Cameesa - The Blog

We decided to ask some friends like Demographic, AssaultShirts, as well as ourselves a magical question that may be handy for Tee Printers:

As a t-shirt company, what do you value most?

Speaking with John and Shane from Demographic (wareyoufitin.com) they gladly answered our questions.

Demographic is run and operated by graphic designers, so like most, we have high expectations when it comes to detail and quality. In a printer, first and foremost, we look for someone who is a true craftsman and is willing to push the boundaries on the production end. Collaboration and communication are also very important. If a printer isn’t passionate enough to present some of his/her own ideas to a certain challenge or isn’t willing to involve us in the production process, then they’re probably not going to be the right fit for us. Price is also very important. Being a start-up, we’re always looking for the best way to create quality products as inexpensively as possible. Having said that, quality still comes first. We could cut corners, but we ultimately choose to create superior products and take less of a profit.

Currently, we’re doing most of our printing with Tattooed Tees – a small design/printing company in Wicker Park that happens to have a few graphic-t lines of its own (tattooedtees.com). Since graphic design is also in their background, you could say we speak the same language. They are very passionate about their business and are great to interact with. Their niche is specialty printing techniques like vinyl, foils and oversize prints, so they’re always up for helping us push the design envelope Tattooed Tees is not the most inexpensive printer out there and they’re not really equipped for large print runs (5,000+) that demand a quick turn-around time. That said, depending on your needs, those could be considered negatives. Thus far, it’s been an ideal match for us.

In addition, we spoke with Tim and Craig from AssaultShirts (assaultshirts.com) and they added further to our conversation.

As a Tee company we look for Skills, Reliability, Quality, Availability, Experience, and Price.  We went through about 10 possible candidates for printers and none could print a good portion of our shirts. The ones that could print our shirts quoted us at nearly 11-12 dollars per shirt. The other problem we have run into with other printers was that they weren’t as readily available to us as we had wanted, and sometimes they are completely unreachable which is unacceptable when you have 25 pre-orders out for new shirts.

We still do all of our printing with the same print company, Merchspin.  We believe we have found as close to a perfect match as we can with Merchspin, and we’ve always pimped them whenever we got the chance because they have the best prices, and nine times out of ten they get our product delivered on the date estimated or earlier. They’re not perfect, but they’re as close as you can get in the printing industry.

Finally, Cameesa put our heads together and came up with a few answers ourselves.

We believe that quality is the most important factor when it comes to our printers.  They should provide us with a product that they have mocked out, as to where we are happy and the supporters are happy.  Unfortunately, we have had a few horror stories where the wrong colors have come in on tees.  These are probably the worst scenarios imaginable.

In addition to quality we feel that responsiveness is a huge factor.  We want to hear back from our printers that everything is working out as expected and that we are on schedule.

One tough issue with Cameesa is that Supporters already have to wait a long time to receive their Tees, so responsiveness for our printer is crucial.

Last but not least, as John mentioned, being a start-up, we try to get a great price for the Tees.  We have recently been trying to find the most cost-effective ways to get things done around Cameesa, without suffering in quality.

The biggest lesson learned is that as time goes by, we know that we are progressing because people continue to support us from every angle imaginable.  There are surely mistakes that we have made, but we try our hardest to correct them, and as long as the communication is clear between us and our printers, AND OUR SUPPORTERS, then we are in the clear.

Loud Splash by Carolina Molina

Females are always requesting more female designs on Cameesa. They want to see designs that are more appealing to themselves, and their taste in clothing.

We got a chance to interview Carolina Molina (aka Cmolina) from The Dominican Republic, a female artist who answers many questions that we have had from day 1. Carolina is a great artist with designs that literally scream out at you.

Could you please give us a window into your background, and personal life?

I come from the a little island called Dominican Republic, though most of the time I think I come from LALA Land. Ive been painting since I was 7 years old, and I just loved colouring and making things from scratch. I love all forms of art, music, theatre, plastic, you name it, I probably love it.

I think of myself as unique, just like everyone else. My native language is Spanish, though Ive been speaking English since I was four. I attended a private British school owned by the sugar factor in my town. I moved to the United States when I was 18 yrs old and stayed there for about a year and half. I try to go as often as I can, at least once a year, though I plan to move there in a year or so.

Describe your typical day.

Carolina Molina

I wouldn’t say typical day, because I create at night. Basically I’m like Superman, I live a normal life during the day and create t-shirts by night. Unfortunately I cant fly, working on it though. I sleep three or four hours a day, and work during the morning and design at night.

Where else can we find your artwork, other sites, stores etc.?

Well I am working on a project right now called Unique 909, and you can find it in zazzle. There is not much to look at right now, but soon I will post many designs Ive been working on. I guess I want to post them all at once. In addition, I have started a new group on MySpace, called Tees and T-shirts. Come by and check it out.

How did you get into design, and what do you like most about it?

I haven’t been designing t-shirts for very long, but design has always been part of my life. I started designing t-shirts for 5th and Ocean in Dominican Republic. And found out it was something I wanted to do, and I learnt as much as I could about the printing process, and all of that good stuff. They were not too creative, or aloud us to have a voice in the designs so I quit and decided to fly solo.

Favorites

Carolina’s Inspiration, her backyard

TV show: When it comes to TV, I watch whatever is on…I love TV.

Magazine: I don’t really read magazines, I rather read blogs, and I read many different ones, not one in particular.

Artist: Ha. These are my favourite questions. Let me say Jason Mraz is playing wildly in my ipod, I usually play it when am designing, that and The Doors.

Favorite course in school: In school I loved math, yes I did, I still do.

