Harrrooooooooooow!

Monthly update time!

Haven't been doing too many shirts, just one or two here and there. Made up some Le Freedom and Livin' Large shirts this weekend. I had planned to try out the white ink on a number of shirts and see how it turns out.

Well it doesn't turn out too great. The first shirt (the essential 'test' shirt, so I don't screw one up I'm making for someone in particular) turned out fine. It wasn't until I was getting ready to do the second one that I noticed the problem. Well no, that's not quite true. When I first pulled the lid off the white ink, I noticed the consistency wasn't the same. It was thicker, more viscous. Closer than ice cream than to the pudding that the black ink is like. I figured, different ink, we'll just try it and see how it works. Anyway, as I start the second shirt, I go to wipe the screen down, and most of the white ink leftover was already starting to harden. This is about 2 minutes after I started the first shirt, the usual timing I'm on. The black ink doesn't do this.

I'm still waiting to see if the white ink has ruined the screen it's on or if it'll wipe off. Apologies to Mat, your shirts won't be done until I figure this problem out.

Marketing Pic

Finished up a couple of shirts this weekend. Arranged them and took a picture of them. Here it is:

Status

Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea and think that things aren't progressing. Things have been hectic at work (ie. I actually have work to do at work), so I haven't been putting foot to concrete on the t-shirts as much as I could have been.

In terms of progression, the shirts are coming along. There are now screens made for the Livin' Large and Love Parade designs. I inked up a bunch of Livin' Large shirts on the weekend, as well as some more Le Freedom shirts. In total I did about 12 shirts and I didn't screw a single one of 'em up, so things are getting better. I can still see some areas in the process that could be tweaked for improvements to efficiency, but those will have to wait for better facilities that are not my living room.

In overall news, I'm looking at incorporating the company or registering it as a trade name. Not sure which route I'll be taking with it at the moment, so there's a decision to be made there. Obviously I'll post something when I do decide.

There's still some updating to do with the website as well. There's display issues for people. I'd like some feedback if the website looks screwy when you go to it. Let me know what's happening (provide a screen shot if possible).

Still pursuing a shirt supplier. Lots of people have suggested organic t-shirts. Only one person has actually referred me to a website though (the MEC website). My only problem there is the limited colour selection (at least for online ordering). This weekend I want to go out and grab a couple and see how they print out and subsequently wash. My goal is to try American Apparel and MEC shirts.

So there. That is where Sukduk is at right now. Hopefully next week it'll be even further. I'm really hoping we'll be able to print some bowling shirts before my birthday.

The Website

After a couple days of work (including a number of hours of learning and relearning how to use Flash and Dreamweaver), Sukduk now officially has a website up and running.

www.sukduk.ca

Mat again worked out the design on this. All I did was put it together.

The First Shirt

For your viewing pleasure:


That's right. The first shirt is done. It was completed at 1:30 am on January 9th. I have an overwhelming sense of accomplishment on this, no joke. I feel like I completed something that a lot of people didn't think I'd take this far.

And it's only the beginning. Let the orders commence. Let the games begin.

As a bonus, here's a pic of how the screen for this shirt turned out:


I put the image on the top half of that screen, and the bottom half was supposed to be the Sukduk logo, but there was an unfortunate issue with the terrible emulsion I was using. I'll be making a trip to the store to get some better supplies for the future shirts.

Progress

Christmas break is over, but over that time I was able to finish the light box. I also had time to botch the first screen. I put too much emulsion on it. Oh well, a learning curve was expected. Luckily for me, Fat Mat has been able to track down a supplier here in town, and with any luck I'll be able to get a screen made up very soon. And then production begins. I know I've got around 30 people that have expressed interest in the first design, but obviously I don't remember all of the names and people. I also don't expect that all of them really want one done. Cost analysis has yet to be completed, which means a price has not been set. I imagine I'll throw down a decent discount to anyone who supplies the shirt themselves (saving me the headache of choosing the wrong size/material for people).

I'll leave you with a picture of the light box: