The 2024 Design Challenge

What is the inspiration behind your Spread Good Vibes design?

When I read about the Good Vibes Challenge, I immediately felt motivated. I wanted a massage that also suited my target group: Mental health and people with chronic illness. I observed myself and reflected on what motivates me and gives me a zest for life despite my chronic illness and ADHD. So I came up with: ‘Enjoy the little things’. It gives me good vibes to enjoy the little things, like a delicious fruity spritzer with a straw. The turtle teaches us humans to be mindful and attentive. In other words, to be able to recognize the little things. This only works well if we take our time and don’t simply tick off the things in life one after the other. True to the motto: ‘There is strength in calm’.

The cap is my trademark, I have a lot of them, in many different colors. That’s why the tortoise wears a cap. The hand sign means: stay relaxed. No matter what, I try not to go crazy, but to make the best of it.

Would you take part in another Spreadshop challenge again?

I really enjoyed the challenge and would take part again and again. I’m very pleased that I even managed to come 3rd, which I really didn’t expect.

Joana’s designs

What are your 3 favorite or most successful designs?

As I only opened the shop two months ago, there are still many designs to come.

My favorite designs so far are:
1. chill toad
2. somehow I can manage
3. ciao cocoa with cream

How do you create your designs and what tools do you use?

I create my designs using a tablet with a pen and an app for drawing. It’s the most fun way for me and comes closest to drawing on paper.

Joana’s products

Which features of the products are most important to you?

Sustainability, good quality, a wide range of sizes and cool colors that match my designs are important to me when choosing products (beanies would also be cool).

Marketing approach

Where and on which platforms do you market your shop?

I have an Instagram page: ich.ticke.anders.thats.okay, my shop is linked here.

What content do you create for your target audience to market your products?

On my Instagram, I talk about my life with ADHD and ME/CFS, mental health and my thoughts. Education and visibility are important to me, but so is humor. No matter how stupid things get sometimes, laughing is healthy and important! Don’t take yourself so seriously, just try to stay relaxed and enjoy the little things.

Joana’s channels

We hope Joana’s story and zest for life have inspired you. Be sure to incorporate her tips into your own design process! Make sure to visit Joana’s Spreadshop and explore her Instagram channel.

The post Shop of the Month: Interview with Joana appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Spreadshop isn’t just a place for you to bring your personal creative ideas to life, it’s also a way for you to connect with others, especially those closest to you: family, friends, members of your community and you can do it all with Spreadshop Merch.

Now that you can safely see all the people you love, it’s time to bask in the summer sun, enjoy good food together, and wear some themed merch.

Make your large or small gatherings feel like an event when you create commemorative merch. 

T-shirts are a perfect way to cement a memory and make for great photo-ops that you can always treasure. They work great for family reunions, annual picnics, birthday celebrations, and summer camps.

Making merch is only going to make your summer schedule of events feel more personal and memorable. They will be a memento of a time in your life that you spent having fun with the special people in your life.

Family Reunions

It’s been a rough year having to spend so much time apart from our extended families: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. 

These are people you don’t see on a regular basis. If you have an annual family reunion, it’s likely the only opportunity you get to spend time with them all year.

My family has been hosting reunions since the 80s and 2020 was the first year we had to skip a reunion due to COVID.

This is a Sunday in August that has meant a lot to me ever since I was a child – spending time with cousins on the playground, listening to exaggerated family stories, eating decadent Italian food.

I know a lot of families have similar traditions, so why not make this year’s feel extra special by making t-shirts?

Include your family name, a family crest if you have one, and the anniversary year of the reunion.

A family that’s hosting a virtual family reunion this year used Spreadshop to create their own themed merch.

They created a design that features their name and a graphic of them wearing masks. Maybe they wanted to make merch this year to feel like they’re connected because they can’t see each other in person. But this doesn’t just have to be a one-time thing.

Turn it into an annual tradition. Allow different family members to come up with designs and colors each year so everyone feels like they’re involved.

You’ll soon carve out an area of your closet for family themed merch. It’s an unlikely fandom, sure, but one you should be proud to represent.

Picnics and Barbecues

It wouldn’t feel like summer without the savory smells of grilled food and the occasional swatting of hungry flies.

Whether it’s for a holiday like the Fourth of July or part of a weekend retreat, having a good old-fashioned picnic/barbecue is the perfect excuse to get all your friends and family together to eat the perfect buffet of summer treats.

The Newton County, Mississippi Picnic is a great example of this.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the picnic started in 1971 as a way for African Americans from Newton County to reconnect in Detroit, Michigan.

They’re using Spreadshop to celebrate this milestone by creating a wide range of merch with different design options.

