DesignGive.com essentially sells apparel online that is designed by some of the world’s most skilled graphic designers, but more than just this fact separates them apart from the rest of the online t-shirt design companies amidst the recent explosion of the…well, the t-shirt design companies. I mean, even CNN is getting in on the action! So, to give you a better understanding of why DesignGive rocks moreso than the rest in the boom, I think the best way for me to tell you about them is to post to you directly what they say they are about, so here it is:
“Designgive is a web site for designers, by designers. We are here to give artists like us opportunities to create, to promote themselves and to better society by contributing designs for apparel that can be purchased on our site. A portion of the proceeds from each item sold will go to a charity of the buyer’s choosing. A cause for design, plain and simple. As artists we were given a talent to create, it’s up to you to use those talents to try and make a difference in the world.”
And after my constant bothersome attempts to contact them, the Design Give team finally cracked and made time to finish up our interview, and honestly, I never once resented the fact it took nearly half a year for us to get together and finish up this interview. I mean, cmon, these guys are taking a fantastic idea that became a very successful business and with it attempting to make the world a better place and save lives.
And with that said, that makes this particular interview my most rewarding to date, and I truly thank them for their efforts and have nothing but the up most respect for their work and who they are as people.
And with that said, let’s get this started…
(Christopher): What was your main inspiration for deciding to donate a portion of your profits to charity? The reason I ask this is because many designers would gladly donate t-shirt designs to your website anyway just for the self-promotion and a link to their portfolio, even if you were keeping all of the profits and the charitable donations were non-existant.
(Christopher Muniz): I have always wanted to get into t-shirt design since early 2000. However, it wasn’t until early 2007 that my schedule cleared up enough to devote the time needed to make it something viable. I agree, designers are much more inclined to donate designs to better network their capabilities and make a name for themselves, but I wanted to do more than that. I saw that there were no other t-shirt companies currently doing it and decided it would not only garner attention, but would be doing something good for humanity in the process.
(Christopher): While browsing your website and learning a bit more about the inner-workings of DesignGive, I noticed that you have quite a team. Are they also designers, and if so, have they submitted any designs for the t-shirts?
(Christopher Muniz): There are only a handful of designers here at DG. Most of them are helpers and work part time and wear the many hats of keeping the engine running so to speak. Darren Ansley (besupercharged.com) and myself (theycreative.com) offer freelance services in-between DG releases, so we are probably the one’s that have the most design experience and pursue that outside of DG. The others are quickly learning and enjoying their creative expression on a few designs in their free time.
(Christopher): Do you currently have any plans to broaden the range of merchandise being sold on DesignGive.com?
(Christopher Muniz): There have been discussions on offering other mediums of the artwork, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.
(Christopher): Who was the initial person, or who were the initial group of people who first came up with the concept of DesignGive.com?
(Christopher Muniz): Well, that would be me. Like I mentioned earlier it was an aspiration of mine to get involved with t-shirts in some way or form either designing them or submitting designs to other sites. After the initial concept came to be, I contacted Darren and started bouncing ideas of off him to see how we could break into the ever so crowded t-shirt market. Darren was instrumental in getting DG 1.0 off the ground and later 2.0 with his supernatural CSS and design abilities. Both versions went back and forth like a Photoshop Tennis Match until we were both happy and DG was born.
(Christopher): How has the design community received DesignGive? Are there any design oriented websites or individuals that have gone above and beyond to spread the word about your website and what separates it from others?
(Christopher Muniz): Designgive has been embraced by the design community as I frequented design forums and communities for feedback during the first release. Of course we only had a handful of designs at the time, but that didn’t stop people from purchasing as they knew it was something different and best of all worthwhile.
(Christopher): Are there any charities you are considering adding to the donation list?
(Christopher Muniz): This has been the hardest issue surrounding DG. We would like to give to everyone, but the more hands in the bucket results in smaller cuts to each charity. I personally selected 7 charities that I feel have a more global impact than others. That way people in other countries can contribute to a charity that helps people closer to them. Maybe in the future we can add more charities as we continue to grow.
(Christopher): While all of the designs for the shirts are great, is there any one submitted design from an artist that really stands out to you as something special or stands out to your team as a whole?
