Temptation from our sponsors...
Temptation from our sponsors...
In the second half with the basics already covered, Jason and I can a little deeper talking about the competition, whats in it for the designer, platform additions, mystery VC backers and other probably less interesting things….
Adam: What targets or goals do you have for the project? When will you be satisfied? When the population hits 100k? When you sell your 1m shirt?
DBH: Jason: For us, every little bit of success, whether it be a t-shirt sale or an increase in our population, is exciting. We’re just having fun and trying to provide the best possible environment for designers and consumers. We do have ambitious goals but we are focused on enjoying the journey in front of us .
Adam: So all shirts are screenprinted?
DBH: Jason: Yes, most of them are screenprinted.
Adam: Lets talk about the business model, so if I submit a shirt, I can actually win three times, shirt of the day, week, month?
DBH: Jason: yep, that’s correct. We wanted to brake up the prizes to keep the artist engaged. Last subs for the $5000 contest deadline is Aug 10. We hope to have our community around 1500 by then. We are really excited and waiting for the Daily, Weekly and Monthly contest to start because that’s when the real action begins
Adam: After winning which will my shirt be sold in the shop? After I win shirt of the day right?
DBH: Jason: Yep, as soon as you win SOTD your design is for sale in the shop.
Adam: So there are only 4 shirts a month that can hope to win over $500 cash (+ $250 credit)? but the rights are transferred to you after I win shirt of the day?
DBH: Jason: 5 shirts, 4 that win Shirt of the Week and 1 for Shirt of the Month
Adam: But the shirt of the month is one of the shirts of the week right?
DBH: Jason: Ah yes. Sorry 
Adam: Ah okay, I see Threadless upped their prize recently, do you think that was in response to the introduction of DBH?
DBH: Jason: We think the Jakes and all the people at Threadless are doing an amazing job. They have increased their prizes periodically over the years so I ‘m sure they would have done it anyway. We may have had something to do with the timing. It was inevitable though.
Adam: Repayment on re-print was long overdue. So what do you think, advanced printing options aside, would make a designer submit to DBH over Threadless or a European contest like laFraise? Baring in mind they pay more and print more often (but obviously from many more submissions)
DBH: Jason: I think the printing options definitely help, but our competitive prize money should also attract some good designers. Yeah, they do pay more. We aren’t pretending to be at the same level as Threadless out of the gate in terms of prize money. We are just offering what we are comfortable with and feel is fair to artists. I’m sure this will change as our company grows.
Adam: I was really impressed with the speed with which you responded to criticisms of your shipping prices, do you read all the feedback about the company and how much is shaped by your communities views?
Jason: Yes. We try to stay close to our community and those who might someday join our community. Listening to them and reacting quickly where possible is one of our main priorities
Adam: And the criticisms of your t&c’s, do you think they are fair to designers? Do you think the criticism is justified?
Excerpt from the t&c’s:
“you hereby grant to DBH, its licensees and assignees, an exclusive right to: (1) reproduce the Design or any parts, alterations or derivatives thereof, in any media or embodiment now known or hereafter to become known (the Products); and (2) publicly display, perform or exhibit, or distribute the Design, as part of the Products, in any way now known or hereafter to become known including without limitation by transmission, broadcast, or electronic communication.”
So although I’ve only been awarded $500 cash (assuming I win just shirt of the day), the rights to the design in any format, forever, now reside with DBH. At the risk of sounding cheeky, that doesn’t seem so human 
Why haven’t you gone for the temporary transfer of copyright like Threadless of La Fraise that secures the rights to use the design on t-shirts, and usually for a limited period of time. Do you think these t&c’s are fair for the designer?
DBH: Jason: Yeah, I think so. We recently made it more clear in the t&c’s that if your design is not chosen, after 60 days the artist retains full rights to their design. Our t&c’s aren’t much different from other sites like ours. It just seems that the legal wording has scared a few people.
DBH: Jason: The intent of that portion of the t&c’s is to say that DBH retains the rights to the use of the design on apparel (”products”). The second part of it is saying we have the right to display it on our website. You’re right though, it does seem a little tight. We’ll see what we can do.
DBH: Jason: I’m pretty sure with Threadless that the transfer of rights is permanent, not temporary.
