Greater>Than Clothing

In addition to welcoming Ryan to the Greater>Than team, I wanted to follow up on the change in strategy he described in his intro post. My original plan was for Greater>Than to play a design consulting/curation role, working with designers to help them achieve their visions and selecting the most promising designs for production. We would then contract with another company to get our shirts made.

This had proven a bit frustrating, especially since the company I had chosen to work with was in another state, and we were conducting all of our business through e-mail. Plus, we don’t want to compromise at all on quality, and I felt like there was an element of risk involved there, since the quality of the print itself (a crucial component in overall quality) would be out of our hands.

While I was trying to force my way through the frustration, Ryan saw this problem as an opportunity, deftly demonstrating one of the key operating principles that I had set out for the company (but had failed to live up to myself): use problems to identify opportunities. This principle of ‘probletunity*’ is a reminder to bring creativity to bear on issues that hold us back, so that they can be not only overcome but transcended. Read the rest of this entry »

In this post, I’ll describe the second of two prototype designs that are currently in the works, as mentioned earlier. The first can be found here.

Continuing with a theme of learnings from other cultures (I now realize), this tee is inspired by the Bushidō code of the samurai warrior class of feudal Japan. I have long appreciated the stoicism, honor, and discipline that the memory of these legendarily deadly men continues to evoke. I think a big part of what I dig about the samurai, as opposed to other fighters respected historically for their effectiveness, was their lack of blood lust. Killing was their vocation, and they went about it with the utmost seriousness. Much of the Bushidō code revolves around preparation for death, which couldn’t help but remind the samurai of the gravity of ending someone else’s life.

In that context, it makes sense that one of the seven virtues of the way of the warrior was “jin”, best translated to English as “benevolence”. Far from dispassionate killing machines, they were trained to maintain a charitable disposition, to live their lives with kindness in their hearts. On the other hand, of course, they were called upon to kill without mercy when the situation called for it. It is this dichotomy that I hope to explore with this design.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first of two prototype designs that I have commissioned (as I explained earlier). I present the idea here as part of my attempt to demonstrate (rather than simply explain) what Greater>Than Clothing is about. I am also a firm believer in the power of creative cross-pollination; I’ll be ecstatic if this idea inspires you in your own creative work (whatever that may be). Greater>Than is also committed to being open to new ideas, so if you have something to say about this design, please get in touch with me by leaving a comment on this post or by visiting the contact page.

Huginn and Muninn were the ravens of the norse god Odin. They would perch on his shoulders and keep him informed by whispering in his ears. Huginn represented thought, news, learning; Muninn represented memory, wisdom. Odin relied on them, and feared that something would happen to them. Without them, he would be cut off from the world, without the knowledge necessary to govern his people. As Odin explained, as much as he feared the loss of Huginn, he feared losing Muninn more. Remembering what you have learned is more important than learning new things.

I think this lesson carries new resonance today, as the blessed Interweb has given us access to so much raw information. In an age of RSS-enabled hyper-throughput, Odin reminds us to be careful what we retain. Not all knowledge grows up to be wisdom (Wisdom>Knowledge). The shirt is about this idea, and the design uses the ravens to deliver the metaphor. Read the rest of this entry »

I have what you could call a cold-start problem here at Greater>Than. It’s hard to talk about what the company does, because it hasn’t really done all that much yet. I’ve been spending more time working on the company than I have working in it. Some would say that’s the right place for my efforts in the beginning, and I would agree, but honestly it’s just a tad frustrating that I run a company that doesn’t yet have any products.

I was out the other night and had occasion to tell an acquaintance about the company. She was encouraging, but threw me a little with her well-intentioned query as to why I wasn’t wearing any of my stuff. When I have something, I assured her, I’ll be wearing it every day. I’m looking forward to being able to both show and tell.

Toward that end, I’ve commissioned two designs. Ultimately, I don’t want to be the sole idea generator; I want Greater>Than to be a design catalyst, supplying a positive, rewarding environment in which designers can express themselves. First, however, I need to get the idea out there. Step 1: blog. Status: you’re looking at it. Step 2: prototypes. Status: In progress.

I looked at a bunch of print shop websites trying to find one that seemed like it would be a good fit for Greater>Than Clothing. I liked what I read at the Mammoth Printshop site, and started an e-mail correspondence (it helped that they list Johnny Cupcakes as a client - I dig a lot of their stuff). Mammoth does commissioned design work as well, so I sent them some descriptions to see what they thought and to gauge whether they could execute them for me. I liked the discussion; their responses made me feel like they knew exactly what I was looking for. Plus, the fee seemed reasonable, so they got the business.

So, the first two Greater>Than designs are in progress, potentially as I write this, which is very exciting for me. Stay tuned for the design descriptions I sent. I’ll post them as part of my effort to “show my work” (something I always got dinged for in middle school math classes).

I had a fairly productive weekend here at G>T headquarters, and I just wanted to check in with a couple of updates:

• After getting feedback from several friends on ~15 design concepts, I decided on the first two Greater>Than Clothing designs! Stay tuned for full descriptions.
• I did a bit of financial analysis, convincing myself that I might actually be able to make more money on these shirts than I spend. I’m mentally prepared to take the plunge and order some inventory. Now it’s a matter of getting my ideas executed as t-shirts. More on that later as well.
• I applied for a license to do business in the state of Washingon. It was easy; I did the whole thing online and it only cost $20 to apply. Next up will be a license for Seattle, and once I have that I think I’ll be officially allowed to do some business.
• I upgraded Wordpress (the software running this site) to v2.1, and so far I like the new version a lot.

I’m feeling good. I like the momentum that seems to be building around this project. It seems that once I set a goal and broke it into individual steps, things started to flow. Perhaps simply switching from abstract visualizing to concrete problem-solving allows solutions to emerge.

• Washington State Department of Licensing
• Wordpress.org

Great ideas can come from anywhere at any time. My vision is to make Greater>Than Clothing as idea-friendly an organization as possible so that we can take advantage of any and all the great ideas that come our way. Further, I hope to encourage people to send in those ideas by making interacting with Greater>Than as rewarding as possible. I’m all about giving credit where credit is due and I firmly believe that if you create ideas with value you should be able to reap tangible rewards. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is. Intrigued?

Of course, it’s hard to create in a vacuum. How is one to know if his idea is a Greater>Than contender? First, I’ll say err on the side of inclusion. Greater>Than is young and still largely undefined. You can influence what it is and what it isn’t by letting me know what you think it should be. Second, I’ll be using this site to define the idea as I currently understand it and as it develops. It is in that spirit that I present an idea that I’ve been kicking around for a while, an idea that I think could easily make the jump from concept to Greater>Than product:

Sparrow>Snail

I have no problem admitting that I had a Simon and Garfunkel phase. Those two guys were really on to something for a while there. Plus, Paul went on to release Graceland a decade and a half later, and that album still rules. It is, however, important for me to make it clear that my S&G phase is behind me, and I realize that I’m risking that as I admit that as I started to think about Greater>Than, the juxtaposing lines from their song “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” inspired me:

I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I’d rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes I would.
If I only could,
I surely would.

These lyrics carry an air of truth that transcends experience. This is a trivial point at first glance. Of course I’d rather be a hammer than a nail. Everyone would; you don’t need to have been hit with a hammer to come to that conclusion. But the song isn’t about choosing up sides, it’s about wishing you were what you aren’t. It’s the snail who’s singing, and we’ve all been there before. Read the rest of this entry »