Buffalo T-shirts and the Erie Canal Trip

Image via WikipediaYep, its still on. Erie Canal. Albany to Buffalo. 50 miles a day for 8 days. 400 miles.
I took my bike in to Rick's Cycle Shop at 55 Allen in Buffalo NY (ask for a free helmet with a new bike purchase) yesterday and picked it up today. It needed the 30 day tune-up for sure. The handlebars were loose, I couldn't downshift to the lowest gears (1-7), and half the other gears rubbed, skipped or derailed the chain.
Plus I need to shore up my front fender. We had rigged it with a piece of leather and a twist tie but I was a bit uncomfortable that it would cause injury. They are uber fenders from Velo-Orange.
So, it seems all good right now, but I need to replace my pedals (they hooked me up with a pair at Ricks) since the bearing in the platform originals had already been stripped. But Ive no grease so I have to get that tomorrow.
Other than that, we need to rent a van to take us and our 3 bikes to Albany and thats about it. Anyone with a truck drivin to Albany August 17th? Hey, Ill give you a t-shirt or two, c'mon.

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Buffalo T-shirt Fixins'

Image by bark via FlickrMaking a bit of a switch here and taking care of the shirt purchasing myself. Not a big deal really, it just gives me some more control over the first round of shirts. Im really excited about the printing. As a print designer, the ink on paper process is always a bit like Christmas.
"Will I get what I want?"
"WTF is this?"
"Wrong."
BTW, I remember when I first debated his jolly existence. 1980. 6th grade. St. Mary's on the Lake 1st floor. Debating the existence of Santa. I was convinced, damnit. No way did my mom cough up the bucks for toys and gifts for 5 kids. Im sorry but you dont know what youre talking about.
But I Regress.
I wish I could screen print these myself. That was the original plan back in April!

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Buffalo T-shirts Ready for Production

Finally the day is here. Artwork is complete. Shirts are selected. Final rfp is out to the screenprinter. Once I get the quote, its 50% down and off we go! Can you feel the excitement? This turned out to be quite the process. What started out as an idea for a hobby turned into a brand launch and marketing thesis-so to speak.
Anyways thought I'd share the final artwork. The background colors are the shirt colors. overall I love where we are at with these. The Buffalo T-shirts logo shirts will retail for less than the other two for obvious reasons.

Here's the final art:

Buffalo T-shirts brand tee

Im kicking around this t-shirt for the opening. Just the Buffalo T-shirts logo. Ive gotten a good response concerning the logo–people seem to like the look of it. A bit industrial, a little raw. Its got something for sure. If I'm going to build a brand, it should act like one right from the get-go. Besides that, I like the way these shirts look. I want one. So I'll print 50 of them and see what happens.
Heres where you come in. Should I eliminate one of the original tees, pictured on the bflotees web site, and replace it with the Buffalo brand t-shirt? Let me know what you think. Also, what color ink/shirts do you like for the brand t-shirt:
1. cool gray/black
2. mustard/olive
3. blue on brown

UPDATE: Ive received the swatches. I am currently matches inks to the fabric. Plan to order shirts Monday from the manufacturer, American Apparel. Were inching closer, like this month!

Turn Your Room into a Giant Camera Obscura

This is a fun project on a bored Sunday afternoon. Especially if youve got blank walls with nothing to look at but plenty of activity outdoors. Turn your room into a giant camera obscura and watch the world go by upside down.
Camera Obscura is also a pretty fun band out of Scotland.

read more | digg story

Buffalo T-shirts To Do List

Image via WikipediaWhile I have this window while my shirts are ordered and then printed I thought it would be best to make a list of the steps I need to take from here, if for no other reason than to make a post. So, here't go:
2. Photography. Can't do until I have shirts. And models. Maybe I can pay in shirts. Meet me at the marina, we'll take some shots and you get to keep the shirt and bask in short-lived online buffalo celebrity. My plan here is to shoot in the environment. The marina shirt at the marina. The windmill shirt at Steel Winds or whatever its called, the Palmers Inn shirt at the canal. yader, yader, yader.
1b. Website. With fpo images (thats 'for position only' for you novice players out there). I've started this already, got the basic wireframe put together. But Ive lots of shopping cart, paypal, order form questions that I need figuring. This is probably the next major hurdle and the top of the list.
3. Small Flyer. To flip on car windows. Im thinking rubber stamp on craft paper. Nice look and cheap.
4. Chalk. To hit the streets with the name and website around town. "Buffalo T-shirts bflotees.com".
1a. Order the labels. I forgot about this step. Thats why I make a list. This will take about 2 weeks to come in. Must order immediately.

