Before you give your creations to blogs consider donating them to charity

The following article is my opinion on how small, freelance, and indie designers should hand out free merch. Note: I am not saying bloggers are bad. On the contrary, most bloggers are cool. I'm just saying that donating your promotional items to charity can be just as effective as sending them out to a top notch blogger, and it can be more rewarding.

How many times have you seen a spoof on the fashion designer personae that shows a shallow, callous, self-absorbed dilettante in fur or leather behaving badly? Truth be told, the stereotype has roots footed in fact, however, it's been a while and things have changed. I can't remember the last time I pulled a human along on a chain and used him as a footstool in public.

Today many designers love doing nice things for animals, the environment, and even fellow man. As an indie designer I've found a great way to help out a worthy organization while clearing out old inventory, AND getting a little publicity to boot.

Blogs are a great way to get the word out about your handiwork. I am all about working with bloggers and getting on good blogs. A good review on a blog with lots of traffic can be very helpful. But by "good review" I don't mean a positive review of your work, I actually mean a well written review with effective keywords, good photos and relevant content that will be featured at the top of the blog for more than a day.

But blogging isn't the only way to get the word out about your products. Why not give your merch to charity?

Designers, here's your chance to take the high road. Do something meaningful with your freebies. Sending them to a blogger is a good idea, but association with a good charity with a good cause that you believe in will go a lot further.

Others who support that charity will get to know you as one of them.
You show that you're not just in it for the money or pure material gain.
Charities work hard to promote their cause, and if you donate they'll promote you in the process. These promotions are worth so much more and will reach a lot more people in a more effective way than a basic review that will quickly be pushed down the ladder to make room for the next.

Here's the bottom line: If you're going to give your work away for promotion you should consider donating to charity IN ADDITION to blogs. Both are good outlets, however, charities do more than just get the word out about you.

response to rude email

I got a very rude email first thing this morning from someone who was unhappy that their shirt was taking so long. I checked, she's been waiting 72 hours, not days - hours. Rather than post the entire email I'll post the most astute observation contained within:

"You only have like 10 things on your site why am I waiting so long for my order, thank you"

What a keen inference: I only have "like 10 things" on my site so I must not have anything to do. I wonder if Scotland Yard is missing a detective. Here's a picture of what I have currently on the chopping block. All the way to the left, on the bottom is a big pile of black butterfly dresses. There are 16 to be exact. Each one takes over an hour to make. This doesn't include the time spent cutting the fabric. On top of that are nine teal gather tops. And on top of that is a size run of black gathers. Those are heading out to a boutique.

The middle stack is for another boutique, and it shows a size run of striped butterfly dresses, twelve butterfly tops in black, and a run of all black racer backs.

The stack all the way to the right is for a third boutique and it is made up of twelve partially completed striped butterflies (I posted about them a few days ago) and twelve butterfly dresses in all black.

That's a complete 100yd roll of black cotton fabric in three days.

These stacks don't include partial orders stacked throughout my room, and things waiting to be pressed, tagged, or packed.

This economy has me working harder than ever. I used to think I worked hard (back when I had the luxury of taking a half-hour for lunch and could sit and watch Dexter. I now work through lunch and will probably be turning the volume up while I watch Dexter so I can hear it over the buzz of my machine.

This rant is for anyone who is getting frustrated with any indie seller or mom and pop shop. Things take time. Many people are doubling up the chores, pulling all-nighters, and working overtime to stay afloat. Be cool. Before you send that rude email stop and think, the world doesn't revolve around you. Everyone has to wait in line and no one - especially not me - wants to make the wait any longer.

I love pitbulls. Check out pinupsforpitbulls.com

I love doing nice things for animals. So when I found out about pinupsforpitbulls.com I had to find a way to get involved.

The name pretty much says it all. pinupsforpitbulls.com is cool gals helping out cool dogs. I just love those cute little square pitbull faces.

If you're in PA they have a huge all-day event in the works for October 25th, Pit Bull Awareness Day at Cheerleader's Bikini Bar in S. Philadelphia. Visit our special event page here for more info. Speakers, Raffles, Vendors, Burlesque and more! Interested in advertising or being a vendor? Email Little Darling for more info!

Since I can't make it to the party I plan on being there in spirit. Last year I made a couple hundred horror movie tees. I sold most of them, and was thinking about putting the rest up for sale this year, right about now since Halloween is just around the corner. But instead, I'm packing up the 20 or so horror tees I have left and shipping them out to pinupsforpitbulls.com.