This t-shirt highlights all the different states people are travelling from to honor their Newton County roots with the annual picnic.

They play up the event with another t-shirt that brings a more creative and vibrant side to the event using a handmade drawing. 

They also have the designs available as hoodies, mugs, masks, and stickers. Because people are into different kinds of merch, it’s nice to provide some options. 

If someone’s a coffee drinker, our mugs are a staple. And you can never go wrong with stickers to put on laptops, notebooks, or water bottles.

These former Newton County residents are unlocking their creativity and history to create an event that reminds them of their home city, but also one that celebrates their lives today.

Birthdays

You may not be as into your special day as others, but your birthday is a great excuse for friends and family to celebrate you whatever way they see fit.

They might take goofy photos of you and turn them into meme-worthy designs that play off how old you’re turning that year. Or create merch that revolves around the activity you’re all doing for your party that year: bowling, ice skating, paintball.

Birthday merch works for people of all ages, too, with shirts and other merch a perfect addition to kid parties.

Make a shirt specifically for the birthday boy/girl and even create personalized tees for other kids at the party. Incorporate it with the theme of the party to make it even more fun by adding specific design elements to your Spreadshop merch.

If it’s a Disney princess party, use tiaras and castles and even have different colors coordinated to represent different princesses.

If it’s cowboy themed, throw some cowboy hats, sheriff badges, and rodeo elements in there.

You can even create little party favors. Make birthday themed stickers or pins that are based around the party and add a special touch with name personalization. 

These would be perfect additions to goody bags.

Your parties will feel so much more unique and interactive when you incorporate merch into them. These items will bring up the same feelings that school-related t-shirts do – a rush of nostalgia.

You’ll always be reminded of the friends you had at that time and all the special memories you were able to create at so and so’s birthday party.

Sports Leagues & Camps

Make your sports games feel like team events, no matter how scrappy or small they are.

Team shirts are necessary for any outdoor recreational activities. How else are you going to know which team is which?

And they work for practically any sport.

Soccer and football teams are the standard, but think outside the box. Something like ultimate frisbee, for example.

It’s a low-contact sport, but things can still get intense out there and you and your team will look as intimidating as possible thanks to your rad merch. The other team might even get intimidated when they see how seriously you’re taking the game.

Volleyball and badminton are summertime classics. Make team shirts and bags to hold your gear, like merch water bottles to help quench your thirst during breaks.

People are taking the concept of organized sports to a whole other level these days. Ever heard of drone racing leagues?

Come up with a fun name for your team and wear your Spreadshop merch to tournaments you’re participating in. It can even become a competition amongst teams to see who has the coolest merch come the next event.

Even esports (competitive video game competitions) would qualify. There’s bound to be some happening in your area this summer, whether they’re virtual or in-person, and they make for fun, friendly competition.

Teams come in all shapes and sizes now; you don’t have to be tearing it up on the field to be a part of one.

Find your tribe and rep your colors with pride this summer. It will help boost morale and revive your love for the game all over again.

Summer Camps

I used to go to the local playground for summer camp every year when I was in elementary school. It was a great way to make friends that went to different schools and reconnect with them each summer. 

Those teen counselors were mentors to me at such a young age, and all the activities we did as a group – kickball, crafts, relay competitions – brought so much joy to me then and now when I reflect on those glorious 3 months under the sun.

At the end of every summer, every kid got a commemorative shirt (and we might’ve even tye dyed a few here and there).

We’d always wear them on the last day and get photographs taken. You’d see kids wearing last year’s t-shirts the next summer just to keep the memories alive.

Those experiences are so important and formative to young people, and providing merch like t-shirts is going to mean so much to them years down the line.

You feel like you’re a part of a national sports team when you’re at summer camp. You’re such a collective unit.

T-shirts are going to give kids street cred, more like playground cred, wherever they are. They’ll feel united and ready to rise up to whatever challenges they’re faced with (even if it’s just the monkey bars).

There’s all kinds of summer activities that can be made better by including commemorative t-shirts and other merch.

People will feel like they’re part of a group or a team when they wear it. They’ll feel more confident, and they’ll be able to express themselves in a different way – together.

Open a Spreadshop and start designing your personalized merch today!

The post Spreadshop Merch Brings People Together appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Last year at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis we had to temporarily reduce the design upload limit. While this didn’t affect how many designs you were able to publish, it was still a bummer for all of our talented Shop Owners.

Well, we’re thrilled to say that we have some good news to celebrate! As of today (right this very second even), you can now publish up to 50 designs per day again.

This is a great way to push more designs and see what your customers respond to. No more waiting forever to find out what merch designs resonate – you can get all the feedback you need instantly.

