Interview With Impact Threads

Impact Threads is a newly launched site which operates on a community based platform. With their experience in the industry and a fresh outlook they have a promising future and offer many benefits to artists and customers alike. Braden was kind enough to give us an overview of their business and answer some pertinent questions on what Impact Threads is all about and where they are headed.

I appreciate you taking the time to provide my readers a little insight into what you’re doing. What’s the concept behind Impact Threads and how did you get involved in the t-shirt industry?

Impact Threads is an ongoing t-shirt design competition. Designers can submit their work which will be voted on by the community for two weeks. We pick winners every two weeks and sell the shirts directly from the site. Our parent company, Say What Screen Printing has been in business for over ten years. We’ve always wanted to have a different type of e-commerce site and really loved the concept behind Impact Threads. We’re fortunate to have an in-house art department, shipping and receiving, accounting and of course our production team.

What design types are you looking for and what are the prizes you are offering?

We’re open to any type of design, the community is really going to take the site in whatever direction they choose. We’re offering a lot of different printing styles so we hope that we see some really unique designs and that the community votes accordingly. As far as prizes go, we offer $2,000 to the 1st place winner, $3 per shirt sold to 2nd place, $2 per shirt for 3rd place and $1 for 4th place. We also donate $500 to our charity of the month in the name of the winning artists that month.

What can I expect from you as an artist?

Well the first thing you can expect is prompt payment. We’ve been in business for over ten years and don’t have the cash flow issues that most start-ups do. Secondly, we’re completely driven by our artists because without them there simply is no site, so we’re going to do everything we can to make their lives easier. Obviously we want to help promote them as much as they’re helping to promote us.

How will Impact Threads stand out from other competition sites?

When we began creating the site we looked at our competition and found out what they did well and where people thought they could do better. The two biggest draws for people were having a lot of freedom in their printing options and community oriented. We offer artists a ton of different printing styles and they can use up to ten colors. As for community, we not only have forums on the site but we’re getting involved in actual communities with our charity of the month program. For June we’re supporting Nashville Rising which is a charity that is helping those recently affected in the Nashville floods. Winning artists not only get cash but they’re making a large impact on helping communities and individuals who are in desperate need right now.

What are the goals of Impact Threads for the future?

We want to make a name for ourselves in this industry and be recognized as a top site for designers. We’ve spent a lot of time with our team of programmers to get the site up and running and we’re really happy with the results. The most obvious goal now is to start selling t-shirts and get some amazing submissions. As we continue to grow we’re going to be adding quite a few really cool features to the site.

Braden, thanks so much, it looks like you are off to a great start.