know who made it cause it looked cool so I googled "Blackpool Bombers" and found who made it and were to buy there clothes...they are called salvage clothing

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i also saw the t-shirt and was impressed could you please send me a link on were to purchase the shirt as i had no luck in googling the search thanks

truemeaning · October 1st, 2007

Salvage Clothing made the blackpool bombers shirt he wore...........u can google them but u r gonna have to dig through all there stuff to find it..........I found it once on a different site and now I can't find it again..........

zagadka · October 4th, 2007

If you're going the way of graphics and not text, I would stay away from putting your name on it.

You kind of have to ask yourself- "What do I want to be known for?"...do you want to be recognized for content, or really sweet typefaces? Either one can be done in a thoughtful, artful way, but its just a matter of opinion.

I personally prefer design over text.

Ilona · March 14th, 2008

hey man. just starting out myself but i want to put my 2 cents in. i think it all depends on whether u have some sort of urban fan base and perhaps if you could get just one "right" person to wear it . is there a chance that someone on tv will see it? otherwise it's iffy. it also depends on the quality of your shirt and like rodney mentioned how much you plan to spend on advertising. wish you luck.

lordpyro · May 1st, 2008

I think the answer is both!

remember that Branding is a noun (concept)and a verb(action)...yes, nobody will buy it if they don't know who you are - UNLESS the logo is in a cool design...

you have to build a brand - that is what branding is about...you are building a base of people who will know your desings, your quality , your customer service, etc...until you are Timbaland, you have to build a bit slower..if you dont have the cash, you arent stopped! There are plenty of things you can do to market yourself and steadily build a fan base - even if its by word of mouth...think about it this way - Timbaland branded himself!!! No one knew who he was until he became a superstar producer, and now he is at the point that you just say Timbaland...

if you don't brand, then NOBODY will know who you are..and you are branding all of the time whether you know it or not...if one person knows who you are and your compnay you are branded so to speak...next the issue is about volume..and then you will get to the place where people will buy yourstuff because of who you are...

DirectSupply · May 2nd, 2008

I agree and also think its important to incorporate your brand logo or name in the design.

For example, let say your graphic designs are skulls, how would the consumer know to differentiate your brand from other brands that have skull graphics.

Your designs may be completely unique but if you are starting out and don't have extensive marketing $ there is no way for the consumer to connect your brand to the shirt.

If the consumer sees a logo or your brand name or even a brand slogan incorporated in the design of the shirt, they are able to associate the brand with the design. Which in return increases your brand recognition.

Later on when the brand grows, you can expand to selling anything and everything with just your brand name or logo on it , ie: those A&F shirts mentioned earlier.

Rod

highstyleinc · May 2nd, 2008

If you are working the name into a design as others have said, it would be fine.

There are several ways to use branding in your products as a start up.

As a start up company, you defintely don't want to just print your name and logo on shirts unless you are selling a specific product line. For example under shirts or underwear, you may want to use a small tag or print of your logo somewhere on the product.

Branding should be a part of every product. It dosen't necessarily have to be your full name printed on a shirt for someone to notice. It could be a design that you add your monogram to somewhere on the same spot of each product.

It's ok to get inspiration from well known brands, but think of a unique way of branding.

Did I totally get off topic? Sorry

xbrandon408x · July 9th, 2008

yea the only time iv been successful with just putting my name on my shirt was at school that was my first shirt i branded it very very well and was know as the shirt guy haha and practically the whole school was wearing my shirts i would just come out with different colors and they would buy them haha i only had one design at the time the school even wrote an article on me.

But now since its summer time that aproch doesn't seem to work so well outside of school you deff. need to get unique designs with your name to get people to buy.

yellowguy · July 13th, 2008

In all of my shirts I heat transfer a tag that has my name and logo on it along with my website and a phone number. You don't have to put your logo on every shirt you make on the outside... but, if you want why not try putting a little logo with your name on the bottom of the arm of the shirt. A lot of established brands do this.

MiNGLED · July 14th, 2008

Seeing as how I use Spreadshirt to create my T-shirts, every additional graphic added adds to the base cost. Previously I had a small company logo on the reverse of every T-shirt but have recently decided to drop to logo and pass the cost saving (around $2) onto the customer. Branding is important but I'm not sure it's worth the potential loss of sales at this stage of the game.

yellowguy · July 14th, 2008

You know how they say you have to spend money to make money... I also give away free stickers with every shirt sale with my logo and website on it. Your customers are going to be your best advertising - so if you think about it that way... you're not really losing money, you're spending it on advertising.

Louie_J · July 14th, 2008

Here's my thing....
On a "stock" designs... I put my logo and URL (approx 2"x3") on the back, centered, by the base of the neck. It's there for advertising but not too obnoxious looking.

I'm working on a bunch of "stock" tribal designs and was also thinking of a "tramp stamp"-like logo to put at the bottom center of the back of the shirt.