odd guy’s index

As our one year anniversary approaches, let’s take a look at what we’ve accomplished, shall we?
 • Hours spent defining and researching our target audience: 84
• Number of logo fonts considered before deciding on “Hasty Pudding:” 23
• Number of hours logged on Skype: 328
• Miles from Lake Michigan our OGA studio is located: .2
• Hours spent hand-drawing much of website: 42

• T-shirt designs created: 16
• Miles walked/ran for mobile business meetings: 124
• Ranking of “raspberry” among best-selling OGA cap colors: 1
• Hours spent ironing tote bags: 35
• Number of T-shirt-shaped OGA brochure designs created: 2
• OGA YouTube videos launched: 6
• Number of foreign cameo appearances in videos: 1
• Number of cameo appearances by Walmart employees: 1
• Number of small fires accidentally set during filming: 2
• Penalty points assigned for finger quotes during filming: 10
• Hours spent editing footage: 853
• Size of OGA festival canopy: 10′ X 10′
• Ratio of Diet Cokes consumed to ounces of water: 245 to 1
• Miles biked round-trip to printer, per trip: 26
• Ranking of EnMart among most-active OGA Facebook friends: 1
• Number of celebrities named Yoko Ono who follow OGA on Twitter: 1
• Number of national magazines that featured OGA on the cover: 3
• Number of stores in which OGA shirts are currently sold: 3

Thank you for joining us in this, our first year of business. If you have any questions, or if we can help you in any way, just let us know!

Marie and Graham

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odd guy art: sexiest man alive

Break out the cheap champagne; odd guy art was just named PEEPLE magazine’s 2010 “Sexiest Man Alive.”

Art, though not technically a “man” (though a sexy abstract representation of one), joined Hollywood’s elite club of irresistible iconoclasts, beating out former winners George Clooney and Hugh Jackman, and trouncing newbie runner-up Justin Bieber.

The following interview appears in the October issue of PEEPLE magazine, available on newsstands now.

Peeple: Typically, you are shown only from the neck up. Why?
Art: For the same reason that Elvis Presley was filmed only from the waist up. Most people cannot survive that level of sexiness. They implode.
Peeple: Has a corporate logo ever reached this echelon of honor?
Art: The Lucky Charms® leprechaun was nominated back in ’87, but was quarantined with a suspicious case of marshmallow rash. Harry Hamlin won that year.
Peeple: The company you represent, “odd guy art:” Do you deem it worthy to use your image?
Art: Absolutely. “Odd guy art” is one of the funkiest and artiest new businesses on the planet. It offers quirky T-shirts, bags, caps, and cards – all featuring the designs of two artists trained in the realm of wit. And the best part? My mug appears on everything (*grin*).
Peeple: Are the endorsement offers pouring in?
Art: I am nothing if not loyal to “odd guy art.” Even though the two-figure annual salary is meager and the “gourmet” meals are pathetically pedestrian (if not inedible), it’s hard to resist being a part of something so cutting edge. So, no, I’ve had no offers.
Peeple: I’m sure the women out there are wondering: Boxers or briefs?
Art: I find that question sexist and demeaning (*wink*).
Peeple: What’s next for the Sexiest Man Alive?
Art: I’d like to advocate for other computer-generated 2-dimensional images. Even though I’m a jaundice-skinned, flounder-eyed cephalic icon stuck on a virtual canvas, I’m as much a man as a Pitt or a Depp. Right, ladies?

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pimp our canopy

Now that we’ve had a couple of great experiences selling our shirts face-to-face, we are excited about this weekend’s double-header: Our local farmer’s market on Saturday and our downtown art center’s “NOMO Expo” on Sunday (“NOMO” stands for “Non-Motorized,” as in walking and biking promotion). When we get to meet you guys in person, we are satisfied right down to our toes.

So in an attempt to catch your eye, we’re pimping our canopy.

We’ve applied some vinyl lettering to the overhang, spelling out our wares. We thought this might help you recognize us from a distance.

