So I would say a few of the questions I get asked THE MOST are:
1) Why did you start Arkaik?
-Honestly, it was a joke at first! I was 16, and a Sophomore in High School, and I went to shows whenever I could (3-4 times a week!) I used to go to shows and buy like 5 band shirts (My wardrobe consisted of: Alesana, Blessthefall, and Greeley Estates tees) or go on MerchNow and just order whatever was new from the bands I listened to. When I started Arkaik, I probably had over 200 band tees, and I realized that alot of them were printed on less-then-great material, and would fade/fall apart/crinkle/become shitty after 1 or 2 washes, whereas the Clothing lines I liked at the time (Rockett / Shipshape) were all awesome and on American Apparel.
I made a few tees for fun with $1000 or so I had from my job saved up, and started with 2 shirts, the green spiderweb design below and blue/white/pink one!
I sold them at my high school to my friends, and started our first website! Business was slow for a few years until we really started working on it last year!
“Me and my friends are starting a t-shirt line…any advice?!” and I feel bad, because it is really hard for me to take the time to give GOOD advice. So I wrote up a few pointers for anyone looking to get started, here they are! Feel free to let me know of any additions!
Advice:
1) Figure out YOUR style, you want your line to have a definite theme/constant idea behind it if you want customers to stay interested!
2) Find an artist who embraces and believes in that style as well, and who is willing to evolve with your brand, keeping the style somewhat the same, but progressing it to the needs of the brand
3) Make your Website
4) Make your website easy to use and VERY clear so that you don’t get a ton of questions!
5) Make a Twitter / FB / Whatever social networks you use, and get your friends to join in on the fun and help you grow!
6) Don’t give away free shirts at the start - you need to save money to get more shirts / designs and to grow!
7) EVERY band wants free shirts, make yourself different, only work with the ones you believe will help your brand!
8) Promote yourself everywhere/anywhere, the more people that know about you - the better! Don’t EVER feel bad about promoting
9) DO NOT GIVE UP. It is a hard road, filled with bumps, pot-holes and people who will tell you that you ‘can’t do it, tell them to fuck off and keep going
Here are a few of the other designs from our first year-2 years!
-You can do WHATEVER you set your mind to. If you want something - fight for it.
-Without Sacrifice - your dreams are simply desires.
-The only way to live the life you want - is to be willing to give up the life you have.
GOT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? Press ‘ASK’ over here (<——) and I’d be more than happy to answer it!
You can do it. I hope this helps!
-Jordan Arkaik
New Years of last year! :)
Our longtime designer and the employee who has been with me the most, Alex Mitchell (twitter: @AlexArkaik) and I came up with ‘Leave Your Legacy’ after debating the different themes / motives that are common in Arkaik items. He defined it as:
As human beings, we all have one short life to live. That life should be one people remember you for. Create your own story and leave behind a legacy of your own. Shoot high and strive for big things. The thought of quitting or giving up should never be a part of the equation. We’ll all take hits and weather rough storms, but every single one of us has the ability to be remembered positively. Follow your passions and live what you love. Leave your legacy.
1) I was incredibly bored in my Junior English class in High School and we were studying “Archaic” poetry. I had already begun conceptualizing a clothing line, and I was just playing around with different ways to misspell the word since my teacher was boring the absolute shit out of me, and Arkaik was born!
2) I had a few of my friends at the time vote, it was between that and Dreadnaught, which I am incredibly glad I did not choose - hahaha!
3) There is a CAREERS section on our site you can check out, however, we aren’t currently hiring!
I try to never have that mentality, since as soon as you believe that something has ‘taken off’ or that you have ‘made it’ you generally start working less diligently then you had before!
I try to grow Arkaik, and make it ‘take off’ more and more everyday, and never settle for where it is currently!
Honestly, when I started Arkaik I did not ever anticipate it would get to where it is now! It started mostly for fun, and as an outlet for the large amount of time I had previously spent playing video games (hahah) while beginning to learn how a business works (since I am studying that in College!)
I try not to have any fears, but it is definitely a lot of stress / work to have 15 people’s lives and well beings constantly relying upon me and my actions.