What I have:
NYS Certificate of Authority
dba
Shipping bags (int and ext.)
Hang Tags
order/invoice form
Freebies
Paypal account

Am I missing something? Probably.

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Buffalo T-shirts Swatches

My printer called and the swatches from American Apparel are in...FINALLY. This week we'll pick out shirt colors, place an order and wait for them to come in. Maybe 2-3 weeks away from actual printed shirts.

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Buffalo NY run/walk/bike maps

Found this interesting site online called Map My Run. It has a bunch of routes mapped out for runs, walks, bike rides-take a look, pick your route and enjoy the city. Plus you can take a jaunt around the neighborhood and then add it to the list. Who knew walking from my house to the Globe Market was 2.1 miles? Or the Chapin and Bidwell loops were 2.5. I sure didnt.

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Buffalo T-shirts online marketing

Image via WikipediaMy friend Matt over at People Like to Share turned me onto Squidoo, so this morning Ive been working on a lens page to further market Buffalo T-shirts. Its a work in progress and as I learn what it can do and tweak what I put on it, I hope it turns into a nice marketing/advertising vehicle. The more places I can put Buffalo T-shirts online, the higher Buffalo T-shirts will rise on Google. At least that's one of the goals. The other is to sell all my shirts.

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Buffalo T-shirts Hang Tag Sneak Peek

I originally planned on canvas tags, but then it just didnt feel right and at $9 bucks a square foot to have them printed-too expensive for a hang tag. So we went a bit old school. Standard paper hang tags, stained with coffee and tea, baked in the oven to dry, flattened in a Websters Dictionary, then feed thru the Epson printer. I just did this sample in black ink. I like it so far. Ill play around with colors and see what they look like, but I can live with them like this. I would like to soften the edges of the tag to give it a more weathered look though. Hmmm...how to work that? My first thought is to throw them in the dryer with a dryer sheet and some light rags. Not sure what that would do though, probably nothing.
I can rub the edges against the edge of my desk. That sort of gets it there, but too wrinkled.
Any suggestions out there.

BfloTees Name Change Possibility

As I headed down to the County Clerks office yesterday to register my dba, I took stock of exactly what I needed and came to this conclusion: Buffalo T-shirts is just better name than BfloTees. I registered both names just to cover my ass, but why make it more difficult for people to find me in the search engines, etc. All my social networking account (for the most part) have my username as BuffaloTshirts. SEO will be easier and definitely more focused. With that said, bflotees.com still works and I intend to still push that as the web address, since some fella on cafepress beat me to buffalotshirts.com. Rats ass.
Good Move? Bad Move? Thoughts?
Above is the new name in logo.

Screen Printer Update and BfloTees Stickers

I completely forgot to post this. I meet with the printer yesterday and she's a top notch craftsman, er craftswoman...craftsperson? Whatever, she's cool. She does great work and actually opened up an account for American Apparel shirts just for us. Plus, she runs her business on Buffalo's East Side. Local business supporting local business, thats what Im aiming for. It might cost a wee bit more out of pocket for me, but the benefits of supporting local business completely outway the slight increase in costs. Check out Buffalo First for more info on the benefits of shopping local. She also plays ice hockey, which is currently my favorite sport to play myself. But I digress.
I hope to put 50% down this weekend so we can order the shirts and-holy crap-put ink on fabric and do this thing. Am I right?
So what's this about stickers, you ask? I have oval bumper stickers (thats them up top) and I might have a stack of them at the Allentown Art Festival. Amy Kedron of Buffalo First mentioned she MAY have a table down there with information on shopping local and offered a small corner of space to leave a stack of fliers. Well, I don't have fliers but I do have stickers. So, if you're down there this weekend and see the Buffalo First Banner, swing by it and pick up the first piece of BfloTees merch-the sticker. It'll be worth something someday. Something like 13 cents, which is about what their worth now.
I may also chalk up some web addresses on the sidewalk s and sling small fliers on car windows...why waste the opportunity.