Graham burnishes our vinyl lettering onto our canopy. Will it stay on?

And as I write, Graham is building a frame out of PVC pipe so that I can sew an “odd guy art” banner this evening (featuring our logo) and mount it on the frame. We purchased some yellow canvas yesterday, which I already know takes opaque iron-on transfers very well, so after the sewing part is done, I’ll print out our logo and iron that baby on.

After that, I’ll try to show some restraint and let our products speak for themselves (“Less is more” and all that). We have a hanging rack to display some of our shirts; the rest we lay on tables, folded and packaged. Our bags are hung around the canopy, while caps and cards are displayed on tables.

The only thing left is YOU:). Hope to see you this weekend!

Marie

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our first gig

It’s Thursday and we’re busy preparing for our first local show: a display table at a local coffee shop.

Marie at work. Groovy shirt!

This particular coffee shop is rather cutting-edge for our little town. They hire some great independent musicians as they travel between bigger gigs in Milwaukee and Madison, so we get to hear some wonderful talent without having to travel. (Not that we don’t like to travel. “Road trip” is our middle name).

Anyway, tomorrow this coffee shop is hosting a “Bike-In Movie,” with food, live music, and… “odd guy art!” We’re excited.

Since we’ll be indoors, we won’t need to purchase a canopy, but we did buy a display rack for our T-shirts. We’ve got a nicely-covered table for our cards and a cool stone pedestal for our hats. We’re working on signs today. Since our business focus is “art,” we’ve continued the theme with a price list that reads like an art gallery price sheet. The magic is in the details.

Our goals are these: To make some connections and to sell some merchandise. We’ve only been in business five weeks, but we’re eager to make this happen and frankly it can’t happen soon enough. It’s exciting to finally get out there and introduce the masses to our designs. Fingers crossed.

That’s it for now. Back to the drawing board.

-Marie

gearing up to open

Dear existing and potential friends,

As “odd guy art” prepares to open its virtual doors, we look forward to getting acquainted with you. We can’t wait to show you around our studio, and to help you into some unique, artistic, and witty T-shirts. If you have a sec, post a comment here and say hello.

How was your day?

Ours was busy in the best of ways. We placed our final shirt design order from our most excellent screen printer, Mountain Promotions in Oostburg, Wisconsin. They are currently undergoing a business identification upgrade (and adding services to boot), yet they’ve continued to serve customers like us promptly and efficiently. We cannot say enough wonderful things about the quality of their printing and the kindness/helpfulness of their staff.

While the last of our designs are being printed, we are working furiously on our website, registering our business, opening a bank account, organizing shipping materials, ordering shirt tags and business cards, and developing our marketing and web presence. We rarely sleep and drink lots of caffeine. But amid all the hard work, we laugh a great deal and are truly delighted to have set off on this venture. We hope we can spread some of that joy to you.

Bye for now!

Marie

PS: Here’s Graham looking very serious as we opened our company bank account yesterday. Ha. Smile, Graham!

photo shoot… fun

Yesterday was a beautiful 68F day here in Sheboygan. But even better than that it was the day we did our first photo shoot for “odd guy art.” I would rather be behind the camera than in front of it, but I ran out of excuses. So with camera and tripod set up, lighting organised, and laughing barely under control, we got down to it. We shot photos for much of the afternoon, downloading onto the laptop as we went. After much discarding of images, we had a selection of photos which will be used around the web site and other media. The whole experience was great fun. Not the least because we got to wear our shirts for the first time and discover just how good they look and feel. The deeper satisfaction for us, though, will come when you can enjoy these, too. We don’t want to give too much away just yet, but remember that raspberry cap? Imagine how good it will look on you!

We worked late last night (until midnight) and put together our web site home page. Take a look if you’d like; it’s now there at www.oddguyart.com . Now we don’t want to be sending you on a series of wild goose chases through unfulfilling hyperlinks. So for now there are none, apart from the ones which brought you here of course. We will be working on the rest of the web site ready for the full launch of “odd guy art” on May 7th. Marie is right, as described in her last post, I do look spooked every time I think about how much we have to do before that date. But, deadlines are great motivators, right?

