This week we had the privilege of putting Aaron Dickinson from THANKS Clothing in the hot seat. This young artisan and entrepreneur has his finger on the pulse of the handmade movement and is creating some amazing one-of-a-kind men’s t-shirt designs that get attention. Aaron lives in Canada where all of his designs are created. If you’ve been looking for simple, statement-making, and grass-roots threads thatwill set you apart from the crowd – THANKS Clothing has some pretty amazing options for you! Enjoy the interview!
Welcome Aaron! Thank you so much for taking time to chat with us. Tell us a little bit about your work…
I try to create clean, honest, and simple designs. My personal style is very stripped down and minimal so I tried to translate that into my T-Shirts. I want to create that perfect T that anyone can pick up and wear.
We’re huge fans of your work, and found your shop on Etsy because your designs are so eye catching. What got you started with THANKS – the designs, the shirts, and the presentation?
I created THANKS Clothing out of a desire to take the often-overlooked T-Shirt and elevate it to a different level. My designs inspirations come from classic animation characters such as Felix the Cat, The Raccoons, Batman, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Visually I’m trying to tap into the Blue-Collar Suburban angst that I grew up surrounded by.
What goes in to making a THANKS t-shirt?
All my design ideas start as doodles that I draw on post-it notes, small scraps of paper, or whatever is lying around. If the doodle gets stuck in my brain I’ll usually try to flesh out the idea by actually sitting down and creating numerous variations of the drawing until I get the feeling/look that I want. The next step is to scan the drawing into Photoshop and re-draw all the lines. After this is completed I send the final image off to the screen printers to print. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to do everything myself, but at the moment space is very limited in my small 1 bedroom.
What are your plans for evolving THANKS over coming months?
I’ve always been a fan of people who go that extra mile and try to create something special. To keep THANKS moving forward I want to try and produce a new T-Shirt every month. Capitol is a bit tight at the moment, but I think if I can keep the T-Shirt number limited to only 5 or 10 I might be able to pull it off.
Why do you think handmade, small batch t-shirt and other items are better, more valuable, more meaningful, or just plain cooler than their mass-produced, big label counterparts?
Basically I dig handmade items because they just have more soul and artistic integrity than the mass produced garbage that’s being forced down our gullets on a regular basis. I also like the idea of owing something that only a handful of people know about. People all love the feeling of stumbling across handmade things they’ve never seen before and thinking ‘woah! I might be on to something here.’
We couldn’t agree more!
Where do you see the handmade movement heading – especially as it relates to men and their style?
The handmade movement can only grow and get bigger. I’m the perfect example of someone that got fed up with the big brands trying to sell me overpriced, generic, poorly executed clothing so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Bottom Line: Men want quality products and if they can’t find them, they’ll make them.
Thank you so much once again for your time, energy, and work. Any last words you’d like to share with our readers?
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure”—Bill Cosby
You can find Aaron’s THANKS Clothing shop to find shirts for men, women, and kids by clicking the link below…
[button link=”http://www.etsy.com/shop/THANKSClothing” color=”teal” newwindow=”yes”] THANKS Clothing[/button]
