The about page has been updated with my new employers details, thanks Spreadshirt! Back to basic, it is and will continue to be business as usual at HipHipUk. Now time for pt.2 of the Stagr interview. In this weeks thrilling installment the caped crusaders play with the stagr configurator…

This could have been a really thrilling segment, if I were into making t-shirts and testing configurators. I only had a short time to check out the stagr system and only thought to take two screenshots so its certainly only a snapshot of the stagr experience at this early beta stage.

The cutomisation options are down the left handside allowing you to change the size of the elements, text and colouring. I didnt get much a chance to test out the layering capabilities but the system was robust and responsive. I found the background lighting too dark, which meant that when I tried to add a black element (the default colour) I could only just see its position on the tee. I asked Nick whether this darkness was intentional and he said ” yes, wanted to get away from the very white feel.”.

On the right hand side are the available elements to add to your design. In this screenshot they are from the stock photography. Note also the “brands” section. I think this is where stagr will look to set themselves apart from the MC clothing sites by actively encouraging branding on created designs. It may also hint at potential collaborations with other companies who may lend their branding?

Customisation was available on the front, back and sleeves as you’d expect. I was feeling lucky to have had a sneeky look at the system so I added the three 777’s to my rather splendid creation. In another section each stock elements was credited with an artists name. I asked if this meant there would be a royalty system like the one proposed by Innertee.

Nick: “The initial designs were done as work for hire. It felt hard to do a royalty system for a site that didn’t exist at the time. We have an artists program we’ll be launching that has royalties. ”

To conclude I was impressed with the configuration system, it was more responsive and less clunky than I’d have expected from a beta. There was a substantial amount of imaging available and some of the artist created elements were great. I particulalry like the Grim Fandangoesque image I’ve used in the top photo. Its difficult to draw to big a conclusion at this early stage and with limited time to review the system.

In part 3 I introduce Nick to Miles from Innertee and we talked about the two businesses and the industry in general.