

Show HN: Threadless for socks - johnwall
http://swag.sockclub.com/

======
masukomi
I'm fairly certain that all those logos in their are copywritten and thus
illegal for you to stick on socks and sell.

~~~
stonemetal
Is it possible to get a copyright on a logo? I thought it wasn't and hence the
reason for Trademarks. Still illegal, just curious.

~~~
dangrossman
A specific logo design is as protected as any other original image you can
create. That logo can contain words or shapes that are protected by trademark.
They're not mutually exclusive protections.

------
tomkarlo
How is this "Threadless for socks"? The whole point of Threadless is that
they're crowd-sourced art that the community votes on.

This just seems like standard corporate merchandise printing, like when you
get your logo on a bunch of pens.

~~~
saurik
So, I guess more like "Cafe Press for socks". Apparently, Threadless already
has a sock option.

------
k_kelly
Really cool widget, but to me your tagline seems wrong. You give away tshirts
at conferences because people notice them, they don't notice socks. Just say,
make cool socks.

~~~
resu_nimda
There is something to be said for the novelty of giving out socks. I might
even say that many people don't notice tshirts due to "banner blindness," they
tune out the myriad logos on shirts and don't form a lasting impression.

I would definitely remember the company giving out wacky socks, especially if
they were wearable (in terms of material quality).

~~~
jonnathanson
People may or may not notice t-shirts, but the people _wearing_ the t-shirt
assume they're going to be noticed. It's a subtle, possibly not-entirely-
conscious decision. But it's a decision. The idea is that people wear t-shirts
as signifiers/broadcasters of their self identity. They don't necessarily
think of socks the same way -- partially because they're not thinking socks
will be seen, and partially because it's just not an ingrained psychological
pattern.

I'm not saying novelty socks can't happen, and certainly there are a few
fashion labels making a pretty good buck off of socks with fun, quirky, and
unique designs. That's sort of an emerging space in the apparel business,
actually. But the use case is somewhat different from the novelty t-shirt
market.

------
Gmo
I would love if you could also make something a la
thredless/spreadshirt/lafraise ...

Because I'm always looking for "fantasy" socks (e.g. not just plain socks,
don't know the proper English idiom for that) and they are quite hard to find.

I understand that you need a certain volume for a batch to be worth doing,
hence the "let people create design, vote and then sell the most popular one"
idea.

------
ngoel36
So...This is what it's come to.

~~~
ngoel36
But anyways, let's assume it gets funded for $1M+. Here's a few thoughts:

\- The workflow from design->buy should be a lot simpler. I was expecting more
of a CustomInk experience. (1. Pick the type of sock, 2. Design, 3. Buy in ANY
quantity). \- Buying socks should definitely not be an email-only experience,
and definitely not with a minimum of 500 pairs. I understand making, say, just
10 pairs is much more expensive, but if someone is at the point buying "Sock
Swag", they're probably willing to pay a premium. \- Please autosave. \- Use a
better way to delete an 'image'. I selected an image and pressed backspace
which took me back to the home page. \- The hash you're using for a saved
design URL is tremendously long. If Google docs can get by with shorter unique
URLs, so can you. \- I just made a sock with pictures of my face. Just because
I could. Is that going to be publicly accessible through any sort of gallery?
Please make the privacy options more clear.

~~~
pyre
Adding:

\- Separate the controls for resizing and rotating an image. I don't want to
be resizing and rotating at the same time.

------
kunle
Been waiting for something like this for a while. Having tried a ton of socks,
I find build quality varies quite a bit. Dont see any discussion of this on
the site - can you elaborate?

~~~
johnwall
I build quality is good. The socks are similar to the socks made by the
company Sock It To Me

------
awwstn2
This is really cool! A few things:

The design tool allows the full spectrum of colors and the uploading of high-
res photos. I'm doubtful that this [1] would print.

Also, I'm sure you need large orders for this to make sense, but 500 feels
pretty high. If you allow orders of 50 pair, I'm in for 50 of these [2]. :)

1\. <http://cl.ly/image/0C3o1l1i3F2t> 2\. <http://bit.ly/105rXVf>

------
mbesto
Have you looked into expanding to the UK market? I don't think you understand
how big the market is for colo(u)rful socks here!

~~~
minimax
You should check out <http://www.northbranchmerchants.com/>

------
charliepark
The design-a-sock widget (link at the top of the page) is actually pretty
cool.

------
alanctgardner2
Very cool, but the site is pretty much unusable on android chrome.

------
taormina
I like this, I really do, but is there any way to easily offer smaller batches
at higher prices per sock? I understand that it is easier to make in bulk.

------
Zephyrial
Interesting idea - however, without some close-up example photos of how those
patterns would look on a sock, I wouldn't want to purchase any of those.

------
mildavw
Cool! Are you printing and shipping these yourself or do you have a
fulfillment partner/service?

------
pnathan
tees have an advantage in that they can say something to others. socks don't,
usually.

unless your feet are up on the table.

anyway, it's a GREAT idea. hope it is profitable.

~~~
johnwall
yeah that is true but I think that is also an advantage for socks. you will
where them more because you don't feel like your advertising for someone else.