Your customers are very much looking forward to having a larger assortment of designs to shop. And we’re just as eager to see what you’ll create. So, what are you waiting for? Make sure your Shop is ready for all of your new designs. Remove designs that don’t sell well and replace them with new ones. Ready, set… upload!

Why posting multiple designs a day is a smart move:

• More designs = more chances to get found
• Each upload is a new shot at hitting a trend
• You learn fast – what flops, what pops
• Your shop looks fuller + more professional
• Covers more keywords + micro-niches
• Keeps your content pipeline stocked

Any questions? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Upload Limit Increased to 50 Designs appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Making merch doesn’t have to take up all your time. You’ve got other responsibilities in your life and getting your shop up and running should be a fun, creative outlet – not a stressful one. Look no further for some great tips on how to find time to work on your merch brand!

Do productive work in your off time to get to know yourself and your merch better. Figure out what you want your designs to look like, what your messaging should be, how you want to promote yourself and interact with fellow collaborators and customers. This will help you set up the building blocks for your site so you can learn more about what you want your shop to be in the long run.

Following these resources and strategies will help you design, post, and promote your merch within a busy schedule (and let you have fun while doing it).

Outsource Designs

Have an idea in your head but lack the design skills and time to turn it into a wearable design?

You don’t have to be a professional designer to create original, quality merch. If you’ve got a vision and some rudimentary drawing skills, you can easily outsource professional graphic designers to help complete logos and any other kind of designs for you. This is one of the best ways you can work on your merch while you focus on managing other parts of your brand.

The Spreadshirt Graphics Service makes it easy for you to upload your sketches (no matter how crude they are) and include additional details for our team of designers so we can get you a printable design you’re happy with.

Have an unfinished sketch of a dragon breathing fire and holding a pint you want to use for your brewery business? Send it in with some detail about your company and color ideas for how you want your dragon to look.

Need help perfecting a logo for your Twitch merch? Draw out possible design elements and even send in a picture of yourself you want incorporated in the graphic.

Describe how you want your style to look: is it more abstract, or is it clearly defined by sharp lines and edges? You can even add links for designs or styles that inspire you as reference for your merch design.

Pixel vs Vector

You’ll also have to determine what kind of graphic you want: pixel or vector.

A pixel graphic works for more intricate designs and gives you infinite color options, and works with fine details and complex shapes. But it doesn’t allow you to change any individual colors.

A vector graphics works for basic designs and gives you three color options, works with simple shapes, and allows you to change individual colors.

Send in your design sketches or examples as a jpg, png, gif, svg, or pdf file.

Our graphics service costs a one-time fee of $19.99. We get back to you with your finished designs via email within 1 to 3 business days and even offer refunds should you not be fully satisfied.

Other design platforms like Upward are always an option, but you can end up paying as much as $70 an hour for a designer’s services.

Getting your designs finished and ready for print is one of the most important parts of developing your merch brand. Now that they’re fully realized by professionals, you can start thinking about how you want to market your shop.

Map Out Content for Socials

Once you get your merch designs on your shop items, it’s time to start the promotion process.

If you already have a solid following on your personal social accounts that you want to use, stick with that. But if your personal page content conflicts with the messaging of your merch, it would be best to start individual socials for your shop.

You can launch an Instagram and Twitter in a few minutes and use your design/s as a profile image and for other initial content.

To direct followers to your shop and anything else you want to promote, use link in bio tools that create a link that houses it all. Include links to your shop, other socials, about me info, and consistent brand coloring and images depending on which tool you go with.

Creating Content

As far as content goes, you can create stylish and cohesive image layouts when you use a design tool like Canva.

Instead of just laying out your products and taking photos of them, or using just stock model images, try different templates, fonts, and graphic elements to coordinate your merch with particular messaging or stories: sale info, new item updates, tell the story behind your designs, etc.

Upgrade from a free account to a premium plan to give yourself even more design and image options.

You can easily build social images and feeds that feel stylized and professional, yet are still interesting to look at.

Posting content to your socials isn’t something that’s going to eat up a lot of your time you’ve set aside to work on your merch, unless you’re running a major business account. But if you can’t catch a moment in your day-to-day life to post on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, use Hootsuite: a social scheduling tool.

Their free version allows you to link your main social accounts so you can post right from Hootsuite. Upload images and add captions and hashtags. Schedule in advance and view your content calendar to see what days and times you’ll have posts going out.

This can even help you determine what posting strategies and times work best for your audience based on the engagement you get.

Fine Tune Your Shop Page

This can happen at any point in the design process, preferably after you upload designs to your merch.

