KarmaSwap Seller of the Week

Hey World,

Grab a coffee, dust the sleep out your eye, it’s Monday and another week has begun. This week we have an ‘ugly’ treat for you. I know that doesn’t sound all too appealing, but one emerging lifestyle brand has made ugly seem attractive one design at a time.

Meet FreekUgly, a character based tee shirt line and lifestyle brand from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Taking seemingly unattractive graphic images and morphing them into fashion perfection is what this line does and does well. The line has extended its brand from t-shirts to several things like bandanas, skateboard decks and canvas. Although “freek ugly” might not be how you want to describe your mate, this line has made that phrase into an awesomely alluring fashion statement.

Check out the interview and see how Freekugly does their thang.

1.) Where are you from? What do you do for a living?

I’m from Philadelphia, and I’m a graphic designer by profession.

2.) What kind of product do you produce?

A character based t-shirt line that has recently branched out into becoming a lifestyle brand using different media, such as bandanas, skateboard decks, and canvas.

3.) FreekUgly is an interesting name, how did you come up with it?

When I looked at the characters, first thing I though was “they are freakin’ ugly!”  That stuck with me.  I loved the name but I also loved the possibility of playing on the word ugly.  I liked being able to use the word ugly as a term that didn’t refer to something unattractive. Instead it would refer to something different, out of the norm and therefore appealing to the consumer.

4.) What motivated you to base the line on characters? Do you start with a character first or do you begin with idea and then tie it to a character?

I first started out drawing the characters. As I looked at them, I felt that it was something that would translate well on tees, so I did it. Being mainly into the urban wear and semi-luxury brands such as LRG, Rocawear, Triple Five Soul, and Morphine Generation.  I thought that it would be something fresh and new on the scene.  When I create the tees I sometimes start with the character then I design around it, but often I create a theme and tie it to an existing character or I create a new one.

5.) (Jump to check out a few of the top designs by Freekugly and their stories…)

6.) What are your ultimate goals for your line?

My ultimate goals for Freekugly, is to have it become a staple in streetwear apparel and to be iconic through creative branding.  I look to venture into such things as designer vinyl, plush characters, and animation to name a few.

7.)What are your opinions of the new Karmaswap? How do you see this affecting streetwear culture?

Karmaswap is great vehicle for consumers from around the world to access up and coming streetwear brands.  It will be effective in getting those brands to the select group of tastemakers and trendsetters that wouldn’t have seen them otherwise, ultimately adding something valuable to the streetwear culture.

KarmaSwap Seller of the Week

The Personal Advisory logo is not brought to you by C. Delores Tucker or Bill O’Reilly intended to tone down your musical material. Instead, it is by way of Atlanta based clothing line, Personal Advisory, and it’s designed to turn up both your fashion sense and expand your social consciousness.

In this week’s edition of our Seller of the Week, we interviewed Nnmadi Arinze, Nigerian designer and owner of Personal Advisory. Personal Advisory is inspired by three major arenas: hip-hop, social/political leaders, and social issues. Using numerous edgy, conscious, and bold graphic designs, Personal Advisory has pushed consumers and witnesses of it its brand to think beyond simply fashion. PA is making a statement unlike several other traditional fashion brands. While the company is based in Atlanta, GA, be on the lookout for its worldwide expansion soon!

Below check out how Personal Advisory got its start, its freshest designs, and where it will be going in the future! Enjoy!

1.) Where are you from? What do you do for a living?

I’m from Atlanta, GA. by way of Nigeria. I’m a graphic designer / brand developer

2.) What kind of product do you produce?

I produce apparel, as of now t-shirts is the only items we offer. We will expand to sweat shirts this winter and eventually jeans, hats, and accessories.

3.) What inspired the title of your company?

Personal Advisory is urban apparel meets underground advocacy agency.

We are inspired by the subtle, informative, and poetic aspects that were once common place in hip hop. Thus defines our logo. Once a prominent symbol for Parental Advisory before MP3′s redefined printed CDs and record stores thus curving it’s use. Now redefined as a symbol for Social Advisory by each and every individual = Personal Advisory.

4.) What are some of the guiding influences for your products?

Our influences are heroes, music, censored social issues and playing with abstract concepts that are at times hidden. Our goals is to bring all these things to light.

5.) What do you think makes your designs stand out from others?

Not only because of the cult following and reaction, but we believe in the design world t-shirts are no exception that bold, simple, honest and timeless messages have gone further, but often never exist in combination. The famous Che t-shirt is a great example of this. We adopt this idea and use it as a standard in every t-shirt design.

