What inspired you to start designing tee shirts?
Dave: Seeing too many sports fans with not enough beer and too much paint and skin.
Tim:The creativity that both Dave and I have had to come out and it ended up on t-shirts. Plus we wanted to bring some originality to the table and do designs that no one had done before.
How long have you been in the industry?
Dave:25 plus years. We started with crayons and our parents best clothing.
Tim: Soge shirts started though in late 2007. We had a meeting at a park where I crashed Dave's family reunion and we decided that t-shirts were going to be the basis of our business.
What advice would you give someone just starting out?
Dave: Do as much research as possible, to find out what and how you want to run your business. Make your company a part of you, and a representation of the value you bring.
Tim: Also remember to think about your customer and target market for every facet of the t-shirt business. If you think like a customer you might get more sales.
What style has worked best for you as a designer?
Dave: The fun styles, wacky designs, and cool jokes, or puns. But we Love graphic tees, with sweet designs on them, and something written on the inside that you don't find out until 19 months down the road, when you finally wash it.
Where do you see your company in 5 years?
Dave: Answering more surveys, that we found in our spam folder. We get a lot of emails, so hard to sort through them all.
Tim: In five years we'd like to see people on the streets wearing our t-shirts wherever we go. Getting into major retail stores wouldn't suck either unless the economy gets worse in which case the stores would shut down.
What is your favorite design?
Dave: it's all fun and games till someone loses an eye. Probably because it's took so much from me to draw it. I had a little ring, that gave me inspiration, and it was hard to see.
Tim: My favorite is caution white boy dancing being an uncoordinated white guy and the kids meal t-shirt. The artwork Dave did on kids meal was incredible.
Who has been your biggest influence in your designs?
Dave: My biggest influence would be my childhood. We all had something wrong with our childhoods, and i decided to never stop growing and learning. (i also learned how to sneak out at night when i was 2 years old) I grab influence from everywhere i have been and everywhere i want to go. Family, friends, and random strangers. I've heard some funny, and wild stuff while standing on the street waiting to cross. The designs come by day dreaming about the idea, and then visualizing the worst way to draw it. (usually stick figures.) and the concepts just come. When i don't think too hard about a design, but start somewhere.. it just builds. I'll take 3-4 re-designs sometimes to get it how it should be.. and not always how i want it. They take on a life of their own sometimes.
What is your favorite design by another artist?
Dave: it's done by many companies, and because i have about 3 shirts with different designs.
"without me it's just aweso "
links to our three favorite t-shirts
Kids meal
It's all fun and games
Caution
Love the reply "We started with crayons and our parents best clothing."
ReplyDeleteYour poor parents!