Play around with themes that work best for you. Do you want it to be clean and simplistic, or feature large background images? Make your homepage your About Me page so people can get to know you and your merch right off the bat. Even feature certain products. Maybe tanks and water bottles now that it’s summertime.

Outsource a logo design for your shop to one of our designers, or use Canva again using the appropriate measurements.

Make sure that you utilize the ability to add social links to the top or bottom of your page. People will think you’re more reliable when they see that you have a social presence and are passionate about your merch on multiple levels.

You want your shop to feel well thought out and complete by the time you’re promoting it and people are clicking the link. It should feel the same as your Instagram or Twitter page does: stylish and inviting with a clear focus on your designs and how they relate to you.

If you already have a website or blog, you can also embed your Spreadshop as a shop section with access to the source code of your website page.

Struggling with shop settings or having technical difficulties? Check out our Spreadshop Help Center that answers common questions and provides links to previous blog posts that address different issues and offer suggestions and resources.

Cross Promote Merch

Just having your shop and promoting it on socials is only going to expose your merch to so many people. You need to think outside of the box and promote your merch in a way that provides multiple benefits for people.

Cross-promotion is a marketing driven promotion that targets customers of one product or service with the promotion of a related product.

You see this all the time whether you’re aware of it or not. The most obvious example: Youtube.

Creators (especially the big time ones) are always cross-promoting. They’re talking about where you can buy their new book, their newest makeup collaboration, where you can listen to their new podcast.

Youtube might be their main thing, but adding in different revenue streams helps build their brand and define themselves in multiple areas while still primarily being known as a Youtuber.

And it shouldn’t be shameful.

Launching your own Youtube channel or podcast definitely takes some thought, though. Begin to develop video or episode ideas and ideas for possible guests in your free time.

But this can also be done in a way that doesn’t really feel like work.

Collaborate

If you haven’t been able to see your friends because of COVID, or if they live across the country, make what you’re doing a chance for you to reconnect with them. If you look at it as a catching up, collaborative kind of conversation, you’ll be more inclined to devote your time and energy to it. This will also get you a better end result.

Continue to use the images and about me info you have on your shop page and socials and tweak it slightly for the necessary platforms.

You may also find that content you used for social posts will work in this process. Make a video for a sale that’s going on for your shop, or about your latest merch drop and why you’re excited about it.

Showing the person behind the merch and more of your personality is going to make people feel like they’re more connected to you and they’ll be able to trust you more.

You don’t need to have all the time in the world to work on and strengthen your merch brand.

Finding your passion is half the battle.

Be sure to open your own merch shop today!

The post How to Find Time For Your Merch Brand appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Their new album UNITY OF OPPOSITES is a response to digitalization, globalization and the pandemic. Instead of an ordinary streaming session, the duo celebrated the album premiere together with their fans in a digital space. We asked Nico about the album, digital merch dealers and the new Kollektiv Turmstrasse logo…

UNITY OF OPPOSITES – more than an album

Hello Nico! Wow, we are really happy to interview you. Some of your fans work at Spreadshop… Generally, how do you connect with fans?

Hello to you and all readers! We are very happy that you are interested in what we do! To answer your question: I hope, of course, that we inspire fans mainly with the music. ? Otherwise, social media is the medium to reach fans directly.

We’ve been lucky enough to have a good fan base for years that always support us, and that’s great of course. But we haven’t really dared to put ourselves on display for a long time. That’s not our attitude at all, but in the meantime we also realize how much fun it is to have a direct exchange with fans. With our new album concept, we hope to make social media even more interactive, especially in these difficult times.

Your last album (‘Rebellion of the Dreamers’) was released 11 years ago, after that you mainly appeared with the ‘Sorry I Am Late’ EP and numerous remixes. The new album ‘UNITY OF OPPOSITES’ is much more than an album. Can you tell us about that?

For a long time, we had the feeling that one album would not be enough. The idea for an album was there for a while and there were also sketches, but there was never the right time. It sounds stupid, but for us an album is really something special. Maybe that’s why it took 10 years.

We already had some ideas that went into the virtual realm, and we had also already talked to my good friend Alex from the agency Demodern about some concepts. Then in the winter of 2019, he told me they were working on a virtual stage and asked if I would like to take a look at it.

UNITY OF OPPOSITES is the result of many hours of work, a lot of love for our project and created with UNITY in mind. It would go a bit beyond the scope of this article to talk about how it will go on and what will happen. I can only say this much: We are only at the beginning. Both musically and with the virtual stage.

UNITY OF OPPOSITES is therefore first of all a concept album. The stage, the show, the music are together in the album. I would like to emphasize that everything is connected here and therefore there is no release date for the album itself.  But one of the basic ideas was of course to bring people together in the time of COVID and to be able to play live.

