Hi All
As SOTA is getting popular, has anybody thought about SOTA merchandise? Badges for the rucksack, car stickers and the like?
I know SOTA is not a charity and it could have implications for tax reasons etc, but the money taken could be for example:
At cost – no profit
At cost plus a reasonable percentage – proceeds to go to mountain rescue/ air ambulance / site costs?
Through a friendly radio related dealer, an incentive to visit their site and buy something else too for the work involved.
In reply to G4YTD:
By the way, I started this topic also in S5 SOTA forum and very soon we will see if there is an interest or not. Personally, I am interested in SOTA promotion items.
There was a company producing some items with the SOTA logo, they are mentioned on the reflector somewhere. I contacted a company that produced embroidered sweat shirts for my radio club and asked them to quote for fleeces etc. The sample stitching I received was excellent but I thought the prices asked for a no-name fleece with SOTA logo and callsign were a bit steep. Whilst the fleeces were good quality it wasn’t like you were getting a brand name ( Mountain Hardwear or North Face ).
I’ve used Spreadshirt (www.spreadshirt.co.uk) to produce custom T-shirts. This Web 2.0 company lets you design your own layout, you can upload images etc. and add your own text. The T-shirst I’ve bought from them are excellent and the printing and image quality is excellent too. The process from ordering to delivery is about 4 days, not bad considering the garments come from Germany. I think I have a SOTA t-shirt template saved on the site. I’ll do some digging and post a link when I get home if I ever get the chance to leave today
From that all you need to do is enter the size and colour and give them a credit card number, a shirt will turn up later. ISTR a plain white XL T-shirt with a digital image printed was £14.90 inc vat and P&P.
I was looking but couldn’t find the blurb, but the SOTA logo is copyright. Hopefully someone from the MT will explain the commercial restrictions on using the logo in this thread. I’m happy to be corrected on this, but I think if you were to make your own T-shirt with the logo there’d be no problem. Selling the same T-shirts at cost would be no problem either. However, selling them at a profit would require permission from the copyright holder.
Someone had the things you mention produced in the past. I picked up a few years ago from the SOTA stand at the Llanduno rally a tee shirt, car stickers and a enamelled badge. Who got them and why they got no more is a mystery. Has someone got a big box of SOTA merchandise in a box under the stairs I wonder.
Tee shirts & enamel badges were organised by the late MW0YLS Shirley
SOTA fleeces by the persona non grata M0LMP
Car stickers by G3CWI
SOTA rebel badges by G6DDQ
SOTA leotards got to the drawing board stage before being cancelled.
There has never been a “stock” as such Steve. Individuals have arranged single production runs of SOTA goods, all pre-paid by those who wanted them. (If you got any ad hoc at a rally, then they will have been out of a very small number extra to the main order).
Shirley MW0YLS used to do the T-shirts and sweatshirts (the blue ones with the big logos on that still get sported at rallies etc), and John G3WGV did these before Shirley.
Other single production runs of things like T-shirts, baseball caps and fleeces have been organised by Derek G7LFC, Steve M0SGB and Lee M0LMP. For a while, we used a generic service based in the US that could print the SOTA logo onto mugs, paperweights, clothing, allsorts, but it was rather expensive and hardly used, so we discontinued it.
If anyone wants to “take the bull by the horns”, source a suitable supplier and arrange the order and distribution, as Shirley and others have done in the past, then it looks like there will be a few people putting orders in - probably myself included.
Car stickers are available from G3CWI, or from me (as I have a few left from Norbreck).
If anyone does ‘take the bull by the horns’ I will be in the queue for some new tee-shirts. Four or five in Green XXL should be enough for an activation every other day on holiday. I only do green or maybe black if it is a night raid.
Why is it that the more beer I drink the more my tee-shirts shrink?
My car stickers are a bit faded now so I should replace them and I just checked my fleece and seem to have lost my enamelled badge so I just hope it is in the house, if not it is on a summit somewhere so if anyone finds it!
In reply to M1EYP:
I just placed an order with somebody originally recommended, I think by Steve M0SGB for a couple of polo shirts with SOTA badges at http://www.tintagelcrafts.co.uk/
The SOTA badges are available either with a pale blue or a red background - I chose red. I didn’t think the price was too bad and once you have ordered one time it seems you are entitled to 10% discount thereafter. I am sure I have seen Steve M0SGB wearing some clothing from this source and I recall it looked fine - maybe he can comment. I wanted these with my “north of the border” call sign since about 45% of my activations have been that side and especially as I have the appropriate accent. I have two of the originals via the late MW0YLS Shirley with my “southern” call sign. I shouldn’t admit it but the first time I came down to Newcastle around 40 years ago, I fell about laughing when I saw signs for North Eastern Co-operative and Northern Goldsmiths. I had up till then thought that these were the provenance of Inverness and Aberdeen. I guess it is all relative and probably I shouldn’t ramble on :^)
73
jim
You can change the text (i.e. your callsign) and the colour. Not all fabric colours accept the image printing. A £1.00 commission is charged. All monies raised will be distributed to mountain rescue groups in the UK.
A few years back there was some interest in having SOTA flags to attach to the mast, but the cost was prohibitive. I note that some European ops have them, presumably made locally or made by themselves. Is there any interest in looking into this again, particularly as we now have an International SOTA Weekend?
Morning All,
Well, what can I say, thanks for all the comments. We look to be ok for tee shirts and car stickers, mugs, coasters etc. I will have a look into the supply of woven badges and mast flags via a contact I met through work. If the price is favourable see what the interest level is like and then order a batch for distribution at cost via the reflector, with prior agreement of the MT of course. Could a member of the MT contact me please via tim AT g4ytd.co.uk (replace the AT with @) to discuss permission to obtain and use the logo on a non profit basis?
