A New Line of Hive Promotional Clothing - Asking for Feedback from the Community
Photo modified from an image by The Ian on Unsplash
Introduction
I've had this idea for a while to make a clothing range promoting hive specifically through the amazing digital art that is created in many of the hive communities.
I learned my trade as a writer, and in fact, it is where I make the majority of my income ghostwriting for some large websites and companies. But my passion is creativity as an expression of the soul in all its forms- from fiction to poetry, music to digital art. These are the things that make my life worth living, and hive provides a platform for me to engage many of these passions and be rewarded for it!
I only recently learned how to make digital art by spending many days watching tutorials before joining the LMAC (let's make a collage) community in which I have won a few rounds.
But the other day when writing a post celebrating hive's second birthday and the launch of SPK network's Larynx miner token it suddenly hit me that some of my more impactful art could be used to catch the eye of people out on the street.
Imagine you're walking down your local high street and someone asks you where you bought that amazing hoodie from? And you answer - I bought it with hive cryptocurrency I earned from writing or playing Splinterlands, or vlogging etc.
Wouldn't that pique the interest of this person who has maybe only ever heard of Bitcoin and is influenced by the many negative mainstream press stories we see proliferating every few months.
Plans, Designs and Queries
So, I have been busy with planning this possible business venture, but I wanted to gauge the sentiment of the community and see if there is actually a market for various clothes with hive-inspired art that clearly promotes hive blockchain.
Eventually, I would like to have a range of 2-3 colours of t-shirts and hoodies with multiple eye-catching designs, but for now, I have spent some time this morning on photoshop manipulating a CC license stock image from pixabay to illustrate what my first hoodie might look like.
Initially, I would like to have white, black, and grey versions of these hoodies, and would probably change them all to include the text (and logo) on the back of the grey design above.
These hoodie designs are aimed at artists. I live in Liverpool in the UK, a city famed for its art and I have spoken to many artists who make little to no money from their work and advised them about hive and NFTs. But they are often reticent having heard too many scare stories, and they don't follow up on my advice.
I think a garment like this with the website clearly visible removes that word of mouth effect as people can just visit the site and make up their own minds.
Plan of Action & Request for Feedback
I shall wrap up this blog by saying I have already queried Printsome about an order for 100 of these hoodies just to get an idea of costs. Printsome is an industry leader in Direct to Garment (DTG) printing and has produced promotional garments for clients like Facebook and the Tate art gallery.
I will be getting busy over the next week designing digital art that promotes hive in different ways and to different subsets of content creators and shall be looking to add them to a line of hive clothing including both hoodies and t-shirts.
And it goes without saying that if/when I get a dedicated e-commerce website built you will be able to buy your brand new spanking hive hoodie or T-shirt with hive or HBD 😃
Please let me know what you think in the comments section. Would you buy a hoodie like this? Are there any suggestions for changes you have?
All feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
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Yeah I love the idea!
I had something like this on my list for a while (actually since the satoshi hunt at the time lol) and it always remained there as one of the future plans.
I would support this for Hive and also want to do something similar for CineTV when I moved to Spain.
I already planned on doing workshops about hive and want to target the cine lovers a bit more than others, so that I can start with t shirts with the cinetv tag lines as well as other things that they can take home after. The difference is that I would most likely do it locally (at first at least) and hire a local printshop for it and use t shirts instead. Cheaper and more suitable for the weather there haha.
!1UP for your awesome idea!
This is interesting as I am sure there probably are local t-shirt printers where I live so I will check that out. My biggest concern would be the quality of print where many colors are used... that is the only reason why I was looking at Direct to Garment (DTG) printing.
Thanks for the feedback :)
Yeah, if the quality would suck, I would skip it honestly :)
I really hate when a product isn't finished properly, it annoys me a lot when that happens.. It was more support your locals thing, which helps intergrating for sure, as well as people start talking. So at least it would be a good start to get the ball rolling there maybe already in the summer. But I first need to actually be there.
Meanwhile, I will follow the progress on this one!