Adam: I see, but it doesn’t specify apparel, just products? or am I missing something, my legal knowledge is pretty poor
DBH: Jason: Yeah, products refers to use on apparel and other promotional products
Adam: La Fraise is the fairest T&C’s of any I’ve seen, its a one time print run of 500 shirts. I’m not totally sure on Threadless’ t&c’s.
Adam: this paragraph also surprised me
“The Design may be modified in any way whatsoever, used as a basis for additional illustrations or images (whether or not by you), and the Design and any modifications or derivatives thereof may be digitized without any additional approval being required of you, with the exception that you shall be shown such modifications and derivatives and shall have a right to withdraw use of your name as a credit.”
Jason: La Fraise has a great thing going, however, they have a different model from ours
Adam: how do you see it as being different?
DBH: Jason: aside from other things, they are limited edition and we aren’t
Adam: have you received any feedback on the t&c’s from the designers?
DBH: Jason: so far, not much feedback from designers on the t&c’s. But we have been talking about making further changes to loosen them up a bit. That’s what you get when you have a lawyer write them:)
Adam: I think that might be smart move, the site is very competitive and well thought out, but the T&C’s seem a little over zealous
Adam: How do you plan to make the platform engaging and sticky for the human population of DBH?
Jason: As part of the redesign we are adding more community features to allow people to really set up camp and become a part of DesignByHumans.
Adam: Care to share any of those new features?
DBH: Jason: Sure. We’ll be adding things like blogs, favorites, profile commenting, and some other top secret stuff;)
Adam: For me, this area is where Threadless for example, in my eyes their platform comes first, the t-shirts second. La fraise has a very simple platform, but the community is buzzing always, nearly everyone that visits gets involved in some way, again the t-shirt are second, just the output.
DBH: Jason: Definitely. Community always comes first
Adam: I imagine its probably easier to attract designers than regular community participants these days?
DBH: Jason: In the beginning it is but the artists need to come first as the foundation anyway
Adam: A lot of people are already part of Threadless, or la Fraise, or Split the atom, or a DIY company like Spreadshirt. Getting them into the DBH scene will be a big challenge. theres plenty of designers who will try their luck on a new platform, but finding the people that rate 30,000 designs or buy every single shirt, thats a bit trickier. Will you add the facility for designs to co-design or submit drafts in advance of submitting to the contest?
DBH: Jason: the crowd-sourcing community is so large. I think if your platform is effective and your product is quality there are plenty of users out there that will add DBH to their list of favorite destinations.
Adam: I’m sure your right, and have a ton of ideas to make the DBH platform stickier than glue.
DBH: Jason: We’ve talked about that and you’ll probably see it in the coming months
Adam: Where do you see this industry going in the future?
DBH: Jason: T-shirt consumers will never go away. I think the crowd-sourcing side will continue to grow and evolve and start to show up in every aspect of consumer life. As we are already starting to see.
Adam: How long do you think it will be before an artist is likely to win the rock star award, which starts at 1000 shirt sales?
DBH: Jason: It’s hard to say, as we’ve only been around for 3 weeks. but I would guess somewhere around 6 months from now, maybe sooner. The response has been very positive so far, so we are optimistic.
Adam: Theres been a fair amount of buzz around DBH. I think this is mainly down to the fact that there is clearly a lot of money sunk into the project, it looks like a big future player. Is it VC funded? With a big mystery backer like Nike ?
DBH: Jason: We’ve been in the industry long enough to have many designer friends that are extremely talented. We don’t base our decisions on the who the designer is but on the design itself. No, we’re not VC funded. We’ve just worked hard to bring the right people together.
Adam: Your tagline the claim “be human”, what is that a response to? Do you think the design contest or t-shirt industry in general has become de-humanised? Or is it more of a google “dont be evil” thing?
DBH: Jason: Yes, it’s a little of both. the first meaning of “be human” is to encourage the creative human spirit in all of us. Many designers are forced to channel their creativity into the constraints of their employer. We’ve experienced this and know how it can make a robot out of a designer. Hence, “be human”. The second meaning has more to do with be humane and good.
I’d like to thank Jason and wish the DBH success with their project, I’m sure this one we’ll all be watching with interest.
Check out Design By Humans
Also check out some the shirts on sale at DBH:
Prices of the shirts range from $15 to 24. Save an extra 15% with the exclusive discount code HIPHIPUK, ends Sept 3rd.
