I recently asked my sales team, who works with our retail partners, "What are Chomp's best-selling graphics of all time?"
While we're known for my detailed illustrations, our best sellers are, broadly speaking, pretty simple. They are straightforwardly graphic.
This shouldn't surprise me. From my very first job at Billabong, I've known that people relate more to a great concept than to an ornate illustration. At Billabong, many of our best sellers were simple, while the worst sellers were my drawings.
The question young makers should consider above all else is, "What do I want to communicate?" Some marketers call this a "story." I'll pause for your eye roll.
The mastery of a concept is shown by how quickly your viewer can understand it. In t-shirt form, this recognition should happen in an instant. I don't have much time to sell a shirt; it's a snap judgment.
Our phrases like "Never Worried," "Always Prickly," and "Stay Slippery" are designed to deliver our story.
In many ways, Chomp is the opposite of big brands. The marketing is the garment. The taglines are on the tees, not in ads. At Chomp, our t-shirt concepts are king.