Label Samples Just In

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Just received label samples this morning. One for the inside collar which has the care instructions on the rear and the other the flag-styled label for the side seam of the tee. Some minor finishing issues to be addressed and the first batch should be ready in about 2 weeks.

The Government reads my Blog

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Political blogs make the governments of some countries uneasy. This is something for the Alliance of Bloggers in my neck of the woods. It seems they are getting up the Government's arse, which of course is a good thing!

First Print Order for 23PSI

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Quick update. I just placed the first print order of 250 t-shirts. I haven't posted the design here yet but suffice to say that it's a very simple one based on the AK-47. I've chosen a 20 thread count fully-combed single jersey cotton fabric. The lower thread count makes it a little more substantial (approx. 190gm per sq m of fabric) and being fully combed gives it a softer feel. I've also requested for the 2-colour design to be printed with water-based inks. If all goes well, we should be seeing pretty comfortable round neck tee. The production sample is expected to be ready in about 3 weeks, the bulk of the time being taken up by the getting fabric, dyeing and stitching.

At the same time I've also placed orders for the size/washing instruction labels and flag labels (with an embroidered 23PSI logo, to be stitched to the side seam of tee). These too should be ready about the same time as the production sample tee. Will post some pictures when the real article is ready.

AK-47: Pop Icon

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AK-47. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room. Accept no substitutes.

Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) -Jackie Brown (1997, Quentin Tarantino)

This is gonna sound contradictory. I hate guns. But at the same time, I'm extremely fascinated by them (this would probably explain why I'm designing a bunch of t-shirts around it). Whatever your stand is in the light of Columbine, Virginia Tech etc, weapons are now icons in popular culture and in this vein, the AK-47 is the grand daddy of them all.

60 this year and still showing no signs of slowing down, the AK-47 is a class unto its own. Anecdotes abound about how the VC used to pull them out from the muddy rice fields where they have been lying for years, giving them a hard kick and loading the magazine to have them fire perfectly. With few moving parts and being oh-so-easy to use, the AK-47 is one of the rare few inventions that gets as close to perfection as one could ever hope to. And because of this, the AK-47 is the indeed the weapon to put into the hands of a teacher, postman, father or even a child to turn them into soldiers of war.

Beyond pop culture (FYI, Ice-T has one), Osama cradles one in his videos and I'm pretty darn sure he will brandishing (and using one) if and when the Yanks find him. The Hezbollah has one on its flag. Charles Taylor in Liberia armed his militia with them. Mexican gangs nicknamed it the Horn of the Ram alluding to its curved magazine. There’s hardly a more potent symbol of an armed revolution. In fact, there is an AK-47 price index which is as accurate a barometer of a country’s unrest as any. In times of peace and indeed in some parts of the world, you could buy one for as low as USD$10. Prices in Iraq have no doubt peaked (USD$2000 in January 07, Baghdad). But maybe not since the US lost 190,000 of them recently.

Update
AK-47 Cuerno de Chivo t-shirt delivered.

Miscommunication Sucks!

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Just when I thought that I had found the perfect set-up to work with shit happens. A miscommunication resulted in tripling of the minimum number of t-shirts I have to order before they lift a finger to cut, sew and print them. It doesn't sound so bad, but they wanted it to be for just one design and in one t-shirt colour. I would have been okay with it if I could make up the numbers with three designs in three different t-shirt colours. What really pissed me off was that this happened after a week of phone calls and meetings, quotation being issued and accepted, the FA being submitted and 50% paid upfront. Had everything gone as planned, the first batch of 23PSI tees would have been ready by the end of this month.

A Small But Very Important Diversion

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I'm a big fan of David Murray's Seibei. Probably one of the few indie t-shirt labels with a real (read unique) personality. So it was a matter of time before I placed an order for the Sandwich Dinosaur tee (it's now on its way to me). That dinosaur and that caption, there's just something about it. I have a 10% off coupon that everybody's free to use. Just key in coupon code "nick" when placing an order.

USE COUPON CODE nick FOR 10% OFF!