Good looking shirts are all about good fit. None of your models have a shirt remotely fitted for them. The pictures currently do a disservice for both the shirt and the model!
Fun idea, though I am not convinced it will go far as a business/way to make money. I have seen this a couple of times. Sites like http://www.startupschwag.com/ had to eventually give it up despite a good initial publicity buzz and following.
Ill-fitting shirt pictures aside, the bigger problem is sizing availability. I'm willing to overlook what looks like a total lack of womens shirts, but the near lack of anything but large-size (and a handful of XL) shirts is pretty disappointing.
I have to agree, the thing that struck me first was the poor photography (washed out, hazy photos) and second, the ill-fitting shirts -- too large and baggy on most models.
EDIT: Having read your story, Go Penn State! Good luck to you.
Sorry, but why would I wear a DropBox t-shirt? If I'm an employee there or something, it might make sense. It also makes sense if you identify yourself with a particular large company's ethos like Apple / Google, but I just can't see myself wearing any of these ...
Why do people wear band t-shirts? This might not be your thing, but lots of people will buy/wear shirts to promote or support an organization they like.
I don't agree a person wearing a Metallica t-shirt is actually promoting them. It's more of a case of saying, "Hey world, I'm cool because I like Metallica!". It's a case of showing off your interests to the world, not an altruistic promotion of a particular interest.
"I'm cool because I use a relatively obscure software tool to backup my data" - doesn't sound right.
EDIT1: Also I'd rather have startup quotes presented in an artsy way than just logos like this - http://startupquote.com/
EDIT2: Other cool ideas instead: @adrianwaj and @bomatson
Or how about "I'm cool because I'm ahead of the curve when it comes to technology", which, by the way, has become quite trendy lately if you haven't noticed.
I love T-shirts. I don't love branded logo T-shirts, but many folks do. So best of luck!
My advice is this: your product photography needs to improve by an order of magnitude. I am trying to give good feedback, not make you feel bad... this is key and your current photos will hurt your conversion rate.
This is great and something Dropbox should do. This would make for great PR. The QR code idea underneath my post would be great on the back. Just a huge QR code.
Is this a weekend project, or a larger project? It seems a bit bigger in scope than something put together in a weekend.
Either way, awesome idea. Acting as a distribution/sales channel for startups to spread their merch is a great idea. I can't imagine Dropbox wants to spend a lot of time dealing with selling shirts - outsourcing that to you guys makes a lot of sense.
It doesn't. My "side" project took years. I finally finished a couple weeks ago, but since it was a "side" project, I was never too motivated to finish it. My motivation was when I got extra time after graduating in May. http://www.hipsterorhomeless.com is that project.
Please branch out into stickers! I just had a conversation with a founder yesterday about where he gets all his startup stickers (by going to events, of course). But not all of us can do that.
I second these comments, would be great for mobile games or entertainment focused startups, where a lot of users are loyal fans and would wear the merch around proudly
I'm not clear how this is better than a given startup using Printfection (or similar company) to offer print-on-demand tshirts that are fulfilled and shipped directly to the buyer. Looks like prices on Printfection would be same or even slightly cheaper than this service.
It would seem that these guys have had to print up a ton of shirts, deal with inventory, fulfillment, etc. There are companies that will do this for you the same costs.
I think this is a neat idea. I'm looking forward to seeing more shirts on the site. I can see why startups would gravitate to this. Why not have someone else promoting you on their site and then having the shirts distributed to the public? Small price for a lot of PR.
If I were a startup, I'd probably just give away t-shirts for free, maybe just charge a nominal shipping fee. the person who is wearing it is advertising for you after all.
Fun idea, though I am not convinced it will go far as a business/way to make money. I have seen this a couple of times. Sites like http://www.startupschwag.com/ had to eventually give it up despite a good initial publicity buzz and following.