Volt

+1 on this thought. I'm a big fan of black and blue color schemes.

Other than that, looks like a quality hoodie. It'd be cool if some of us could demo them. (Wishful thinking I bet...)

__________________
-Ryan
"Here's the deal: I'm not easy to get along with, and I'm sensing you're a bit of a bitch." - Tallahassee

poutanen

+1 Demo'ing would be sweet... It's nearly spring in Alberta! *hint hint* lol

mmueller

Thanks to all that responded. I really appreciate your suggestions and wish the best. To follow our designs, I post prototypes and products on our facebook page. You may see some of your suggestions being used in our new designs and if I have any more questions, I am coming back to this thread!

As for demos, send me your information and maybe we can work something out or at least I can send you some die cuts.

Here is one of my emails you can send me your info:
mmueller@muesports.com

Peace,

Mark

Tjarco

Hi Mark,

Like others mentioned cool that you present yourself in this way. I noted down some comments while reading this thread & browsing your site.

- Mission, i like your openness and transparency keep that up, it's a trend for companies to become more human. It's not a big deal if not everyone likes you or you make an mistake, just keep being honest about it.
- Story & Contact, the way you've written this piece might need some adjusting. However i value your personal approach keep in mind that you alone are not the company, all your employees, distributors, and locals & riders who help design the brand are part of the company as well. Better to write in the "we" sense, start a movement, respect everyones talent and input, and you are that one that should state how proud you are of the collective result you and all your associates are creating.
- Style, i read this thread first and then took a look at your site, heard some negatives about the colorways and after i saw them i was like.. ehh where is all the Milwaulkee input? German & French Hipsterkids are flushing the slopes all over here in Europe in these neoncolours, might be hot&happening but has nothing to do with Grassroots in my opinion. The prototype zipper with the checkers was a lot more in the direction I was expecting. (but style is as always very personal)
- Colorways, very nice that you open up for opinions on this, but everyone shouting "i like black&blue i like this and that", doesn't really help you. I think the best thing to do, also for you as a designer because you have got your own vision, is to create colorways in different styles and then let people vote which style (combination of colour ways) they like best. For instance now you have used neon-like hard colours style, so design 3 colorways in this style and then take another style for instance more earthly colors dark red, brown, olive and another style lets say pastel blueish&yellow, green&pink, grey&ecru. If you let people vote for the style of the colour ways instead of the colour itself I think you receive more useful information of what the market is longing for.
- Custom designs - FFFFFUUU awesome!
- Logo, man that is a cool logo when i saw it first on your site, love the design & colours... But then the designs of products spoiled it for me, too big, too much, all the colours gone.. I personally don't like big logo's at all (opinion) but I hear a lot of starting companies saying: "yeah but people need to recognise the brand" yup that is true, but what do you want your the public to recognise, the big ass logo or the quality/style& fit of your products? If you keep producing kick-ass products people on the slopes are going to notice, and ask what brand jacket one is wearing, this is much more valuable than 10000 people noticing some logo they don't recognise and have forgotten the same second. I believe it's better to create 2/3 places on each design where you place a small logo, always on the same spot, always the same label - maybe you can use a sawn over piece of clothing label, (i added a photo)...
- Other logo-marketing idea.. In stead of logo, place a 2d barcode (QR-code) linking to your website on the shoulder of a design. I would make me interested to scan it and find out what company is behind it..
- Other design idea - I see can adjust the sleeve with, I think it's Velcro or something. Adjusting sleeves is neat, but those velcro pull over to tighten things are hard to get really snug, i always end up with the complete sleeve twisted. Also there are really hard to get right if you want roll up your sleeves. (when hiking up hill i like to have bare underarms..) maybe you should do some testing with an elastic band with velco which is between the layers of the garment and comes out at one place (hope youre following me here) or another option is the elastic band with a closing mechanism (see photo)

Man, sorry for the long post hope you appreciate it, I'm a consultant for all types of creative companies in the Netherlands so take it as free advice ;-) Keep up the goods and do what feels right, keep pushing but do not fear to fail & learn.. Rome wasn't build in a day

vwbrian

They need Vents in the back and under arm. I don't like to ride with the front zipper fully unzipped.
Pass pocket on forarm near elbow. MP3 pocket with clear cover near the left shoulder with hole for headphones on the inside with some elastic loops to route the wires to the back center of neck.
Vertical Pocket zippers should all go down to be closed.
Asymetric front zipper cover, I ride goofy and my zipper cover gets filled with snow on powder days. Needs to go from left to right for goofy and right to left for regular stance.
One inside pocket for phone that is placed low ,above the hip and to the front.

mmueller

Tjarco

Thank you for this constructive feedback. Your statement about the Story really hit home. The main reason for starting this company wasn’t for me but for those involved. We are all passionate about snowboarding so the main focus has been for my employees and riders to become involved with Mue through their personal talents and to build lifestyle around their passions. That being said we also worked hard and have come a long way since August of 2011.

The colorways have been a market test for this first season. The ideas we have received, as you noted, have been all across the board. Working towards building the feel of Milwaukee through the colorways is great input. It would no doubt complement the grassroots designs and correlate well with the mission.

The logo is cool! We have been trying different ways for logo placement through the rasta colorway and the LPH. Under the kangaroo pouch is a signature location for our HPH hoodies but the exact size and justification are topics of discussion.

I love QR codes, in fact some companies have been placing them all over the inside labels, (e.g. Coal). Placing the code on the outside is an interesting take on how to use the codes. Random comment you might find useful … my friend Mike Hallberg started creating QR business cards and cases, by scanning the card it places a new contact into your smart phone, pretty cool - QRcase

For the HPH we have been using an elastic strap and plastic strap adjuster. We are also working on combining Velcro with elastic (pictures of both attached). I could not see your photo unfortunately … It shows to be a broken image. However, I know exactly what you are talking about.

I’ll take free advice all day. Thanks for the awesome input and taking the time to write it out.

Vwbrian

Thanks for the direct features you prefer. The zipper cover for both stances is a great takeaway.

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Tjarco

Maybe place the logo more to the neck/shoulder.. If your garments get to be worn in competitions, the startnumber might block your logo, and mugshots of winners will not always cover the entire body. If your the logo is near the head most people will notice, also when standing in line for crowded lifts, nobody can see a logo on ones belly when it's crowded.. Still my honest opinion, merchandise wear like t-shirts, caps, LPH should be used for branding & logo placement, high quality wear should all be about the quality, if this stands out people are going to want to find out what brand it is.. And use one & the same place for small logo/outside label placement on all garments. For some brands you know you can check any garment for a "green label placed on right shoulder and know it's brand X, if it's not there its another brand" this really aids visual recognition of all your clothing and lines to come, because it creates a solid visual identity..

No thanks for the input really like to see cool new companies grow in an sustainable way, if you got any other questions or need input feel free..

poutanen

This is a good point, I'm thinking of Bench and to a lesser extent Lululemon. Both have very prominent logos mounted high up on the sweaters (Bench is right on the damn collar)... It makes it so that you can pick them out immediately.

Usually when I see a girl in either I look down to see what's happening with the caboose.



You know you all looked down...

Tjarco

didn't even see the logo ;-)

Tjarco

Double zippers are also great, that way when hiking you can zip up the bottom one for extra ventilation but don't need an extra scarf because the neck is still covered..