I am a member of a running club, and occasionally we give tee shirts as race souvenir’s, these are “coolmax” style shirts so you can sweat like a pig, and within a few minutes they are dry again, quite good as a base layer for the up hill portion of our hobby. I have e-mailed the promo company we use to ask for a price for a white tee shirt with the logo screen printed onto it.
Hope SOTA brand clothing does not end up with the same clientele and following that Burberry currently enjoys in the UK……
Thanks again for all the comments and watch this space!
73
Tim
G4YTD
No No No, Only available in white or ash(?) and a tiny little logo. Need big full frontal logo on a green shirt like the one I have.
£12 for a white tee shirt is a bit steep too. I printed some white shirts for an event and I got them at four for £2 and that was retail, in bulk they were even cheaper. I used an iron on transfer printed on the PC. They looked great but only until you washed them. Good tee-shirts are always screen printed.
I think the stuff from http://www.tintagelcrafts.co.uk looks a bit naff because it isn’t the SOTA logo it is something similar to the SOTA logo (copywrite issue?) and would seem a bit like wearing a fake.
Having a background in printing and having a family full of graphic designers I do not think the SOTA logo is the best it could be, but it is ‘the’ SOTA logo and variations are always going to look cheap until someone comes up with a better design and we have a ‘re-branding’.
I might just be persuaded to wear a black shirt like the one they show if it was the right logo and if it wasn’t a polo shirt, but stitched logos chaff the nipples and are therefore unsuitable for walking in.
I cannot comment on the quality issue of the above because I have never seen them but an official supply of shirts, badges and flags could at least ensure quality control and save people being ripped off.
Regards Steve GW7AAV
In reply to Tim G4YTD:
“coolmax” style sounds more like it, but no naff white shirts please!
So you want a big full-chested logo? Try now. Not too sure why it wont let you choose green. I need to work on that.
You’re complaining about the price and mention you had some done cheap that didn’t last through washing. Why do you think these might cost so much more?
You suggest some should have a go and when they do you don’t like the results. You wouldn’t perchance be a radio amateur would you Steve?
I have some simplified versions of the SOTA logo that may be more suitable tee-shirt printing. They are much bigger than the official version so don’t look quite so blocky when blown up. One file is the Paint Shop Pro original which should retain the layers so it can be tweaked as required. The others are in Jpeg format and there are three. One has the green removed from the image for use on a green shirt, one has the red removed for use on a red shirt and the main one is suitable for using on a white or other coloured shirt.
As far as I am concerned these images can be used by any individual or non-profit venture with the necessary permissions from the SOTA managment.
If anyone including the original logo designer wishes these images removed from my website I will be happy to do so.
You suggest some should have a go and when they do you don’t like the results.
I call it constructive criticism or I might if I could spell it. ;0)
You’re complaining about the price and mention you had some done cheap that didn’t last through washing.
I didn’t have some done cheap I did them my self and I have no way of knowing from that site if the quality of printing is any good. I could see no mention of how they produce them. They could well be iron on for all I know. I find that even good quality white tee-shirts don’t last as long as coloured ones for some reason. It maybe to do with the bleaching of the cotton fabric.
You wouldn’t perchance be a radio amateur would you Steve?
Aye but it could have to do with my ancestry and something in my genes too. ;0)
Regards Steve GW7AAV
Further note to Andy - New BigLogo version doesn’t have a facility to change the text.
I’ve used this mob to produce T-shirts and all I can say is they seem to be very resilient to washing. I’m very happy with the products I’ve made using the site and to me, the cost for a unique T-shirt that stands up quite well to use seems reasonable.
I’m not sure how well the SOTA logo would work when blown up large which was one of the reasons I produced a small logo design. I was also able to select a nice green colour for the material in the design but it isn’t propagating that choice to the store. It needs work but I haven’t got the time right now.
There are many on-line clothing design/custom printing websites available. What you can see is the result of about 20mins playing with the design software in a browser. There’s nothing to stop anyone doing there own thing. The advantage of these sites is that nobody needs to order and hold stock, which costs lots of money. You prepare the design and if someone wants one, they pick the colour, size and customise the text and the item is made there and then. It means the unit cost is more to each purchaser because there is no economy of scale. Still there is no risk for the designer to get lumbered with a load of T-shirts they can’t sell.
Further note to Andy - New BigLogo version doesn’t have a facility to change
the text.
Print technology:
Digital transfer is a well-known print technique often used in copy shops, photo shops and other commercial fabric-printing. In this process, an orignial is created using a colour laser printer, then with the help of a transfer-film and high temperatures, the design is gently melted onto the fabric. This print type is especially suitable for multi-coloured designs or designs with a varying colour tone. The disadvantage is that only white or pale gray fabric can be used.
The wash temperature for any digital transfer should be no higher than 30°C and all products should be washed and ironed inside-out. Spreadshirt uses the highest quality, state-of-the-art transfer films, yet the wash quality is constantly in the improvement process. We generally accept that digitally transfered colours fade with time, especially in black areas, but ironing inside out over the design has been proven to refresh colours.
So they are basically iron on. Anyone with a printer can do these themselves at home. WH Smiths sell the paper. The problem is they fade quickly and tend to also crack with washing whatever they tell you in the write up above.
They can’t even employ a web designer who can use a spell checker so they don’t seem very professional. “orignial” I think means original, “gray” should be grey and “transfered” should be transferred. I suspect a home industry with mum ironing on the transfers on the kitchen table. Tim G4YTD’s “coolmax” style screen printed sound like the real deal, so hopefully he can get a good quote.