6.) (Check out a sampling of Personal Advisory’s insanely provocative designs after the jump.)

Click the banner below to check out more from Personal Advisory at the KarmaSwap page

KarmaSwap Seller of the Week

Hello Swappers,

As we continue to grow Karmaswap, we want to spotlight one of the many creative forces featured on the site each week.

Meet Alex Dakoulas, shoe designer by trade and graphic apparel genius. Alex took his passion for living life to the fullest, horror flicks, and talented graphic design skills to birth Dance Party Massacre, which produces a collection of tees, sweatshirts, and accessories. DPM is a unique brand that produces fashion with an edgy and artistic flavor.  To learn more about DPM, we caught up with Alex recently to hear how he got his start and his vision for the future.

- Leandrew Robinson, KarmaSwap

1.) Where are you from? What do you do for a living?

I am originally from Manchester, NH, but I lived in Boston for years having gone to school at MassArt. I currently work at Converse in North Andover, MA as a Footwear Designer.

2.) What kind of product do you produce?

My background is in graphic design, so naturally the focus on Dance Party Massacre is graphic tees, but we also have sweatshirts, bandanas, and necklaces. In the future I hope to keep expanding the line, without losing the graphic imagery we started off with.

3.) What drew you the kind of items you produced? What inspired your products?

I became known for my own graphic tees while in college, and I’m sure it helped me land my current job at Converse. After a while I wanted to venture beyond random one-off designs and really focus on a concept and create a line. I’ve had a fairly huge interest in horror movies since I was a tween, and it just so happened that my senior year of college I felt my love of life and death (so to speak) come together. Living in Boston and taking the city alive going to parties, and just having fun, inspired me to juxtapose the horror that I love with an optimistic, fun edge to create an identity that is hopefully unique and interesting. The idea of making scary things fun goes along with turning the bad into good and facing your demons so you can just be happy.

4.) Here is a small sample of the line:

EYECONIC

This is the one graphic that epitomizes the line the most. It’s the Dance  Party Massacre logo which has 3 elements: The eye is our soul, the knife is danger, and the hands keep us moving. Our core colors also represent us with Black being the night/evil, White is for good, Bright Blue is our aspirations, and Blood Red is the life we live!

VAMPIRE GRILL

The idea of a vampire having a grill is just funny to me, so our Vampire Grill design takes that scariness of some sharp fangs and makes it ridiculous with some gangsta bling and tons of dripping blood. It’s been of one our best sellers, but maybe that’s just because of Twilight and True Blood…

FRESH 2 DEATH

If we were going to tackle one of the most played-out phrases (that uncoolness being part of it’s ironic charm) then it was going to be DPM style. While most imagery that is created with the phrase “Fresh to Death” usually featured a skull with headphones, I decided to turn a coffin into a treasure chest full of fresh booty any street kid would kill to have their hands on.

6.) What kinds of influences are reflected in what you produce?

For our graphics, I like to always represent that combination of fear and fun. If it’s too scary it can be morbid, and if it’s too playful it can be silly. I also try to keep the style fairly clean and iconic to balance out the horrific imagery and make it a bit less abrasive and gross, and more pop-like.

The certain products we choose to print on, or carry, is about making the line accessible to everyday people, while trying to keep it a bit edgy for the ones who are a bit more fashion-forward. That combination is reflected in basic pieces like t-shirts and sweatshirts, but for instance—the first sweatshirt we put out was a crew neck. In reality I think a hoodie would have been a more “basic” choice, but I wanted to go with what I felt was just a bit more trend-relevant. Also carrying things like Razorblade Necklaces represent that edge the line has in other ways besides graphics.

7.) What are your ultimate goals for your line?

My ultimate goal would be for DPM to become successful enough for it to be my only job. I would love for people to enjoy it enough that I can logically devote my everyday life to it, and make a living off of it.

I would also just be happy creating something a small group of people truly love, than creating something that a lot of people kinda like. If I wanted to do that I wouldn’t put blood on my tees.

8.) What are your opinions of the new Karmaswap? How do you see this affecting streetwear culture?

I think Karmaswap allows great exposure to many brands who might not receive it otherwise. My main goal in being a part of it was just to get it out there and help it find its audience. I see Karmaswap effecting streetwear culture in the sense that everyday, working people (people of the streets!) have a chance at making it big.

9.) What do you hope your customers get out off your products?

I want people who wear DPM to remember to live life while they can. Start living before you start dying!