So, UNITY OF OPPOSITES is something like a digital club? Fans can buy a ticket to a digital party, and then dance on site with their own character. How exactly does something like that work and how did your first digital gig go?

It’s not necessarily a club, it lacks a roof ? That was also important to us: we’re outside, not inside. And how that works, I can only explain to you amateurly, because there’s a lot of technology and know-how behind it. In the current online issue of Page Magazine, there’s a great background report on the technology that Demodern has built into it.

Our first event was really incredible! I can’t tell you how great it was to play in front of a real audience again. It was very exciting and I’m very proud of the team and that everything went so great. The feedback from the fans was overwhelming. I don’t think anyone really expected it to be fun, and most people probably just wanted to hear the music. But in hindsight, the music just seemed to get casual feedback ?.

I’m looking forward to the next shows, because each show will also bring new changes. As always, it remains exciting with Kollektiv Turmstrasse.

Merch from the digital dealer

Glad to hear your show went so well! We heard that there was also a (digital) merch dealer on site. What did they have on offer?

Of course, the catalog from our Spreadshop ?. Our merch dealer has the best stuff, that much is clear.

Why merch? Was that your idea or did it come more from the fans?

I’m a big merch fan myself, but we’ve actually struggled with it the last few years and we wanted to fundamentally change that. We are just starting here as well, and we are currently working on many new motifs and designs that are wonderfully easy to add to our Shop.

How did you come to Spreadshop and what do you like about it?

I can start right away. Spreadshop offers us an uncomplicated way of dealing with merch, from designing the products to having our own Shop, it’s a piece of cake. We don’t have to worry about anything, you take care of shipping, complaints and support. It doesn’t get any better than that!

It should also be said that you can set your own prices. For example, we decided to offer lower prices to our fans. This makes us happy and also makes our fans happy.

We like your Shop a lot! Can you tell us something about the setup, product selection and designs? You also redesigned your logo, right?

Thank you very much, we’re happy to hear that. Alisha, our creative fairy, also put a lot of effort into the design – not just with the Spreadshop. Kollektiv Turmstrasse, as you’ve already noticed, is completely redesigning itself right now.

But that’s the beauty of Spreadshop, we can customize our Shop layout to our liking, whether it’s image or color. The product selection for the merchandise is very large and we had to be careful not to offer everything available.

As I mentioned before, I love merch. But it was important to us in the product selection that, for example, we could also offer great products to our female fans. With the designs, the colors of the fabrics were important to us naturally, it should all fit into the new design of Kollektiv Turmstrasse. And then it’s as simple as deselecting the colors you don’t want to offer. Done! Such small features, which have been wonderfully integrated into the Spreadshop, make offering merch easy and above all, instantly possible.

Pandemic streaming solutions

Awesome! We’re glad Spreadshop is working out for you. So, you’ve streamed on Twitch, YouTube and now the live digital show. Nico in particular is very fond of the streaming world. Where does this desire to stream come from? Does it also have something to do with the circumstances caused by the pandemic?

Christian and I were (and are) nerds, we love technology, we love the Internet, streams and YouTube are everyday media for us. We want to use this to have direct contact and exchange with our fans here as well. That works well and is very popular, especially with younger audiences.

The fact that I’m more present right now has to do with the current circumstances, though.

Christian decided during the pandemic that in the future he’ll work in the background. We always had different strengths and in times with an uncertain future such decisions are important for inner well-being. Christian and I are still Kollektiv Turmstrasse, but unfortunately people have to get used to the fact that the handsome one from the band is no longer on stage

Oh, we think you are both very pretty! Do you have any tips for musicians and producers who are struggling with the never-ending pandemic and haven’t had any gigs for a long time?

I think the number one place to go [in Germany] at the moment should be NEUSTARTKULTUR. There are some support programs for musicians and artists. Unfortunately, we ourselves were not lucky, because we were already too far along in the development of our project. So, you should submit applications already in the conception phase. But a lot is being done in this area. Unfortunately, there are many bureaucratic hurdles to overcome. It’s not quick help. We very much hope that with the vaccinations some normality will soon return for everyone, but for many of my guild it will then be too late. And that is very sad.

Yes, we think that’s very sad, too. We hope that with Spreadshop we can still make a small contribution to ensuring that the voices of musicians and artists are heard. Thanks for the interview, Nico!

Thank you! If you want to buy a ticket for our virtual live show to support us, you can find out more on Instagram.

Kollektiv Turmstrasse Content:

Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitch

The post Featured Shop: Kollektiv Turmstrasse appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

North American platform

Shipping remains temporarily unavailable for the countries included  in the table below. This affects all Shops running on top-level domains od the United States (.com), Canada (.ca) and Australia (.co.au).

