Design > Promotional Merchandise

I love music. Always have. I’m a big power pop fan, and I like going to shows. It’s kind of hard living in Mooresville because not a lot of bands get near here (it’s getting better, thank God, but still). So when a band I like DOES find its way to Charlotte, I’m there. And the first place I go when I get there is the merch counter because I’m looking for a t-shirt or something to support the band (even the big acts). It’s always so disappointing. It all just sucks so bad. Same with bars I like (except my favorite in SF). Or breweries. Look, a logo on a shirt is fine (if the logo is half decent), but what about something that captures the spirit of the place? You know, a little extra credit for the fans?

FINAL: I made the first round of Downtown Mooresville t-shirts do more than early adopter fans, but to clothe volunteers at events and hand out to Downtown supporters in Town Hall. — **FINAL:** I made the first round of Downtown Mooresville t-shirts do more than early adopter fans, but to clothe volunteers at events and hand out to Downtown supporters in Town Hall.

Every time I have to work on promo merch I think about that. The first shirts we designed for Downtown Mooresville were ads. They had to be, because we didn’t have fans yet and most of these shirts were going to be worn by volunteers handing out our Downtownie Passports or directing folks to the bathroom at events. Merchants would get them for free to wear around Lake Norman during their off hours. So we made them in Downtown’s bright-ish orange so that they’d be SUPER visible. Even the sushi place, which still kept pushing their rogue name (DoMo) after the branding began (grrrrr) framed our first T-shirt and hung it in a prominent place. (How could we be mad at them?). I wrote a post about taking advantage of every opportunity and, please, if you ever get a project like this, give it the full force of your thinking. Because this little T-shirt will not only represent your brand, but will also project it to LOTS of people who don’t know it. And just know that a person bothering to wear it LOVES your brand! So why not do them a solid?

FINAL: The second round of Downtown Mooresville shirts featured cooler (not a bright orange!) colors and our nifty logo that was, by this time, pretty well known.

The second go around at the Downtown merch was a little different. We finally had fans! Hahaha. So we finally printed on hipper colors and showcased the logo (it looked sharp). They sold! Then we started making pint glasses and wine glasses. All the best Downtown bars and restaurants had ‘em for sale, and the Downtown Commission raised a tent at every event which was fully stocked with glasses, brochures and the T-shirts. It’d be super easy to just pop a logo on a glass, so of course we didn’t do that. We made them fun little ads. At one point, and I think this idea came from one of our merchants, we made bar coasters for Downtown. Of course we stocked up all the Downtown restaurants, but cunningly, someone got them passed out to bars on the Lake Norman side of town - and they used them! THEY WERE ADVERTISING DOWNTOWN IN THEIR COMPETITIVE BARS AND RESTAURANTS. I can’t believe I don’t remember who did that, because THEY are the true marketing geniuses.