Ello Teams Up with Threadless to Highlight Work of Established and Up-and-Coming Artists

Ello.co is a simple, ad-free social network created by a small group of artists and designers. It was originally conceived as a private social network where people could be who they want to be and connect with people they love without getting bombarded by boosted posts, data mining, and ad salesmen. But a public version of Ello has recently been built for everyone to use. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Ello has vowed to never serve ads or sell user data to make money. (A Benefit Corporation is a new kind of for-profit company in the USA that exists to produce a benefit for society as a whole — not just to make money for its investors.)

Ello recently teamed up with the Threadless design community and e-commerce site to sell t-shirts featuring the Ello logo reimagined by independent artists.

ThreadlessElloDesignThe first T-shirt in the collection was created by Chicago-based artist Chuck Anderson (aka NoPattern), a fine artist, illustrator and photographer, also well known for his commercial work. He reimagined the Ello logo with a multi-color, drip-like background. The Ello x Threadless store will also offer black-and-white T-shirts with the original Ello logo for $25.

Anderson will curate the entire Ello x Threadless collection and work with established as well as up-and-coming artists to highlight their unique work.

“What’s truly special about us teaming up with Ello is the incredible commitment to supporting the arts,” noted Jake Nickell, founder and CEO of Threadless. “Both of our companies are rooted in creativity, and together we’re making art accessible to a wider audience.”

The Ello x Threadless online store will release a new limited-edition artist-designed Ello t-shirt bimonthly. An online timer will countdown to the next available design which will appear on the first and fifteenth day of each month. Once a design has been replaced, it will not be available again.

“Ello is about freedom − freedom from advertising, freedom to be who you want to be, and freedom to create. Working with brilliant artists like Chuck is a way we support Ello’s creative community,” said Paul Budnitz, co-founder and CEO of Ello.

“When Ello and Threadless approached me about curating their t-shirt collection, I couldn’t wait to begin our collaboration,” said Anderson. “This project stands out as it allows me to engage with new and established artists and be part of their creative journey.”ThreadlessLOGO

Threadless is a creative community that makes, supports, and buys art. Thousands of people worldwide submit their designs online. Then, the community picks their favorites, which get made into t-shirts, bags, wall art, and more. When you buy from Threadless, you directly support the artist who created the design.

LINKS

Ello Threadless Store

Threadless Page on Ello

Ello: A Public Benefit Corporation

 

Spreadshirt Offers No-Risk Way to Sell T-Shirts Online

SpreadshirtLogoSpreadshirt is an e-commerce platform through which you can design and sell T-shirts (and other custom-printed products) that promote your brand, studio, books, events, or social causes. As of the end of 2012, individuals, teams, family groups, and organizations had set up more than 45,000 online shops on the Spreadshirt platform.

If you choose to set up shop on Spreadshirt, you can design and sell more than basic T-shirts. Spreadshirt will print more than 140 different products, including hoodies, polo shirts, pants, shorts, and accessories such as aprons, bags, backpacks, phone cases, and water bottles.

Spreadshirt’s fulfillment service handles everything from production and payment to shipping and customer service.

Because Spreadshirt offers direct-to-garment print-on-demand technology, you don’t have to order a bunch of T-shirts at once, in a mix of sizes. Your T-shirts can be produced one at a time, in the sizes and colors in which they are ordered.

Ethically Sourced Garments Support Your Brand

CAWSpreadshirtIn March, 2013, Spreadshirt took the unusual step of launching its own collection of ethically sourced imprintable clothing in Europe. Now, they are launching The Spreadshirt North America Collection.

With a choice of 10 colors and a range of styles for men, women and children, the collection is ideal for people who want to create, buy, or sell quality clothing with social responsibility at the core of production. Men’s sizes range from small to 5XL; women’s sizes range from small to 3XL.

The Spreadshirt North America Collection will be produced in Bangladesh using the highest quality products, and optimized for print-on-demand

The T-shirts and other garments are fully compliant with ethical sourcing and production (as certified by Fair Wear foundation, Confidence in Textiles, and Respect-Code.org).

On the website www.respect-code.org, you can enter the “DNA code” that is unique to each batch and trace how your T-shirts were produced — from the cotton fields through delivery to your doorstep.

Spreadshirt-Collection-info-graphic

“We are passionate about making sure our customers want to wear and use our printed products every day,” explains Philip Rooke, CEO at Spreadshirt. He said Spreadshirt decided to produce its own line of T-shirts so they could have better control over consistency of the fit, fabric, and color.

The color consistency of the manufactured garments is particularly important for T-shirts that are printed on demand using color-managed, digital workflows. Every time a third-party T-shirt supplier changes the fiber structure or pre-treatment they use during manufacturing, the changes can affect how the colors look when the T-shirt is printed. 

Spreadshirt also wanted to be less dependent on the stock levels of third-party sources of garments they offer.

Over time, The Spreadshirt Collection will be expanded with products such as long-sleeved styles, tops and accessories.

Rooke says the company has spent a lot of time developing and testing the products in the collection. He notes that while Bangladesh experienced a terrible disaster when an eight-story garment-production facility collapsed, not all factories in the country are poorly run. The garment industry in Bangladesh employs 3.5 million men and women and is helping lift the workers and their families out of poverty and into an emerging middle class with access to better schools, roads, and housing. Spreadshirt received expert advice on which manufacturers were safe and well managed. Rooke believes that while shoddy working conditions in Bangladesh must be publicized, “Supporting good manufacturers there is as important as campaigning against the bad ones.”

Get Up and Running Quickly

If you have ever thought of getting into the T-shirt business, Spreadshirt makes it easy to do so. If you already have designs or content ready to print, you can have your online T-shirt store up and running in about 30 minutes.

Rooke says some students have successfully funded their way through college by making designs and selling them through Spreadshirt: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a big celebrity, a big brand, a charity, or just someone with a few followers on YouTube, you can go into this business at no cost.”

Spreadshirt was founded in Leipzig Germany and has become a global company. Spreadshirt has headquarters in Germany and the United States and factories in North America, Germany and Poland.

LINKS

Opening Your Own Store on Spreadshirt

The Spreadshirt Collection

 About Spreadshirt