European platform

Shipping remains temporarily unavailable for the countries included in the table below. This affects all Shops running on the top-level domains of Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, France and Ireland.

Countries affected by shipping restrictions can change quickly. We’ll be sure to update these lists when we receive more information. Until then, stay healthy!

If you have any questions about COVID-19 shipping conditions, let us know in the forum or comments below.

The post Spreadshop COVID-19 Shipping Availability: Updated appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Hello Vanessa and Ina, you run a YouTube channel as “Coupleontour.” Tell us what exactly you two do and how it came about.

It was all a coincidence. At the beginning, we didn’t know how big it would become. In the beginning we posted a picture of us kissing (we dared to, haha). After a short time, many messages reached us – calls for help, fear, support. We realized how much it helps not to have to hide anymore because of same-sex love, and above all, how much still needs to be accomplished in this area.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VANESSA & INA (@coupleontour)

It’s great that you’ve had the courage to tackle this topic! Why actually “Coupleontour”? Do you travel a lot?

In the current times it’s anything but easy, before that [the pandemic] we were on the road a lot. But our name more so implies that we are a couple always, and everywhere. That’s more wishful thinking, but among other things that’s what we stand for: A world where gay couples are treated equally and can live without fear.

That’s a great goal, and we hope we can play a tiny role in that, too. Speaking of Spreadshop: How did you guys come up with the idea to open a Shop?

We noticed that our community was growing and wanted to be able to design something of our own that we could wear as a “Bubu community.” No sooner said than done. After reading a lot of positive things about Spreadshop, we decided to open a Shop with you.

What do you like about Spreadshop? And where do you see potential for improvement?

We especially like the clear handling, with which we got along well – even as newcomers. With a few steps, it’s possible to have your own Shop.

It would be nice if there were more cell phone cases. This is what our community often wishes for, since several models are in demand (new iPhone models for example).

Thank you, we’ll definitely pass it on. In addition to YouTube, you also use TikTok. What’s the difference between the platforms? Do you reach a different audience there?

YouTube offers the opportunity to talk more and get it all off your chest. TikTok reaches a younger target group and the attention is different because the videos are quickly wiped away. Our YouTube videos are seen by some as a kind of new episode in a series.

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A post shared by VANESSA & INA (@coupleontour)

You recently started using YouTube merch shelf. What is that and what do you hope to achieve with it?

Our own products are displayed below the videos, which is great when the community watches a video. When we see it, we’re very proud, haha. We hope that YouTube users will also become aware of our products.

For sure! Who actually creates your designs and how do your fans like them?

We design them ourselves. The well-known “Bubu” is the most popular among the community. It’s our nickname for each other, but also used to address our community. “On tour” is also a part of it. More and more people in our community change their username with their name + ontour. We’re very proud of that!

But on to the designs: We often sit together at the tablet and draw away. For the future, we hope to constantly improve and include even more elaborate designs in our Shop.

Which designs or products sell particularly well?

Accessories are particularly well received. The “Bubu mug” is also a big seller, as are cell phone cases, caps and stuffed animals.

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A post shared by VANESSA & INA (@coupleontour)

How did you manage to gain so many followers? (On TikTok, 2 million people!)

We do our thing, always stay on the ball and really appreciate our reach and the responsibility with it. We don’t pretend, we are who we are. We also address painful topics, things that have hurt or happened to us.

That’s right! On TikTok and YouTube you, of course, spread a lot of fun and make people laugh, but as a lesbian couple you also stand up against homophobia. What do you think, can you affect other people?

Hopefully we can live in a world where homophobia is a thing of the past. Many people are afraid to come out. We also had this fear but understood that it’s “only” love between us. We want to be a point of contact, and if we can’t step in, there is a person in our community who is there for the others. It’s important to deal with issues that mess you up.

What advice do you have for other YouTubers who would like to start a Spreadshop?

Get your community involved. Ask them what they want, what colors like, and which products. The feeling of meeting someone who has the stuff you’ve designed is indescribable.

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A post shared by VANESSA & INA (@coupleontour)

Finally, a topic that has been on everyone’s mind this year: What impact has COVID-19 had on you?

We’ re trying to use the time we’ve gained (e.g., no commute to college) wisely to produce more content. We are all at home more, who feels differently? In this respect, we should try to make the best of it together.

Thank you for the interview, Ina and Vanessa! We wish you only the very best for the future as lovers and as “Coupleontour”!

Check out the Coupleontour Spreadshop or visit Vanessa and Ina on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok.

The post Our Lovey-Dovey Shop of the Month: Coupleontour appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

It’s almost time to put a wrap on 2020. As we look forward to a fresh start in the near future, let’s take a moment to celebrate some successes. Here’s our year in review!

