CLYW

*opens can of worms*

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On the one hand, I VERY MUCH come from a punk rock / DIY scene. I absolutely love the idea of people deciding to participate and then finding a way to make it happen for themselves. I've written and published zines (Here Comes Another One and Rocket To Mediocrity were two favorites), I've been in terrible punk rock bands, I've written for small music magazines, and all of those experiences have made me smarter, more organized, more self-sufficient, and more creative. I encourage EVERYONE to get involved in whatever they love and find a way to contribute to it.

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Now, the caveat here is that a lot of people get started as fans. And the first things that fans do is make fan art. And in this industry, that means that a lot of companies come out the gate with a body shape that looks like someone else's, packaging that looks like someone else's, ano that looks like someone else's. The amount of general copycat releases out there is just tremendously insane. And since return tops are, by and large, sold to incredibly young consumers who have no concept of intellectual property, who place no value on the exclusivity of other people's creations, and who think that anything you can find on the internet is fair game for you to take and do with as you please, you end up in this weird spot where you are trying to encourage new blood while simultaneously damning them for ripping you off.

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So my advice would be this: If you don't have something new to say, then shut up for a while and LISTEN. The best thing that we've ever done for CLYW is shut up and really listen. And that doesn't mean just ask "What color?" on your Facebook page and then make a whole run of return tops in that color...that means asking good, deep questions, and listening to what people say not so that you can just take it literally but so that you can learn to understand what they really want. Your customer always knows the answer but in our experience they don't often know how to give it to you. So you have to be really patient, and really listen.

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Have a vision. Have something that is uniquely YOU, and let everything in your brand extend outwards from that.

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Good luck! And stay off the brown boxes with stamped art. We've got that business on lockdown and ours look soooooo good that you're only gonna make yourself look silly. OUR BROWN BOX GAME IS STRONG. -Steve

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