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This is such a great idea! And I would love to have a Hive hoodie and/or t-shirt! The print on demand aspect helps a lot with regard to startup costs, and I can't wait to see all of your designs.
Your idea of having an intriguing design(s) to catch the eyes of artists and creatives is a good one, along with having the website on the shirt, because you know, introverts, lol!
This is something I need to explore more. I know Shopify do something like that but I'm not sure how much % they take from the bottom line. I'm not greedy, but at the same time, I need to make a living.
I guess I just need to query all these different companies and figure it all out while not compromising on quality, or outsourcing to places where workers are treated like slaves cause I'm not down with that regardless of profit margins. Absolutely no fckn sweatshops!
But I like your idea about
print on demandthank you for that feedback. I shall be making posts with new designs I come up with, and of course, once T's and Hoodies are available for sale I'll be promoting them on here like a madman 🤣Oh I so hear you there, it is so complex to traverse the I need to make a living pool while also upholding one's principles. As a consumer and creator I always am willing to pay a bit more for something that is ethically made, but I am also conscious of my budget and possess a frugal nature. Yay!
And I really know nothing about merch creation other than the stuff I've gleaned from a bit of research and that one time I did screenprinting in high school, lol! Mainly, I just wanted to throw out my support regarding your idea, and to say I would definitely by Hive merch!
That is awesome to hear, thanks. I better get busy over the next few weeks figuring it out how to make it happen 🙂
Great idea, @raj808. I love the idea of getting Hive swag. There is very little available and I think the hoodies would be well received. Good luck with it.
Thanks @beststart
Yes, I need to 'get on toes' (a bit of a British expression 😂) and actually get quotes, work out costings, and all that type of stuff. I'm not wired for business stuff so I find it hard but shall persevere because I think hive has really come alive the last year, and many people might like to buy these types of clothes.
Thanks again for the good luck and I'll keep my blog updated with any progress 🙂
That is a great idea! I would totally get a Hive hoodie, although I would prefer a plain one with the Hive logo only, just like the one you have on the cover of this post.
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That's great to hear @tokenizedsociety and thanks for that feedback. I think I need to have a good range of more simpler t-shirts and hoodies with just the logo and maybe the website on the back, and then more arty ones for those people who like that sort of thing.
It's time to get busy designing 🙂
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Hello @raj808,
Don't ask me about business or making money. Not my wheelhouse.
Years ago I started customized sport clothing enterprise with an associate. Our idea was pet themes. We drew the images and had them screen printed on shirts and pants. That didn't last long. I still have one of the shirts (30 years old!). So, good luck. Been there. Done that (badly). Marketing is your biggest challenge. I think you may be good at that. I was not :))
Lol, well you're not the only one tbh @agmoore it isn't my specialty but I can usually turn my hand to most things when I'm not ill, and I'm on an up at the moment not feeling too bad so thought I'd see if I can get something together that could make me some ££.
We shall see, even if the clothing line doesn't come off I will have lots of cool designs to use in different ways. Maybe selling them to the different tribes or using them in Hive focused LMAC entries 🙂
There's always a silver lining.
Interesting to hear about your experiences in a similar venture, thank you for the feedback 🙂
I actually liked having my own (corny) customs clothes. It was fun. But I am as likely to give product away as sell it, so profit was not in the offing. I stopped mostly because of government paperwork. Tax forms got under my skin. Wasn't worth the effort and risk of falling afoul of notorious NYS business/tax laws.
This may be fun for you. Let us know how things progress.
Cool design! Just a suggestion, can add the username on the hoodie
It would be possible, but only if I went with a print-on-demand service where you can order 1-100 bespoke designed garments. I know Shopify does a print-on-demand service but I'm not sure how much % they take from the bottom line. I'm not greedy, but at the same time, I need to make a decent profit if I'm going to put a lot of design time into this project.
I will keep you updated through @joannewong
If I get a supplier set up who will add extra text (such as a username) I'll certainly build it into my business model and make it an option on whatever web portal I go with 🙂