Selling Out and Selling More

The first batch of my Hel-Fucking-Vetica tee-shirts are just arriving in mailboxes today; if you ordered yours before last Thursday, you should be seeing it soon.

So far the shirt has been selling way beyond my expectations; I’m terribly grateful to everyone who’s shown their support or just liked the shirt enough to order one for themselves. As I mentioned, I printed just one-hundred and fifty of these tee-shirts; in just the first week, about a hundred of them had been sold to lucky buyers, and they’re still selling briskly. Supplies are limited, so you’d better act fast if you want yours.

Shirts of the Future

A few people have asked me if I’ll reprint the shirts after the first batch is gone. I wouldn’t rule it out, but right now I doubt it. If I do, I’ll probably change up the color combination a bit, to preserve the uniqueness of that first batch, and so as to not ‘cheat’ the shirt’s early adopters.

Below: Tee two. Everyone gets a kick out of a Cooper Black-themed tee-shirt, right?

Rather, I’ve had so much fun with this tee-shirt stuff that I’m thinking of running a brand new design altogether, again in fairly limited quantities. It’s got a similar sensibility to the Hel-Fucking-Vetica design, but this one is a bit less profane, which I think will come as welcome news to those who shied away from its predecessor on grounds of simple politeness. The idea came to me on the way to work one morning, and it gave me a chuckle all day long. However, I’ll be the first to admit that what makes me laugh on the way to the office doesn’t necessarily make for a tee-shirt that people will want to wear, much less to pay for. Let me know what you think.

And for the record, I think Cooper Black is a gorgeous typeface.

Fear of a Cooper Black Planet Tee-Shirt
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  1. Jeff Croft

    Oh damn. This one’s even better. Must have it.

    And dammit, Khoi, I’m not paying you $30 every two weeks, so don’t even start get ideas in your head, my friend.

  5. geo

    I just got a package delivery note in the mail today, so I think I’ve got mine as well.

    Yes, this one totally made me laugh out loud. Love it. I agree that this one is even better.

  10. Lode

    Hi Khoi,
    despite the steep price for international deliveries, I’ve ordered mine as soon as they were available. I hope international shipping won’t take too long.. Keep up the good work!

  16. Blair

    Methinks you sould release the Helvetica shirt in the color scheme originally conceived for the button. Because, you know, a t-shirt bearing a bold statement is nothing without an equally bold color to back it up.

  21. Rian Murnen

    Cooper Black — HA!

    Selecting Cooper Black right after the Helvetica shirt makes me laugh even harder because I have always thought of Cooper Black as “Helvetica in bell-bottoms”.

    Its great that your doing these shirts. Keep it up and you may end up making enough off us design junkies to work pro bono for the Gray Lady.

  28. Adam Kemeny

    Khoi – While I certainly bow before pretty much all of the creative work that I ever see on here I still have the audacity to suggest a change if you do do a second run of Hel-Fucking-Vetica.

    Increase the type size by about 20-40% and drop all the detail that appears below the design – in my (humble) opinion it totally detracts from the striking colour and type. You’ve created this really bold image and then added small, distracting information which does nothing for the wearer.

    What purpose does it serve? Promoting the site? Either someone will spot the shirt and recognize it from here or ask about it if they are interested. That detail and the thought of having to explain what it refers to are the only reasons why I wouldn’t buy one. I’m sure that there are plenty of people out there who’ll snap em up anyway I just thought I’d stick my oar in…

  29. Mandy Ware

    OK, avisualperson, if not Gil Sans suggest an alternate sans-serif face (NOT Hel-Fucking-Vetica).

  31. Alicia

    A big fat Yes, Please! to the Cooper Black shirt, and a quieter second to the suggestion to lose the small print on the Hel-Fucking-Vetica shirt (or drop it to the hem).

  32. Dan Rubin

    Um, yes please?

    Still eagerly anticipating the arrival of my t-shirt, I ordered mine within the first two or three days after they went on sale, so hopefully mine went out in an early batch 🙂

    I’m with Jeff, don’t expect me to keep shelling out cash to you for every shirt you design… well, unless they are all cool, in which case, I’m screwed 🙁

  33. Kate

    Dear Khoi,
    My friend and I only just became aware of the existence of both Khoi Vinh the man himself and your Hel-Fucking-Vetica t-shirts after attending the Zeldman AIGA event. We’re fans. While I too adore Cooper Black and would gladly buy one of those shirts, my design heart is just a little bit broken over the whole Sold-Fucking-Out issue… is there nothing to be done???
    Please,
    Kate

  34. avisualperson

    mandy ware,
    personal favorites for slightly different sans include: univers, DIN, akkurat from lineto, and various gothics & grotes(que)(k)s. my personal beef with gill sans (sorry eric) comes from spending half-a-year in london and seeing gill sans all over the place, from banks to elevators to supermarkets to signage. so isn’t “sans gill sans” clever? I shot all these instances and wanted to do a book named, of course, Sans Gill Sans. Or not.

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