This is our take on the iconic I love NY symbol. We deviated from the classic I Heart style and used a new concept, the arrondissements in Paris (don’t think it’s been done), to give it a fresh look. We hope the women who adore Paris will love this T-shirt.
We expect to roll out this idea to the other arrondissements - 4e, 11e and 14e for Men, and 1er, 8e and 9e for Women - in the following months. I think we’ll use the slang Je kiffe instead of J’M for the Men’s Tees as it sounds a bit effeminate.
Just a reminder that all our T-shirts will be printed on a limited basis. Not sure what the actual figure will be, but the goal is to reduce the possibility of seeing someone else wearing the same Tee. Eventually, I’d like our system to cap the sales of a particular T-shirt by city (taking into account the population).
No particular revolution in mind. We just think this gritty design would look nice on a men’s T-shirt. Unlike our other series, this one was solely the brainchild of Uruguay-based designer G. Martino.
A smaller version of Tokyo’s Shibuya, Ximen (pronounced shee-men) is a popular spot for les djeun’s of Taipei. This is where they go to shop and play – namely KTV, arcades and movies – during the little free time they have. Since most have classes until 9pm, Ximen’s relatively quiet on a weekday, but bustling at night and weekends.
I spent another Christmas away from home. Last year, a friend and I hosted dinner for 15 in Paris. This year, I spent Christmas Eve, known as 24 December in Taiwan, with J and her friends.
Things were less hectic this time. We had our December 24th dinner at an organic restaurant near Shi-Da (NTNU) and then hung out at a friend’s place nearby for a 100 NT ($3) gift exchange and karaoke.
In Taipei, 100 NT was enough to buy a music CD, colourful slippers, a coin pouch, and other cheap stuff we found at the night market. In London, just taking the tube to go shopping and back would break the budget.
After a few hiccups, we should be on schedule this time to launch the site on January 22nd or 29th.
Here’s the rundown:
- Logo: done
- Store engine: 99% complete and functioning
- Printer: sticking with current one (the Ts passed the washing test)
- Fulfilment: same as printer
- Collection: 4 done, 2 more to design
Happy Holidays everyone.
ps: wonder if someone did a Santa’s not real T-shirt… yup, found one.
We went with the top one, a much improved version of an earlier design. The lettering is based on the Frutiger font, and the logo is an S formed by two Ls sitting face to face. Clean and simple - the way I like it.
Energised, our first Men’s Tshirt, doesn’t need further explanation. I’m dedicating it to a buddy who used to go out 3-5 times a week in Tokyo until 8am. Illustration work was done by David Goldklang.
We also considered alternating the energy can with a vodka bottle. But we’d be sending the wrong message - drinking booze is cool. No, it’s the Tshirt that’s cool.
On my quick stop in London last week, I was finally able to pick up the T-shirt samples we ordered a while back.
The print quality looks very good. I still have to wash them several times to see if the print peels off and if the fabric shrinks.
We’ll most likely drop this T-shirt as the slogan is not that catchy after all. Besides, we have 3 others that I think our female customers would prefer to buy.
One that I really like is our reponse to the obsession with Size-0 figures - Size N. I’ll elaborate more when we print the T-shirt.
Now I know how Australians in the UK feel when they fly back home. I spent practically the past few days traveling, 40 hours to be exact, jumping between 3 countinents, 5 cities and 6 airports.
I’m spending a month in Asia for work and holidays, starting from Taiwan and then working my way back to Europe with stops in Japan, Hong Kong and possibly Singapore. The plan afterwards is to move to Madrid for a month and then assess the situation in February.
Traveling this much can get quite expensive. But interestingly, it’s actually cheaper for me to move around than to stay in London. Although I haven’t been to Oslo yet, London is definitely tops on my list as the world’s most expensive city.
