TLS Store...Actually...Maybe?

[Mage]

I still don't see anywhere that explicitly says Lith is in charge of merchandise though, and Yop and yourself indicated you would both like one, which suggested to me that my doing this is fine. Do I take this to mean that Joe approved the wristbands himself or was it Discord-official since it's merchandise but wasn't mentioned here?
The reason I mentioned Pixel is because it's his artwork and I'm not sure whether he gifted it to the forum or whether a courtesy PM would be appropriate seeing as he's cut off everyone forum-related. I certainly wouldn't get anything printed without seeing a sample anyway.
TBPH I'm pretty pissed off about this now.

 

[Flintlock]

Joe shared the wristband designs privately both in the staff channel on Discord and the Staff Chat thread here on the forum, and nobody had any objections. He may have also shared them in a public channel on Discord, but I don't remember exactly.

When I said I wanted a TLS-branded t-shirt for KupoCon, I was hoping for an "official" one. Since that hasn't happened, I think you are entitled to take it on yourself; all I'm asking for is a bit of oversight. I really don't think that's an unreasonable request. It's fair enough if you're pissed off at me bringing this up so close to the event, but as you said yourself that you won't get anything printed without seeing a sample, why don't you just show us the sample? Chances are there'll be no problems with it and you can proceed just as you otherwise would have.

 

[Joe]

I'm not entirely sure where Lith factors into this merchandise equation, unless we were asking her to get us a stall to sell these at an event or get them in the loot bags or something. If that were the case it definitely somewhat falls under her jurisdiction, but as far as I can tell it's not.

If Mage is paying for this out of pocket for people then imo the only sign-off necessary would be hers, Yop's and potentially Lex. The latter two if the shirt features branding/an url from the site, as that is definitely their business.
Similarly if anyone here is paying Mage for their shirt then getting to see the sample beforehand is courtesy.

If we're planning on selling this very same merchandise then I think we need to make a decision and/or role for someone to lead the whole merch endeavour, as right now it's non-existent.

I'm not 100% sure what the deal is here (are we selling these/are you four paying Mage for them/are they out of pocket/are we giving them away).
Hopefully my two cents covers whatever case it is

 

[Cthulhu]

IMO no signoff is necessary and there's no such thing as chain of command as far as I'm concerned, so, chill out you gaise. If Lith feels she's being put aside in favor of a small side-project then I'll apologise in advance, but, I'm not going to put a brake on a long-standing member's small scale project to get some shirts out in short notice.

I hope we're not turning into some weird bureaucratic organization where signoff and approval is needed. I'd only start complaining if someone outside the site started to sell TLS branded shit for dank money, which isn't the case. It's still very much a volunteer / charity project, for which all recipients will pay the person that went out her way to offer this.

Mage pls have the shirts made <3. The rest of you, chill pls.

 

[Flintlock]

Well that's me told. Sorry for the trouble.

It was never about "chain of command" though. I just thought that if people are going to make and wear stuff with our name or branding on it to events (particularly an event at which we are an affiliate), we should get the chance to see it first to make sure we are happy with how we are being represented. This is not a new thing; Pixel had the same policy ("Can you pass any designs by us? I want to keep some quality control", he said in this post earlier in this thread), but since he's no longer here, I thought Lith would be the person to take over that responsibility. Either I misunderstood or there has been a failure of communication somewhere.

I shan't pursue this any further, so I'll just close by reiterating that I hope you go ahead with your plans, Mage.

 

[Lex]

Mage can I have a black XL please (and this might be pushing it but if there's an option please dear cthulhu a v-neck, I can't stand polo)?

Sorry folks I've just read this thread. I don't think there's anything wrong with some measure of QC but at the same time there shouldn't be weird red tape around who can do what with this for events (and by that I mean speaking specifically to someone i.e. Lith about it) - we're talking about Mage here, given her history and ties to the site (and specifically us) she merits some level of trust when it comes to the site's interests. I have no doubt if they end up looking shit she'll be the first to say so and do something about it. This is supposed to be a fun group thing rather than a proper merch/ promotion thing, in which case I'd of course support us all having a look at it/ approving it.

Just also though @Yop there isn't anything wrong with doing QC and having some kind of sign-off in specific circumstances re: what Joe said, and it would be foolish to hand free reign to just anyone (Mage is NOT just anyone, obviously). I get where Flint is coming from, I just don't think it applies to this specific case. If we were going to sell them, or if they were going in loot bags then yeah we would need to follow some kind of sign-off that we've all already kind of informally decided on.

When the time does come for us to actually do that, bear in mind "QC" is actually in my job title so I have no problem drafting together a criteria or list of checks, but I don't think we need to go that formal with it. The only things we need to be concerned with are:

1. It doesn't look cheap
2. The logo is clear and easily readable
3. The colours are maintained

All of which can be achieved from even single-use iron-on prints if they're only going to be worn once.

 

[Flare]

Out of curiosity what's the design gonna look like? And how much is it for a shirt? I might be interested depending on the answers to that (also seconding the need for a v-neck if I do go for one)

 

[Mage]

Until I get confirmation on size range and prices, at this point it's likely to be a plain black tee with the lifestream.net logo across the chest banner-style. The printers I'm looking at supply the brands the likes of TeeFury and RedBubble use, so Fruit of the Loom, Gildan etc. Generic but not shit quality.

 

[Mage]

Just a brief update: I asked Fancy if she happened to have a copy of the logo and she didn't but she's redrawn it (gods bless this treasure) and has come through in beautiful style, I've enough to show the printers now and get an accurate price, which I'll do in the morning as the forecast is looking shit enough for it to be a day off work. :/

 

[Mage]

Right, I contacted several local printers and only one got back to me to say they can't produce the t-shirts in anything other than monochrome at such short notice. They're also in the process of moving premises so could potentially lead to an inadvertent fuck up. I couldn't chase anything up today because I was shit so I'm gonna order one online to see if it turns out any good and go from there. We just won't have any this time round is all.

 

[Channy]

I&#8217;d also like to put one out for Pomtropolis. Having a quick gander I found one website where I could order 25 shirts (5 each in size from small to 2xl but bigger is offered too) for 200 bucks (prior to delivery) so equals to about... 8 bucks a shirt? The cost goes down per shirt the more you order but we have a good bunch coming to Van so might be in that number range. Maybe 20 or so. Just from looking on my phone they offer front back and sleeve designs too so maybe I&#8217;ll check in with Fancy and Flare on it, if this is okay.

I know I def wanted a shirt when Mage was pursuing it but I won&#8217;t force her to mail one to me. And the next event coming is Pomtropolis so if we can get some together I can try make it work. I&#8217;ve got a lot of spare time on my hands for the next 6 weeks off work.

 

[Mage]

Fancy has redrawn the logo for purpose and it's beautiful. Certainly scope for having more details added all round IMO. I'd have no qualms about posting you a shirt Channy, wouldn't be a bother at all.

 

[Channy]

But the postage DX after doing a headcount I think we only have 10 tls peeps coming to Vancouver anyway.

 

[Mother]

I'm casting a Phoenix Down on this thread because we've got merch!

While not technically to sell via a store, I recently designed an FF7-themed shirt for a giveaway we're hosting on Instagram - you could win one too! To enter, please go to this link and:

1. Like the post
2. Follow us
3. Tag 2 friends in the comments

Please note that while this giveaway is open internationally, you will need to have an instagram account to enter. Otherwise I have not given up on the idea of TLS merch in the future so we might have more designed/TLS-branded merch for a big pre-order in the future. Good luck!!