Follow Friday: The Big Board
june 18, 2010 | author: scott

Follow Friday is when Twitter users suggest that their followers follow specific people/companies on Twitter. Taking a cue from the many individuals before me, I have decided to make my Follow Friday a weekly blog post. Each week I'll list a few Twitter users who I think are worthy of your follow.

If you're currently a Twitter user you should check out the following: @cotygonzales, @furfaceboy, @heandshe, & @iamthetrend. If you're not on Twitter yet, saddle up and get going, it's a great way to make connections with people you won't likely "meet" on Facebook or MySpace.



Coty Gonzales - Coty is a huge fan of t-shirts and he loves to blog about them. In addition to keeping you up to date with t-shirt news, Coty also hosts an online show, Co-Tee TV, where he reviews tees that are sent to him and let's you know about up and coming indie brands. Tee Designers & buyers should check it out.

Fur Face Boy - Ha Mai is the brains behind the Fur Face Boy brand. I don't know how I heard of FFB but I do know that he has a some great tees built around a unique brand vision. In addition to loving his designs, you'll love his tweets. They will give you an insight into the inner workings of FFB and perhaps inspire you to follow your dreams as well.


He & She Photography - Husband and wife team, Randy (He) and Erin (She) specialize in wedding photography and their work is amazing! (They photographed my wedding and our pictures rock!) Using a "fashion-photojournalism" aesthetic, Randy and Erin can make any photo look amazing, even with an iPhone. If you're in the market for a wedding photographer or just want to drool over some awesome photos you should check them and Blossom the Amazing out by visiting their blogsite.

I Am the Trend - Now for some hometown Chicago love. Adam Hendle runs I Am the Trend, your definitive "guide for all things independent." IATT finds the clothing companies, musical artists, and brands that you haven't heard of yet and introduces them to you on a daily basis in an effort to keep you ahead of the "coolness curve." If you want to be an early adopter of all things awesome then you need to check IATT out pronto.

Summer Summer Summertime - Instant Classic Tees Sale
june 17, 2010 | author: scott

The first official day of Summer is just around the corner, it's the 21st for those of you counting. Summer traditionally brings us such joys as family road trips, long bike rides, ice cream cones, drive-in movies, and the always fun, summer job hunt.

In order to celebrate the arrival of arguably the best season and to make room for our new designs, we're holding a summer sale. While the sale lasts you can pick up any or all of our tees for $20/each (that's 4 bucks off). Not a sweet enough deal for you? Use promo code GOFORLAUNCH for an additional 15% off!

Become our fan on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter and send me a message. I'll hook you up with a super secret Facebook/Twitter promo code!

Carpe Tee -em.

Animal Liberation Orchestra, Sweet Music to Your Ears...Literally
june 4, 2010 | author: scott

Last Friday (May 28th) my wife and I had the pleasure of seeing...nay, experiencing, Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) for the 6th time when they returned to Marty's in Chicago. ALO now stands alone as the band that we've seen live the most, ousting former co-champions, Weezer and Dave Matthews Band.

We first saw ALO when they and Matt Costa opened for Jack Johnson at UCSD several years ago. We were immediately hooked and have made an effort to see them live whenever we can - we even took my parents and aunt and uncle along this time. If you have ever gone to a Jack Johnson show then chances are you're already familiar with 1/4 of ALO, since Zach GIll is also a permanent member of Jack's band.

If you're a music connoisseur and want some new summer tunes you should definitely check out ALO. I've included a few of ALO's songs below, but they've got plenty of others you NEED to hear.

The only proof I have that we saw ALO. We were enjoying the show so much we forgot to take pictures.

We Have Liftoff - Instant Classic Blog Now with Awesome
june 3, 2010 | author: scott

I'm proud to announce the launch of the new and improved Instant Classic blogsite. By new and improved, I mean that it exists! To celebrate we're giving you 15% off - - just use promo code GOFORLAUNCH at checkout.

Prior to this blogsite Instant Classic (IC) relied on our Big Cartel site as the face of the IC brand with help from minimal blog posts on Blogger. With the introduction of our new blogsite I hope to be more connected with all of you and plan on posting much more frequently. Our posts will focus on everything from news about our super soft tees that will make you swear they're vintage, to random pictures of the cornfields in Illinois. This being the first post, I thought I would share with you a few images of the redesign process.

I am in no way, shape, or form a web designer. This whole redesign process has been an exercise in patience, humility, and devotion to Instant Classic. Creating this site from scratch has involved a ton of reading and even more trial and error. I am confident that creating our blogsite has taken me at least 10 times longer than it would take someone with even minimal knowledge of web design. That being said, I have learned a lot and am now intrigued by the prospect of learning even more about HTML and CSS. The site is by no means perfect and I'll find errors along the way, but I'm happy with the progress that I've made so far.

Take some time and check it out. If you're a new friend of Instant Classic and haven't read our old blog posts, they have been moved over as well. If you're an old friend, stare with awe at the improvements that have been made! Old or new, please spread the word to others and watch our friendship network grow like those sponge toys you had as a kid that grew to 600 times their original size.

If your Sherlock Holmes detective skills uncover anything that needs to be fixed please send me an email and let me know. Stay tuned for more posts soon!

I've been reading plenty of books. Still using Dreamweaver CS3 but you can see Adobe CS5 waiting to be installed.

A few of the sketches and notes I made for myself as the design process chugged along.

Long nights require plenty of caffeine. I've been giving my two favorite pops (yeah I said pop!) plenty of business.

My work coming to fruition, but there's still plenty more to do!