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Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

helvetitee.com

11–20 of 60 posts

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#11
Liked it! Although the image of the model is horribly cut out, especially on the left of his head. Its the very first thing I saw and it screams "amateurish" at me. Not that the site as a whole is amateurish, just that bit! Also the photo looks washed out and a bit fuzzy. His expression is a bit bored and/or confrontational too.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#13
post #10

Can't help but call out that the homepage uses a image ripped off America Apparel ( http://store.americanapparel.net/bb401.html?cid=198-313&... ) and they sell Gildan shirts. Still, more of a side project than I've ever done.

Guilty. We took a few shortcuts to get it done in our timeframe (4 days). We will of course be replacing this ASAP (we were originally going to use AA hence this image).

Just wanted to get the first version out there and pick up feedback.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#14

Liked it! Although the image of the model is horribly cut out, especially on the left of his head. Its the very first thing I saw and it screams "amateurish" at me. Not that the site as a whole is amateurish, just that bit! Also the photo looks washed out and a bit fuzzy. His expression is a bit bored and/or confrontational too.

Accept that. It looks a damn sight better on a light background, but we changed it to dark gray hours before launch. The image will be replaced shortly so I'll sort out my cutting skills then ;)

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#15
I was really hoping this was going to be a way to get a t-shirt that has the perfect cut and fit, which is difficult to do. I'd pay real money for a site that guided me on how to get accurate measurements of all the key areas which then enabled them to create perfect, custom-fit basic t-shirts in a wide variety of colors and styles. Heck.. even just white crew-necks.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#16
post #10

Can't help but call out that the homepage uses a image ripped off America Apparel ( http://store.americanapparel.net/bb401.html?cid=198-313&... ) and they sell Gildan shirts. Still, more of a side project than I've ever done.

Guilty. We took a few shortcuts to get it done in our timeframe (4 days). We will of course be replacing this ASAP (we were originally going to use AA hence this image). Just wanted to get the first version out there and pick up feedback.

Sorry, couldn't help myself ;) I really like how straightforward the UI/ordering process is. Very impressive for only 4 days work.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#17
I really dig the simplicity of the process. I love that the entire top of the homepage not only shows exactly what you offer, but it is, essentially, your entire user-facing product. The price point is a little high compared to normal custom t-shirt offerings, but if you're offering higher quality shirts and a better user experience, then that isn't a bad thing.

A couple of suggestions:

1. The person/model used for the primary image/ordering system looks miserable. "Look, you can get your own custom shirt, but it isn't going to make you happy" doesn't exactly seem like the message you're trying to send here! A smile would go a really long way. Also, the cropping around the hair makes it look a little less professional. I'm not a designer, and I'm sure it is difficult to get something like that perfect, but I think it is worth the effort given how prominent the photo is.

2. The photos of the t-shirts themselves make the t-shirts look like they're low quality (specifically, really thin). I'm not a huge fan of white shirts in general, but I definitely don't want any t-shirt that I can actively see through. Sure, your "gallery" model may be attractive, but it doesn't look very professional (nor does it speak highly of your shirts) if you can see her bra through the product.

3. I feel like the "About, delivery & more" link should really link to the "About" section. I was a little confused when it jumped down the page and I was just staring at some random "suggestions" which, in my case, were not interesting. There's nothing wrong with the suggestions, I just don't think they should be more prominent than "About".

4. I'm on a 27" thunderbolt display, and the marketing material in your bottom tabs is taking up less than half of the bottom of my screen when I am scrolled down as far as I can go. That's not the worst thing in the world, but I would rather scroll down than just change the bottom 40% of my screen when I click "tabs".

5. I'd want more information about the product, the company, and possibly you before I order anything. If you're trying to sell quality, then a full page talking about how damn awesome your shirts are would go a long way to converting me to a customer. And after you sold me on the product itself, I still wouldn't feel safe ordering anything from an unestablished company with no business address, almost no information about the people behind it, and no contact means other than email/twitter.

All in all though, it is cool to see what you can accomplish in only four days. Best of luck.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#18
So £25 (fairly expensive) for a t-shirt based on a fairly dead meme that is available in one colour and can have no other details? Apple fans are going to love it.

In all serious, I'd be tempted if this was sub ten quid but for £25 you can get so so so much more for your money, and if you're willing to pay that for a white t-shirt with a word on it you have far too much money.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#19
I think this site is going after a good initial target market: hackers. Making it dead fucking simple is a nice touch

BUT 25 British Pounds for a tshirt basically makes you ridiculously expensive to any American. Why would I pay $40 for a t-shirt ever? It doesn't matter how "hacker cool" it is :)

If you localized, you would significantly improve your prospects in the US.

Re: Show HN: Helvetitee: Custom tee. No bullshit. (Our four-day startup)

#20
For ~$40(USD) I want a much higher quality shirt than Gildan. That seems ridiculously over priced. With a quick Google search "Gildan's 100% cotton, ringspun, pre-shrunk sofstyle tshirts" (what the about page says you use), the shirts cost less than $3.00(USD) to buy in bulk.

Suggestion: Why not lower your profit margin a little bit (you have to be making at least $30+ USD on each order right now) to make it more affordable? I just imagine this could probably go much more viral at a more affordable price.

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