Buffalo NY Art Director in Search of Projects

While this is my t-shirt blog I thought Id take this opportunity to show some of my advertising/design work I've completed. Why do that? Well, perhaps you know of a business that needs help promoting an upcoming event, or a friend that is launching a new idea and needs a logo, brochure or website. I'm an art director with a dozen or so years of experience currently consulting with businesses and advertising agencies based in Buffalo, NY, but looking to expand. Above are a few examples of my work. If you want to see more, head over to my portfolio page or email me here. The Au wine project won Best in Show (Design/Packaging) at the 2007 Los Angeles Wine & Spirit Competition. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
Thanks for looking.

Cut Your Buffalo NY Electric Bill by 32%

Thats what we've done in the past two months and it didnt take much time or effort. From 80.00 two months ago, down to 54.00. Here's the simple steps to save on electric so you can put that money in your gas tank:
When we opened our bill 2 months ago and it read $80.00 I was shocked. Granted I work from home and I'm on the computer all day, but 80 bucks seemed ridiculous. So we took action. from that day, I unplugged cords that normally sat plugged in (cell phone and computer charger) and turned off things that were normally left on (modem, printer, lights and computer) Typically, if I was running out to a meeting or something, I'd leave all that stuff on because Im coming right back in an hour or so and why bother.
The next bill came and just like that our bill went from 80 to 63. To be honest, it is a bit of a pain, but its also 200 bucks a year we threw away.
This month I took the plunge and replaced about 10 regular light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. The cost of the bulbs were app. 15 bucks total but they last 3-5 times longer and use 10-15% of the energy a typical bulb uses. I made up that last sentence. I can't remember the percentages, but when I read them, it seemed pretty impressive at the time. And those numbers all seemed pretty impressive just now. We still unplug things not in use. The bill came and...
bam, 54 bucks this month. So our overall savings already paid for the bulbs.
The only downside is getting used to the light from the bulbs. It is different, but after a couple hours, you adjust and alls well.
What other ideas are out there?
Of course, now that summer is in full swing here and I do have an AC unit we'll see how long I can hold out on those humid nights.

US/Canada Border Crossing

Buffalo Pundit posted an article on the border wars people have to contend with when entering the US and for the most part Ill have to agree. The US border patrol are the most power-hungry tools. Ive lived in WNY my whole life, I was born in Mercy Hospital and Ive never been arrested. Yet on my monthly trips to/from Canada to wine country coming back HOME is always a bigger pain in the ass then going to a foriegn land. I know, they're there to protect and serve, but every time we go over it goes something like this:
"Where, why, how long..." The standard questions up to here and then:
"What are you bringing back?"
"About a case or so of wine"
"How many is 'a case or so?'"
"Ummm, 16-17 bottles"
"Is it 16 or 17."
"17"
"Are you sure?"
and just to end it, "yeah, Im sure."
"How do you know these people?"
"They're friends"
"Friends from where?"
"Im not sure I understand the question-from Buffalo"
"Sir, how do you know these people?"
Yada, yada, yada.
"Sir, is this woman related to you?"
"Yes, she's my wife."
"Well, Why when asked did you say she's a friend."
(really because when coming back home I always feel like Im guilty of something and they are going to rip my car apart until I confess)
"Because she is a friend and the other two are also friends. We are all friends."
To wife: "Sorry Ma'am, he just considers you a friend."
Im not sure how that comment protects or serves, but since the prick has the authority to have my car disassembled, I smile and say, "Have a nice day, sir." as he finally lets us through.
Plus, I always pick the slowest lanes.

