Hi all,
Just thought I would give you an update of what I have been doing recently and some more info into Kalman Lee the Brand with Q&As below.
Well most of you know if you have been reading my posts that I am currently in Christchurch, New Zealand. I am putting together a business plan so I can approach the New Zealand government for funding. If successful it will help shift production to downunder and will help us launch a kids t-shirt range as we have had a huge amount of people interested and waiting for his to happen for quite a while. With producing our excellent products from downunder we can hopefully sell them at a better price for everyone and keep the same amount of high quality we guarantee with the Kalman Lee brand.
A few weekends back some of my artwork was exhibited at the 'Beacondale House Party' with a number of other very talented artists and yesterday I had found out that I have been asked to have some more of my t-shirts exhibited at 'Margin London' early next year! I'm very excited because it's an industry only trade-show for buyers and press and it looks like it gets really good coverage.
Also I now do commissioned artwork..... so get in contact if you want something designed, my prices are very competitive for the current market.
So that is all the recent goss for now and below is some info about Kalman Lee the brand which I've been pulling together for our friend Rassami who is helping us with our PR... enjoy!
What is KALMAN LEE? Kalman Lee is my name and all the designs/illustrations from concept to finished artwork come from me.
What does KALMAN LEE do? We produce high quality wearable art in the form of t-shirts and artwork with original designs/illustrations. What is “illustration art”? It is someone's concepts drawn or designed for others to appreciate.
Who are your clients? People who enjoy wearable art or appreciate good designs/illustrations at low cost but at the same time receiving high quality goods. What are examples of your work? My examples come from what I see or read about, putting two and two together to bring out a new concept or way of thinking e.g. my recent image titled 'Ballet Tree' comes from the love my girlfriend and I share for the amazing shapes some trees have, almost forming human forms and at the time I recently saw my first ballet which performed a scene from Mid Summer's Nights Dream. In which the excellent dancers movements and poses reminds me of when wind blows tree branches and the forms they make.
Why KALMAN LEE, how did it all start? Well.... I have to say it is all thanks to my sister who is also my business partner. One weekend I got a call saying she had an idea that she wanted to run by me, she goes on to tell me she wants to go into business with me selling my designs/illustrations as wearable artwork on t-shirts on the web. Her only catch was that our company had to be named after me. So we got in touch with some web designers to see how we could get running and what we would need to do. Also at the time both my sister and I were working for MTV in London so we were spreading the word around. When we launched our website we had good advertising as we had two presenters of MTV UK (Laura Whitmore and Melvin Odoom) wearing our first range on their shows.
What is the KALMAN LEE creative process? How do you work? Well... everywhere I travel to, I always carry a small sketch book just in case because I constantly have ideas so need to get them down. If I have a concept that could be something good, I will sketch it out a few times to get the right look I am after before scanning it in and redrawing it on my laptop for the finishing touch ups.
How is KALMAN LEE different from other T-shirt designers? How is KALMAN LEE different from other artists? Every designer/artist is different so in saying that, every t-shirt designer must be. I would have to say it's my style, the techniques I use, my experience that I draw my ideas from.... With a name like mine how can I not be different:)
Who are your competitors? Websites that sell t-shirts designs of course, any place I guess that sells t-shirts. I don't really like to mention names as there are so many out there but I do love Threadless as they have some amazing designs. But how many of my competitors can say in just under one year in operation they have had global sales, had MTV presenters wearing their designs and have had the amazing opportunity to give people like Madonna, Lilly Allen and the Ting Tings t-shirts to enjoy. All in all I think not too bad a start.
How much does KALMAN LEE sell? Right now not as much as we would like but since the launch of our second t-shirt range it has taken off and their is a lot of interest in us producing a kids range, so we keep our selves busy.
How many employees does KALMAN LEE have? For the moment we are just two (my sister and me) but we hope to expand in the future.
Does KALMAN LEE have an international presence? Yes we do, we started out in London but we already had a large fan base downunder seeing as both my sister and I grew up in New Zealand. So far we have been viewed online in 76 countries and that number is ever growing. Our hope is to have our t-shirts in stores around the world.
What does ‘KALMAN LEE’ stand for? Kalman Lee stands for high quality original designs/illustrations that are in the form of wearable artwork without the high price tags.
