I ordered shirts from AliExpress a few times, and every time I was shocked by how garbage the quality was. Either the print was crooked, the fabric felt like a joke, or the design was lazy and boring. Usually it was a random logo with a picture of a motorcycle slapped next to it.
So I told myself I should just make a shirt for myself. I have been a designer for over twenty years and had never once pointed that at my own passion. Connecting riding and design felt very exciting. I sat down, designed one, and printed it. I felt an instant connection to it.
Another one followed. And another. Mostly because I couldn't stop, and I did not really know what else to do with them. Then I thought, okay, maybe this is actually a brand.
Right as I started working on it, a big client project came in and pushed the shirts aside.
The itch came back. I designed another shirt, some of my friends saw it and asked if they could buy it. I told them no, and they looked at me like I was an idiot and asked why the hell not.
So I printed a few, and they went crazy for them. Then more friends started bothering me to make a shirt for a specific bike, or a shirt for their BMW.
I started designing more. It was very important to me that they would be high quality, but mostly that they would carry a message that is cynical and funny. By design, I wanted them to be special and weird. If it is not unique, why would I waste my time making boring shirts just to sell them?
The shirt itself matters as much as the line on it. I do not print on whatever is cheapest. I go through the blanks and pick the best t-shirts on the market, and that is what every design goes on. Nothing fancy. Just a shirt you will actually wear.
Then I stopped overthinking it. I built a website, opened a Shopify store, and started filling it up. Adventure motorcycle t-shirts, made by a rider, for the 95% of the time we don't ride. That is the whole thing.
It is still going. I still design most nights, with hundreds more crazy ideas on the way. Riders write in and ask for their bike. Sometimes I make it. Twenty years of building other people's brands. This one is mine.
The shirts are at advtees.com.
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