Temptation from our sponsors...
Temptation from our sponsors...
At a Glance
Goodjoe’s mission is to “[inspire] change through creative design.” A portion of the profits from each shirt goes to a charity you can select during checkout; artists can even opt to donate their prize money towards a cause. The website design is humble and straightforward, with the most recent winning designs on the front page.
Goodjoe uses a contest model, where artists can submit designs related to the theme of positive change. Designs that are picked for print go up for presale for $10 for one week. Afterwards, they return to the standard price of $18. I find some of the designs to be too simplistic in execution or concept for my taste, though there are some winners.
The Shirts
Goodjoe prints on Cygnus for guys, and American Apparel for girls. There isn’t a price difference, which is refreshing — I’m tired of having to pay as much as $4 extra just because I need woman-sized shirts. I’m not familiar with the fit and feel of Cygnus shirts, but haven’t heard any complaints yet.
I purchased “Resilience“, designed by the venerable wotto (Craig Watkins). This shirt was first seen at Teefury, at which time I passed over it. That said, I’m really glad to see it reappear here on an AA blank, and at a great price at that.
The print is smooth and lightweight, and fills up most of the front of the tee. The minute details wotto has become so well-known for are crisp. I would have preferred if the dirt/pollution part of the design filled more of the bottom, maybe hitting the hem, but it still looks fantastic as it is. The shirt has a custom screenprinted neck tag and came with a Goodjoe sticker.
Shipping and Service
Shipping was reasonably priced ($3.14) and very quick — I got my order merely two days after Goodjoe emailed a shipping confirmation to me. The neatly-folded shirt came in a bag with a clear front so you can see it right away, along with the aforementioned sticker and a handwritten message thanking me and asking me to recycle the bag.
Goodjoe also showed exceptional concern for the quality of the shirt — a couple days after I received it, I and the other customers who purchased this design were sent an email, which let us know that Goodjoe was aware of some complaints about the print — some people didn’t like how the print isn’t immediately visible against the dark gray fabric, or its smaller-than-expected size. The email asked us to wash the shirt and report back with whether or not we wanted to return it. In the meantime, they took the tee out of the catalog. For the record, I have no problems with my shirt other than the print size, and I’m thoroughly impressed by Goodjoe’s genuine concern for customer satisfaction.
Closing Thoughts
An extremely low preorder price for new designs and exception customer service, not to mention the charity donations and spirit of good will, make Goodjoe an easy recommendation from me.
Author’s Note: If it wasn’t already apparent, I’m taking the photo reviews off a rigid weekly schedule for the simple reason that you never know when some special deal is going to pop up on a certain day. That and Threadless tends to launch big things on Monday, so naturally I’ll be inclined to cover those.
