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Posted by:

jmanley

Date:

February 23rd, 2009 12:50 PM

Header:

Who Knew T-Shirts Were Such a Big Deal?

Bulletin:

Everybody who watches the scene kind of knows that t-shirts are a big deal in the webcomics world. And I guess I knew that a lot of indie rock bands sold t-shirts out of the back of their vans. We've all seen Threadless. And CafePress. And etc. Like "everybody," I thought I was pretty hip to the scene. What I didn't realize, until I started doing research in preparation for the launch of the ComicSpace Store beta, was just how many businesses there are out there specializing in hip, snarky, graphically-intense, indie t-shirts. There are even blogs that cover the latest designs and interview the hottest designers -- just like, here in webcomics, we have Fleen or whatever. So far, I haven't discovered any crossover between the two crowds -- no mention of Rich Stevens or [url ="http://www.topatoco.com"]TopatoCo[/url] on the t-shirt blogs; no mention of Emptees or Cottonable on the webcomic sites. Maybe there has been some cross-pollination and I missed it. I dunno. I'm new to the t-shirt party. I'm looking forward to learning more, though. Expect me to start linking more and more posts from the t-shirt blogs and such over the next few weeks, because that's where my head will be as we work through the ComicSpace Store beta.

Meanwhile, the beta is going well. Evil by Shaenon Garrity and Evergreen by James Kochalka seem to be the runaway hits. We know we need to add more kinds of t-shirt "blanks" (babydolls, kids' sizes, maybe hoodies). We know we need to add more designs, by more artists. We know we need better pictures of people wearing the shirts. But beyond those obvious things, I'd love to hear any other feedback you guys might have about how we could improve the store. Use the comments! They seem to be working! For now! Ha!

Also, a quick correction. It seems that TopatoCo has been fronting the money for merch for about a year now -- which is the same model we're employing here at the ComicSpace store. I implied that we were the first to do that last week in my announcement, and I apologize to the fine folks at Topatoco for the inaccuracy. In my defense, they've been quiet about it -- which reflects well on them, I think. Webcomics has a lot of talkers. TopatoCo are doers. Good on them.

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