Shop of the Month

We’ve featured 12 Shop Owners over the course of the year in our Shop of the Month series. We hope that you’ve been able to learn a thing or two about how your fellow Shop Owners use our platform. Whether they run a YouTube channel, use Spreadshop as a pandemic-proof side hustle or are a non-profit organization—there’s always more to learn!

New Shop features

Out with the old, in with the new is our motto for 2021. This past year, we’ve added new features like: New fonts, optional logos on invoices and the ability to easily create promotional material. We’ve improved a few things too, like: Error messages, better usability for customers in the Design Tool, and we highlighted Shop promos on your start page.

Our sales statistics app—SpreadApp—got a make-over. You can now see the exact zip codes your customers place their orders from. Plus, we’ve introduced notifications to the Partner Area. We’ll keep improving on this feature over the next several years.

We’ve also made sure you had all the tools in the toolbox to successfully run your Shop!

New commission model

One of the biggest achievements of 2020 was the addition of a new commission model. This gave you almost full control over your promos. Now, you can move the dates of your Shop promos and even deactivate them. To make the most of it, we’ve helped you find the right pricing strategy and illustrated how to plan promos like a pro.

YouTube merch shelf launch

Another massive achievement? Our official collaboration with YouTube. If you meet the requirements, you can start selling on your channel directly under your videos with merch shelf.

Loads of new products

We’ve added 20 new products to the assortment in 2020. Popular products include face masks, stickers and our first digitally printable Breathable T-Shirts.

Improving your search engine ranking

With all the extra time spent in home office, maybe you’ve been following our tips and tricks for improving your search engine ranking. From being patient, to improving your keywords and getting search engines to index your Shop faster—this is all very important stuff! We’ve also let you know how other Shop Owners deal with the SEO struggle.

Behind the scenes

We’ve brought you further than ever into the Spreadshop universe. From showing you how we save paper during production to a completely novel print technique and our revised Community Standards.

Covid-19 and Spreadshop

The pandemic has defined 2020 for many people, us included. We’ve done our best to communicate with you regularly and transparently. A few obstacles we faced were delivery restrictions from shipping carriers and temporary production facility closures. Despite this, we’ve kept business running smoothly for you and managed to keep our employees safe.

We’ve almost made it through this very strange year, and we’ve done it together. We’re very happy to have you as a part of the Spreadshop community. Thank you! We hope you stay healthy; enjoy the holiday season (from a distance) and we’ll see you next year.

Do you have any features you really want improved (or created) in 2021? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Our 2020 Year in Review appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Arnaud began his YouTube career in 2013 with his channel the Studio de Poche. After pursuing photography, he created AstronoGeek in 2015, a channel that explores astronomy and ufology (the study of UFOs). Approved by the French Ministry of Culture, his channel debunks the craziest astronomical theories. Read on to learn about Arnaud’s Spreadshop, career and videos!

Hello earthling! We’ve learned from many very credible sources (thanks, Wikipedia) that you’ve studied history, science and education. You were also a photographer! What brought you to the light side of astronomy and ufology?

You could say that I was let down by the public school system. I started to tell myself I was using all of my energy for little to no result. One day, a boy explained to me that he wasn’t going to work in class, he preferred to deal shit with his big brother. I explained to him that he was risking jail time: he was practically asking for it, because it gives you a higher rank. What do you to say to that? So, I decided to work for the only person who would be fully grateful: me.

Sure, it’s difficult to find the right words for something like that. Tell us about your YouTube channel, AstronoGeek. Did you create it after seeing Interstellar, meeting flat earthers or because of your passion for teaching?

I wanted to get back on the path of teaching and combine it with my passion for the stars. I love teaching, hence my time teaching at public schools. Since 2013, I’ve had a YouTube channel of photo tutorials. I wanted to broaden my audience.

Regarding AstronoGeek, you say you want to popularize astronomy. What do you expect from your channel and your subscribers? That fans of all kinds of extraterrestrial conspiracy theories recognize the laws of science?

I’ve shaken up a lot of people with my videos. It’s always nice to receive messages from deconverts. But don’t get too excited; most people are not looking for the truth, they’re looking for what suits or reassures them. They’re not receptive to my videos, nor those of my colleagues.

Basically, what I like to do is entertain: “Make yourself comfortable and let me tell you an exciting story for the next 20 minutes.”

You’re also skeptical. Questioning the roundness of the earth, for example, isn’t that what skepticism is all about? Can we doubt everything?

