Model: Zehra Fazal / Photographer: Johnny Shryock
For your consideration, you should back this awesome Kitsune Hoodie on Kickstarter, which is currently a bit over $5,500 of its $6,500 goal. There’s a week left as of this writing, and it’s very much a deserving project!
One of favorite webcomics is Yellow Peril, and described by the author as “an office romance comic that follows the humorous exploits of Kane, Bodie and Julie as they struggle on the path for creative and financial freedom.”
That author is Jamie Noguchi, is a Japanese/Chinese-American artist. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him once before, and we had a great talk about what it means to be Asian-American, the state of Western Media, and just really had a great free ranging conversation.
After having delivering on two previous Kickstarters, Jamie has turned towards the world of clothing. I was glad that I could get him to take a quick break to answer some questions about this new undertaking.
Brian: How long have you wanted to make a hoodie? How does one find a hoodie making company?
Jamie: I’ve wanted to do hoodies and just other types of apparel besides the typical screen printed shirt ever since I started making shirts with my art. But regular t-shirts are still the most economical apparel/canvas to work with so I hadn’t really done much research into it until now.
There are actually quite a few places that do hoodies. Any screen printing shop or print-on-demand service will have hoodie options. But for full sublimated printing, you have to go looking a bit harder. I actually found the company I’m working with on Alibaba so they’re in China.
Brian: I know you’ve already have a shirt with the Kitsune, and now you’re working on the hoodie, why a Kitsune exactly?
Jamie: There’s something about the trickster spirit that really appeals to me. Their sinister playfulness entraps you. You know it’s a bad idea, but you just can’t help falling into a kitsune scheme.
From a visual standpoint, using large swaths of red contrasted with a stark white make designing kitsune hard to ignore. They visually draw you in and you kind of get lost.
Brian: Is the world of clothing very different from the previous kickstarters you’ve gone through?
Jamie: The apparel space is completely different from what I’m used to. I know how to sell comics and I have a fanbase to draw from. But I’m not really known for clothing so it’s a whole new market. I think professional photography is an absolute must for fashion which is completely different than comics.
Model: Zehra Fazal / Photographer: Johnny Shryock
Brian: If this goes through well, do you have any future plans for clothing focused kickstarters?
Jamie: I do have ideas for other hoodies or sublimated designs that I’d like to try, but I’ll have to take stock and see what might work. Since I’m not just printing funny phrases or mashups, there are many more unknowns to tackle. I’d like to do more in this space, I just have to do more research.
Brian: Last question here, any big projects or plans on the horizon that you want to boost the signal for?
Jamie: Not right now. Book 3 is in the works for later this year.
Brian: Well, you’ve certainly got a lot on your plate. Hope you get this Kickstarter banged out as successfully as the other two!
Jamie: Thanks!!
(end of interview)
And if it wasn’t clear already, in full disclosure I’m a backer.
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