From Concept to Collection: Navigating the Merch Sampling, Design, and Testing Journey
In this blog, I want to give a look into my process when designing merch for The Sesh. The initial ideas was to slap the Sesh logo onto some shirts and hoodies.
Once I got the first round of samples, the blue hoodie stood out to me. I liked how the orange and yellow logo popped agains the blue fabric. The 3 primary colors have always been a trend I liked and I thought it might look good with the sesh logos.
After the initial mockups from an online editor, I thought about incorporating all 3 primary colors into each hoodie. Making the logo on each use the 2 remaining primary colors after the hoodie’s color itself.
I made some better mockups and ordered another round of samples.
Once they arrive, my friend Sean and I wanted to get some pictures of the sesh hoodies out in the wild, so we headed to downtown Sacramento. We initially got these photos on my canon 6d mk ii. Straight out of camera, they look good but not amazing. The images below are lightly processed in lightroom. The ones of the yellow hoodie flying in the air stood out to me.
I took one of the better pics of the hoodie in the air, added a grain overlay and some text. For a final touch, I cut out the hoodie and put the text behind it.
I also brought a film point and shoot camera with me. And about a week after the photoshoot, I got the film back from the lab! I really like how these hoodies’ colors turned out with the film’s texture. The two of the yellow hoodie stand out the most to me. In one, the sun is making a nice halo effect, but in the other, the hoodie is perfectly illuminated.
I also took some film photos in our studio on a separate roll and these are some of my favorites.
After a while of trying to get these hoodies made, the cost of screen printing so few hoodies with so many different colors wasn’t economical. The designs have since been changed to better fit our needs as the sesh evolved. But this continuous process of designing, ordering samples and analyzing what can be improved is great experience!
Thank You
I write this blog to track my creative work and hope to teach + inspire others in the process. Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
-Matt