Yes, absolutely. But it’s all a question of method. For example, accepting a rumor as a truth, or verifying an informational source does not yield the same results. Again, it all depends on whether you’re trying to find out the truth, or whether you’re trying to confirm what you  already believe.

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A post shared by AstronoGeek (@astronogeek)

You debunk certain theories and explain phenomena, what kind of video makes you the most excited? Where does the subject of your creations come from? From your followers, your astrophysicist friends, from your chance encounters at the esoteric bar?

From everywhere. There are no rules. But many subjects are suggested to me by viewers. And to answer what I like the most… well, if I tackle a subject, it’s because I like it. Some big subjects, such as the giant N1 rocket, the Nazi V2s, the Russian space dogs or the Soviet lunar tank I particularly liked.

You must often receive cruel criticism under your videos. How do you deal with it?

I’m so sick of it, that I don’t give a damn. I’m only interested in constructive criticism. As for rage, as the Tuaregs say, the dogs bark, the caravan goes by. And as the Americans say, any way the wind blows.

What projects, encounters, partnerships have you enjoyed the most so far?

Without hesitation, the weightless flight with the CNES!!! After that, I admit, making a crop circle was a lot of fun… so much so that I have other projects of that kind, for when Covid is over…

Can’t wait to watch your next videos! But tell us, how did you end up at Spreadshop? Are our competitors too illuminated for your taste?

Spreadshirt delivers, fast, quality stuff. I tried some products from the competition, but the quality wasn’t as high. Not to mention the delivery times. I’ve been at Spreadshirt since Studio de Poche, and I think I’ll be here for a while longer.

By the way, who are your followers? Some crazy people with a madness for science?

95% are men, according to YouTube stats. But the youngest are in elementary school, and the oldest are in retirement homes. My channel is not at all for purists or specialists: it’s indelicate. You just have to be curious.

How do you find your audience and your buyers?

I’m happy to offer it. If people are interested, that’s even better. If they’re not, too bad. It’s the small number of buyers that allows me to finance my channel and make a living, and make sure that all this content is completely free for everyone else. I like this business model, because it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

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A post shared by AstronoGeek (@astronogeek)

And do you advertise your products on Facebook and other networks?

Nah, I’m only really active on YouTube.

You’ve been using YouTube merch shelf recently. How did your followers react to the product selection under your videos? Did they criticize you for wanting to make more money?

T-shirts have always been popular on my channel. There’s always a angry person or two to call me a sandwich man, but… see my answer above on my procreative organs ^^

Would you recommend YouTube merch shelf to all YouTubers? If so, why?

Because every job deserves a paycheck, and on YouTube we don’t have one. So, what if some fans are interested in T-shirts with the channel’s logo on them, why deprive them?

What’s your favorite sci-fi movie? Do you like Alien the 8th Passenger, X-Files or E.T.?

Mmmmmh…. Yeah, Alien it is. Interstellar is pretty cool too. But in real life, I’m more of a video game guy. And my last mega-slap with the flat of my hand is Red Dead Redemption II.

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A post shared by AstronoGeek (@astronogeek)

Coffee or tea?

Tea. Black please, with a cloud of English milk.

Wait a minute, we’ll send you one right away! Find AstronoGeek on YouTube, but also on Facebook, Spreadshop, Instagram and his website.

The post Shop of the Month: AstronoGeek appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

A second wave of Covid-19 is pushing many European countries back into lockdown. Because of this, we’re preparing for a higher demand in face masks again. So, we’ve added another face covering to our product range.

Our new Contrast Face Masks are available in size S, (ideal for teenagers and smaller faces) and in size L (ideal for larger faces). The mask features two rubber stoppers for adjusting the length of the ear loops. With contrasting colors, the mask is white with black trimmings! Try out all-over print on this mask and create something truly unique for your Shop. Plus, because we produce this mask in-house, the production time is only 48 hours.

Add the new mask to your Shop now and thank us later! Between December 7th and December 30th the face mask will be unavailable, so you’ll want to broaden your assortment of face coverings.

Contrast Face Mask

Size S / Size L

• Color: White with black trimmings
• Three-layer mask (100% polyester outer, 100% cotton lining)
• Elastic ear loops with two adjustable rubber stoppers
• Not a medical product. Not proven to protect against infection.

Print & price

• Print area: 15 x 9.5 cm (size S), 18.5 x 13 cm (size L)
• Print type: Thermal sublimation, Vector and Pixel graphics recommended
• Pricing varies for theUK and IE/EU.

While wearing a face mask is the new normal, it can still be intimidating! Keep your customers feeling encouraged and happy during these difficult times with fun designs and all-over patterns.

If you have any questions or comments, we’re here for you. Let us know in the comments or forum.

The post New: Contrast Face Mask (Europe) appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.