Graham

caps…!

Sneak peek time. Today we picked up the first of our “odd guy art” caps from the embroiderers. I could not wait to get one on my head! As mentioned last time, Marie laid claim to the raspberry cap, but I am very happy to try out this khaki version. Initially we will have the caps available in khaki, denim, and raspberry. All three have the “odd guy art” logo embroidered in yellow, black, and white, with “oddguyart.com” in black on the side.

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our first shirts are underway

As we drove to our screen printer I felt remarkably calm. We were going to collect some T-shirt samples and place our second order. I expected to be more nervous because this was the moment of truth in some ways. Yet I was quite calm; the decisions were already made and our commitment to this whole venture was already decided. It was going to be another  important day in the progress of “odd guy art.”

Back in the studio. The T-shirt samples are amazing, I just want to wear them now – blank even – imagine that! They are made by Comfort Colors and are dyed and distributed by a company in Vermont. The colours are earthy with a nice washed and worn look to them; just what we are looking for, in fact. As the samples were so pleasing, we did go ahead and place our first printing order for two shirt designs, almost a hundred shirts in total. I need a cup of tea after writing that – good simple brown tea made in my real English pottery tea pot. Excuse me while I put the kettle on (or as we say in my home county of Yorkshire, England, “put t’kettle on lad”).

I’ve got a hot brew now so where was I? Ok, yes, so we have selected two of our designs to have printed, one from each collection. Each is a two-colour design (actually three, with Marie’s clever use of the shirt colour). Every shirt will also have a small two-colour rendition of our “odd guy art” logo on the back. When these shirts are done we are going to have great fun wearing them for our web site photo shoot. Hopefully that will happen next week. Maybe I’ll slip a few photos into the blog, too (as a sneak peek for you).

This is good tea.

Oh, the caps are coming along well, too. These are also pigment-dyed with a worn look, in three soft colours. The embroidered logo of Art (the guy on the canvas) will adorn the front of the cap with “odd guy art” on the left side. I have a feeling that Marie and I are going to be fighting over the raspberry sample. Oh, apparently not (she just explained: it’s hers).

Until next time,

Capless Graham…
gotta love that raspberry!

speaking of design ideas

So the sun is blazing across the studio floor (wow: dust) and we are immersed in that curious limbo; the setting up of a new business. We have our business name, we are proudly “odd guy art LLC,” but there are still many T’s to cross and I’s to dot. We have a growing number of T-shirt design ideas strewn randomly about our brains, the computer, and our bench. We have the beginnings of our quirky web site, yet nothing to wear.

We also, of course, have this blog, which we hope you will enjoy and come to love as one of your distant relatives. So stick with us, if you will, for news on how this adventure unfolds. Our web site will come alive in a month or two, when we officially open our doors and welcome you across our virtual threshhold.

We would like to tell you a little more. The odd guy art T-shirt designs will fall into two styles; our initial survey suggests both are equally popular.  Both styles will develop and grow as we proceed. Hopefully you’ll like what you see.

Our “simply art” style features crisp graphics to satisfy your appreciation for the odd and quirky – or just a good cup of coffee. We’ll combine attractive, thoughtful images with a quality, garment-washed shirt which you can be proud to wear anytime, anywhere.

Our “unlikely events” collection will feature humorous designs depicting mock amateur sporting events. Runs, swims, bicycle races – both contemporary and historical (even hysterical) – are all fair game. These will also be screen printed on soft, quality, garment-washed T-shirts.

We found some great garment-washed ball caps, too, which will be emblazoned with our own “odd guy art” logo. They will have your head covered.

For us at odd guy art, it’s about quality. Our T-shirts will not only look good, but they will feel good, too. Our colour palette will be natural and earthy. We seriously hope that you will like what we do.

Graham