(Christopher Muniz): Good question. Although each design has it’s own style and inspiration behind it, they are all our favorites. It’s kind of like asking a person with children, which child is their favorite. :)
(Christopher): Has there been a rush of designers donating their designs to your website in hopes of having it on a shirt and doing something fantastic for charity as well, or has the submission process been a relatively slow moving process?
(Christopher Muniz): Design submissions have been more of a roller coaster. Although we receive submissions through our site, most designers actually take the time to write us an email with a link to their portfolio and eagerness to participate in what we are doing. We really wish we could print all submissions, as they are done from the heart with no strings attached. It’s that outpouring of generosity that makes designgive what it is today.
(Christopher): Do you or the members of your team spend any significant amount of time surfing Design / Web Design / other artistically related websites on the internet? If so, do you or any members of your team who might be participating in this question have any favorites?
(Christopher Muniz): Another good question. Darren is fond of alistapart.com for the web standards and best practices. I personally frequent QBN.com (aka Newstoday.com) for design inspiration, feedback, and witty banter. Also, any CSS Gallery site is a great inspirational tool for seeing the latest initiatives in design.
(Christopher): Has DesignGive received much press coverage? What about interviews and things of that nature? Is this your first?
(Christopher Muniz): Designgive has been written about a few times, but this is the first official interview. I personally enjoy reading artist interviews since you only get to see their work and not really the though process or inspiration behind their goals. You learn things about that person that you obviously couldn’t get from looking at their works.
(Christopher): If someone reading this wanted to support and promote your website, what is the best way to do so?
Are there any readily available banners/buttons for others to use when linking to DesignGive.com?
(Christopher Muniz): We have some older banners that you are welcome to use, and as new ones become available you can download them from our site. We will provide a link on our site for banner ad promotions in the near future.
(Christopher): In closing, is there anything you would like to say to all of the JungleJar.com visitors who might be reading this? Are there any websites you would like to plug, upcoming events, things of that nature? Consider this an unstructured question — anything goes; you could write five or so haiku poems here, and I’ll publish it.
(Christopher Muniz): I would personally like to thank each and everyone who has had their hand in turning designgive into a reality. Also, to the contributing artist for their generosity, time and consideration. And, a special thanks to the customers for not only their purchases, but also their feedback to bring a better product to everyone. Thanks for the interview and consideration and wish the best to you and your readers.
(Christopher): Is Ashlee Ewing currently single? Haha, kidding, of course. That is, unless she has plans to re-locate to the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.
(Christopher Muniz): Be careful what you wish for, she is a firecracker for sure.
Ashlee was recently married and is expecting her first child any day now.
I’d like to give Mr. Christopher Muniz my absolute appreciation noted in a public forum, in this case it being JungleJar.com, for finding the time to offer our JungleJar.com readers an interview, and to also help spread the word and realization that charity has a place in all social / work cultures. I personally hope that this interview and our focus on Design Give in this article and possible future articles will inspire other web and graphic designers to integrate a way to give something back to the community or charities themselves via their online creations..
I’d also like to give Ashlee from the Design Give Team a huge congratulations from myself and the entire Jungle Jar Team on her recent marriage and the miracle in her belly which is soon to be tweeting any day now!
You can read more about the charities you can donate to through the purchasing of the DesignGive.com apparel, as well as see the team behind the website by going to the official about page which I’ve linked here.
And of course the main page of the Design Give.com website can be checked out by clicking here, or simply by going to http://www.designgive.com.
Got a RSS Feed reader? Do you actually use it? If so, why not subscribe to the Design Give RSS Feed?.
Do you Tweet? Yeah, who doesn’t. Anyway, just give a follow to @designgive to stay up to date with their latest fantastic items via Twitter.
Don’t forget to also check out my interview with Graphic Designer Andhika Nugraha here on JungleJar.com.
Andhika was one of the more impressive t-shirt designers I came across on the website, and really introduced me to the Design Give efforts.
You can view Andhika’s t-shirt for sell at DesignGive.com entitled “God” by clicking here. Below is a preview of the tee.
Why not check out They Creative.com — another project created by Christopher Muniz?
Oh, and if you’re wondering, Oiled by artist Vanja Vikalo will most likely be the next tee I’ll be ordering.
From Vanja: “Unfortunately the voice of wildlife is never heard in global oil catastrophes, so this is my illustrated way of voicing it for them.”
Believe it or not, I’ve never enjoyed the color yellow before these t-shirts, haha.