Buffalo T-shirts Waiting Game

Sitting here waiting for quotes to come in from the screen printers for the Buffalo T-shirts. It's been a few days. Hope to hear something today before I get on the horn and bother them.

Business Card Design

YING.

YANG.

Go here for other fun and interesting business card concepts from reencoded.

Buffalo T-shirts Sneak Peek

Swing over to Buffalo T-shirts home page and catch a sneek peek of the upcoming designs. Don't forget to sign up for the grand opening notification and earn a special discount to be one of the first to sport one of the fresh looks.
1. Erie Basin Marina Observation Tower
2. Rainbow Buffalo. A take on the vintage California rainbow t-shirt. Despite our city's bad wrap for snow, we have the sunniest and driest summers of any major city in the NE.
3. Palmer's Inn. One of the first bars in Buffalo that opened in the late 1700s on the Buffalo Canal. The city just opened the historic Canalside Harbor Project a couple weeks ago so this is a timely design. I created a fake identity/advertisement with the tagline "Drunk for a penny. Dead drunk for two." which was an actual quote from a historic article on the subject of the canal pubs of the early 1800s.

Buffalo T-Shirts hits the Erie Canal

Im biking the Erie Canal with my brothers. First let me start off by saying, Im no biker. I bike with my son Frank. We spin around Delaware Park. We'll look for turkeys and deer in Forest Lawn, tackle the hills and enjoy the scenery. You heard me-I said deer...with two E's. In the middle of the city. And not no doe either. How 'bout a 6-8 point Buck to boot! Buffalo Buck I call 'em...keep a lookout for the T-shirt. No, not really. Well... maybe. My current bicycle, and this is the gods honest truth, was free with the purchase of a $200 futon at Rosa's. There. I said it. Ive had it for 9 years. I use it every summer and I've never had it serviced. I've never had a flat and never had a problem. I havent a clue what a bike mechanic would charge to give a 'tune-up' because Ive never given it a thought. This bike has been good to me. With that said, its definitely a piece of shit. An embarrassment if only because Im a giant (see my profile) and I look like Benny petting his rabbits on this thing. Im pretty sure Buffalo Blue Bicycle would take one look at it and euthanize the thing as soon as my back was turned. But I loves her...knock on wood.
Needless-to-say, and lets use our inside voices as she's resting in the basement, I need a real bike. And by real I mean something I have to pay for. Now from my perspective given my past expenditures on 2-wheeled transport, Im thinking a couple 2, 3 hundred buckers. TOPS. Then theres my brothers perspective. And here I'm wondering, "should I get a fixed gear bike...?"
We'll see.
The trip will be one for the ages for sure. Albany to Buffalo. 400 miles. 8 days. Following the Erie Canal. Were planning this for the week ending August 24 (thankfully too, as my wed anni. is the 25th). Hitting the county fairs and church lawn fetes along the way. Stealth camping for 6 or 7 of the nights. And I can't wait to get into Buffalo, ride up through the Marina to the new harborfront and slowly coast onto the boardwalk finishing our trip at the mouth of the newly restored, historic Canal Slip.
Damnit, I shoulda knocked on wood quicker.

Buffalo T-shirts screen printer, part two

I did good today. Im down to two screen printers. Hopefully tomorrow Ill have pricing for the first round of Buffalo themed t-shirts and I can swing around to both places and see their work, meet the shakers and make the decision.
Man, we are getting close.

Buffalo T-Shirts Searches for Local Screen Printer

The search is on. This week I will find and shake hands with a partner vendor: the screen printer. Initially I intended to produce these myself: buy the machine, learn myself to screen print (which sounds fun actually) but I havent the room for the printer, nor the funds to acquire a decent 4C printer. Besides that, my expertise is in the design, marketing and advertising of these here Buffalo t-shirts, so why bother getting caught up in the printing. Hopefully the vendor I select will let me assist here and there and learn a thing or two (but thats just for shits and giggles really). Maybe I could leverage my advertising experience and barter down the costs...who knows.
Ive searched the yellow pages and online and have narrowed it down to 3 vendors. Time to make calls, get quotes and shake the hand.