If you missed out on these last year please check out pinupsforpitbulls.com this Halloween.

Guest-post on 'no spec" art: Beware of those contests!!

Below is a guest-post by my friend Tess Grabler. She is a savvy, young artist who has been very helpful over the years with input on my personal site. What she has written here is great advice for all creative people. Companies like Threadless and Spencers are all about taking advantage of indie artists, and here's how they do it.

No Spec! If you're working in the design industry as a graphic artist, illustrator, photographer, writer, fashion designer etc, then you really need to be aware of what “No Spec” is all about.
What is “spec?” Spec is any type of work done on a speculative basis, this means any requested work that does not have a fair or reasonable fee agreed upon, no contract between the requestor and designer, and no guarantee of payment.

There are many websites out there that are all about spec work where businesses will put in a request for certain type of design work; and artists then have to submit their work with no guarantee of payment hoping to “win the bid”.

Why is this bad? It takes time to create the best suitable design for a business, the artist needs to understand the client, their background, their products/services, who their competitors are.

Below is taken from the no-spec.com website:
"Right now, there exists a trend in the business world whereby companies get it in their heads that it would be a good idea to run a contest for their design work. What they will do is announce that they need, say, a new logo. The intent is for designers to individually spend the time to develop designs and then submit them. The company then goes over the entries and selects a “winner.” Only the winner receives any compensation for the work. On the surface, and without applying any deeper thought to it, this might seem like a great idea. Rather than trust one designer to come up with a solution, a company can solicit the creative talent of dozens, or even hundreds of talented creatives."

Spec work cheapens our industry and allows businesses and large companies to think that it’s ok to have numerous designers work on ideas, logos, illustration, photogaphy and so forth and then not pay them. Meanwhile, there is a strong chance they take your ideas and then end up paying someone else even cheaper to replicate it, is this fair? No.
Value your industry, don’t cheapen it.

For more information check out no-spec.com

Indie Designer Decisions: To Make Or To Sketch

Looks like a pile of scraps doesn't it? What you're actually looking at is a stack of 40 butterfly back tops - a run of 10 of each size S-XL. This stack of fabric will be worth a lot of money once it's all assembled.

This is a wholesale order that came in last night. Normally this wouldn't be blog worthy, however, this is just the kind of situation that you might not think about if you're not in this biz.

While I was sketching ideas for my upcoming winter collection I got this order for 40 butterfly tops. I had to stop and think about it: do I put aside the winter collection and make 40 tops that are sure to sell, or do I put off the butterfly tops in order to make the new collection - which, by the way, could be a lot easier and worth a lot more money.

Most people would probably consider this a no-brainer. Make the 40 tops and take the cash, what's so hard about that. But you have to consider that I have a bunch of walk-in stores that depend on me providing them with up to date collections for their stores. If I don't keep their stock current I could lose those accounts.

After going back and forth in my head for a minute or two, as you can see, I went ahead and made (at least cut) the order for the butterfly tops. I did this because I have a 200yd roll of black fabric on order. Since I have to wait for it to get here I can do the butterfly tops in steps instead of spending two whole days on them. I cut the striped pieces last night. I'll cut the black pieces when the roll comes in, and then I'll assemble one size run per day until they're done; all the while working on the new collection in between.

When you don't have anyone to boss you around it can be hard to get things done. Watching other people make decisions is easy, but when it's all on you it can be very hard. Let's hope the 5 hours spent cutting these and the many hours I'll spend assembling them doesn't put me too far behind on the winter collection.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Awesome Show, Great Job

I've just discovered Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. I've always been a huge Seinfeld fan, though I've only caught it as reruns, but this new show stayed under my radar until I saw a review for the new season which shows a Seinfeld reunion. How can I miss that? I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I've been catching up with On-Demand so give me a break.

A couple years ago I caught a scene with Larry staring some guy down for about 30-seconds and thought, "wow, this looks like an even lamer Tim & Eric - not my cup of tea." For the record, Tim & Eric crack me up, but that's fodder for a completely different post.

As I was saying, I'm a newbie to Curb Your Enthusiasm and I'm totally obsessed with the show. I've only been able to watch seasons four and five. Now I'm faced with the dilemma of Curb vs Dexter. I have to drop HBO and get Show Time to pick up on Dexter. This means I'll be mooching off my parents, stopping by on Sundays to watch Curb with the family - yuck!