About 10% of our artists are female, do you encounter any challenges being a female artist? If so, what are they and how have you overcome them?

I think the biggest difference is that although a lot of girls wear t-shirts, they don’t wear them as often as guys, so the main audience people want to target are guys. Guys don’t want to wear flower and cute designs, so some girls might find it hard to create designs guys will like.

So far I haven’t encounter that problem because I started by making t-shirts with slogans instead of designs, and I take pride in being a tom-boy, so thinking about phrases that dudes would like on t-shirts was not hard.

We have had numerous requests for more girly designs on Cameesa, do you think of this when designing or do you just go with what your hear tells you?

It is possible to make designs that girls and guys could both wear. If you mean butterflies and flowers on a t-shirt, then that might be challenging. I think of things I want to say, or wish I could say, or moods I am in. Its nice to have t-shirts that represent the mood you’re in or that says something about you.

Carolina’s Workplace

In your opinion, what is the difference between a male and female artist? What is the difference in their art?

See, Ive seen a lot of t-shirts designed by girls that you would not imagine it came from a girl, or the concept that girls like girly things. Maybe not too many female artists are recognized, but people assume they are guys because they don’t see rainbows and unicorns. Not that there is anything wrong with unicorns, I like them.

How did you find Cameesa?

I came across Camessa in the Pop culture t-shirt blog.

Being a new Artist on Cameesa, what advice do you for other artists out there?

I remember reading the comments on the first t-shirt and using it as fuel for my next design. The first one might not be the one, or maybe the 20th, but if you read the comments you will be able to produce better designs.

Cameesa is a site were the comments are usually constructive, not destructive. They will always find a thing you did right and point out what can be improved. So don’t give up!

What are you most proud of?

Im proud of being a free spirit, it takes a long time to able disconnect from the real world.

What is your advice in Life?

Everything comes on its own time, no need to rush.

Her by Cmolina

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Thank you very much for you great insight Carolina, we look forward to seeing more of your art very soon.

We spend so much time in the Cameesa world interacting with different types of people every day. Every once in a while, we come across a person that is extremely devoted to Cameesa and its success. You can probably find this person in the forums, leaving design comments, and interacting with everyone in the community.

Today, I would like to introduce you to a Cameesa Artist, Daniel Newman, also known as Quakerninja. Daniel is a talented artist that has submitted many great designs to Cameesa, one of which was printed - Aubyn Beth. He has a passion for art and design, and has been a great help in building our Cameesa community. You can check out his blog at Quakerninja.com or support his newest design, Pink Gorilla. Without further adieu, I give you Quakerninja (what does Quakerninja mean anyways?)

Who is Daniel Newman?

I am a 29 year old maker of doodles based in Newberg, Oregon.  I’m just an average Joe that has an ever growing love for drawing. I’m a rather indecisive, and shy guy in person sometimes, maybe. I would say that I am a very visual thinker, so for me I see the world in shades, lines, colors, and shapes. I enjoy nature, the changing of the seasons, classical music, and a good old book. And The Arts of course, all of them.

I studied both the preforming arts, and visual arts in High School and college, with hopes of becoming an actor. Actors don’t work from home that often, so the fine art won out in the end, but I wouldn’t turn down a script should the situation ever present itself. This “Want to do it all” approach is the real driving force behind what I do artistically. I would hate to think of what I might be missing.

How did you get into design, and what do you like most about it?

I could talk for days on this topic. I have been making artistic expressions in one way or another ever since I was a kid. Some of them ended up looking good enough to frame.

Here is a watercolor I did in the 8th grade, I was 13 at the time. It’s one of the oldest examples of art I still have, that’s not in an attic somewhere. For me, what makes a style work is the most interesting part. The technique, what type of lines to use, the values and shades Colors and so on. The bones of the artwork. I would say most of what I have learned by drawing is a result of trying new things and lucky guesses in regards to what goes where on the paper or screen.

I rarely use a pencil sketch, I will go right at it with a pen or stylus. I frequently use reference photos, or in some cases for people drawing, I will use Poser 3d reference models. To answer the question, I only really got into art professionally in the past year or so. I got a Wacom Bamboo Fun Graphics Tablet for my birthday, and never put it down. I am actually holding my stylus as I type these words.

I got into tee shirts be accident really, I was new to digital art and looking for some stuff to use, and came across the Go Media Arsenal Vector packs. I played with that a bit and was looking for a place to show off my new skills and came across Emptees. That lead to a lot of great people and opportunities including being invited to be a beta tester for Cameesa.

Who has inspired you and why, in both life and design?

My mom is also an artist, so she is my biggest fan and inspiration. If I were to list all the people it would reach the moon. I think there is no such thing as bad art, just underdeveloped or untapped potential. It doesn’t take a genius to know what looks good. I think everyone has some hidden artist inside. Or at least a need or want to express something in some way, words drawing songs whatever it is.

What do you enjoy doing on your free time, other than designing?

I know it may sound strange but I really do draw all the time. From when I wake up to when I go to bed.  The first thing I do is get on my computer and open up Adobe Illustrator and just make some squiggles and go from there.  The only other then designing thing I do is the occasional trip to the Oregon Coast with my family, or camping with friends.

Favorites?

Book: The collected works of Edgar Allen Poe. It’s a big book, I’m still working on it.

Movie: Trainspotting. One of the few movies I can watch over and over and enjoy every time.

Song: November Rain. Guns N’ Roses (Ironically also my least listened to song. I don’t want to spoil it you know)

Magazine: Cosmo Those quizzes crack me up.

Band: Aubyn Beth (http://myspace.com/aubynbeth) of course.

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