_ email sent
Iv been a big fan of the brand Abandon Ship Apparel since they early days and still to this day. I have many of they t shirts along with other items.
I have contacted them them to ask how they go about selecting the image they decide to print. In recent months the company has switch to designing the artwork themselves so thought i would try find out the process they use.
Hi Sam,
Thank you so much for the email and the kind words. I am really happy to hear you like our No Human is Illegal shirt.
Thanks for the question, to be honest I may be a little different from a lot of illustrators when it comes to deciding if something is good enough for our collection.
Prior to Abandon Ship I worked in clothing retail for almost a decade and built a fairly comprehensive understanding of commercial reports and essentially what sells on the shop floor. When items arrived in store I could usually tell what would be a best seller and what wouldn't sell. I brought this knowledge to the brand when I started it.
I coupled this with my love of art and design concepts and just designing or commissioning ideas that I loved.
The two aspects combine to give me a strong overview of how designs that I like enough to finish (most stay unfinished) will do commercially.
There are of course exceptions to the rule. Designs I think will do amazing that tank or designs that I love so much I don't care about if they will do well commercially, I just want to release them for fun.
What I have found more and more recently is that the designs that mean something personally to me or that come easy to me, rather than the long winded stylised designs, actually do better. People relate to real messages and will forgive or not see the small mistakes that I used to beat myself up about as long as the message is clear and the design works.
I hope that helps!
Thanks
--
Richard Davies
Managing Director
Abandon Ship Apparel
