Threadless: Ten Years of T-shirts from the World's Most Inspiring Online Design Community [Paperback]

Jake Nickell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2010

Threadless.com is the phenomenally successful T-shirt company with millions and millions of tees sold since it began in 2000. It pioneered the online business model of crowd-sourced or community-driven design, in which people submit designs that are voted on by the site's 1 million users and printed. Over the past 10 years, the company has amassed a vast archive of very cool, very hip, and often very entertaining designs, and Threadless is a spectacular showcase of 400 of the very best T-shirts created by the community--a barometer of art and design over the past decade.
 
Much more than a book of extraordinary graphics, Threadless tells the extremely interesting story that inspired Inc. magazine to hail Threadless.com as "the most innovative small company in America." There are also profiles of individual designers and "think pieces" from influential admirers, including design guru John Maeda, Jeff Howe of Wired, and bestselling business/marketing writer Seth Godin.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I'd like to give a huge shout out to the artists, staffers (many of whom are modeling tees in the photography throughout this book), bloggers, scorers and everyone else who has helped make Threadless what it is. Thanks for participating, and to those of you that aren't hanging out on Threadless already, come join the fun!

From the Inside Flap

Threadless is a global t-shirt phenomenon. It's also one of the internet's most creative and vibrant communities. Threadless users--and there are more than one million members--submit designs, talk in its forums, blog, upload videos, and check out the latest artist interviews on the threadless.com site.

It's a t-shirt store, but that isn't really the point. The important part is how the tees are chosen--by the Threadless community. You submit a design, have it critiqued and voted on by fellow Threadless members, and the t-shirts with the most support each week get printed. Simple, and awesomely successful.

The genius of the idea has won admirers among some of the world's foremost business and marketing gurus, and Inc. magazine called Threadless "the most innovative small company in America." But for cofounder Jake Nickell it's always been about "real community, friendships, and working on a fun, cool project together."

Threadless is celebration of that first mind-blowing decade, from an office in the corner of Jake's Chicago bedroom, to a warehouse so big they need go-karts to negotiate it (seriously). Along with Jake's own account of the Threadless story, profiles of the community's favorite designers, and contributions from influential admirers, including Seth Godin and John Maeda, this book brings together 300 amazing tee designs in a year- by-year showcase. Funny, clever, beautiful, totally insane--the best that the Threadless community has created and inspired since 2000.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Abrams Image (October 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810996103
• ISBN-13: 978-0810996106
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.8 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Commercial > Branding & Logo Design

More About the Author

Jake Nickell is a gigantic brain on an unassuming body. Threadless's young and fearless entrepreneurial leader uses his quick-firing noggin to come up with new ventures, encourage nutty employee ideas, and tinker with countless side projects (no really, he's lost count). He also continues to keep up his geek cred through a love for programming. When he's not working, he's busy hanging out with his wife Shondi, his daughter Arli, and their son Dash in their Colorado home.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth its weight in gold. October 18, 2010

By Nick D.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book should be essential reading for every designer/illustrator/creative person. It's visually stunning and thought-provoking, with hundreds of wonderfully diverse designs spanning an entire decade of Threadless t-shirts.

Aesthetics aside, it's also a wonderfully refreshing read. Because this book isn't JUST a collection of the designs you've been browsing/buying for years. It's also a portrait of a company founded by two people who stumbled onto success (fiscal and otherwise). The Threadless co-founders ("the two Jakes") eschew business school buzzwords like "crowdsource" and "collective innovation consortium;" both willfully admit they're not particularly good businessmen and needed outside help when their company took off. They're just a pair of guys who wanted to make some cool t-shirts. Both come off as genuine and incredibly likable, ostensibly proving that success is as simple as a good idea, a passion and a strong work ethic.

Hence, the books succeeds on two levels; first as a collection of inspiring/interesting images, second as a wonderful narrative about two friends who psuedo-accidentally monetized a wonderful idea and brought graphic designers together by forming a community/marketplace where good design is both encouraged and rewarded.

Halfway through your first reading you'll want to drop everything and open up a new Photoshop file.

Buy this book. Then buy another for your best friend.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring story of Threadless March 15, 2011

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Length: 1:01 Mins

This book is on the inspiring success story of Threadless, told chronologically through its founders and the designers who submitted T-shirt art on the site.

It's really interesting to read about the stuff that happens behind the scenes, the highs and lows of starting a company, the reaction of the community, and basically just building something big from small through trial and error. You also get to see how T-shirt printing from Threadless has evolved over the years with new technology in printing. If you're interested in entrepreneurial stories, this book is for you.

On Threadless, the community votes on the T-shirt designs they like. In this book, the selection features not just the highly rated ones, but also the badly rates ones as well, some of which are included because they are highly controversial.

Most of the designs are pretty cool, and you get to see a wide spectrum of work and quality. Through the ratings, you can see that the highly rated ones have great concept and makes use of the T-shirt medium really well. I saw one titled Three Keyboard Cat Moon created as a spoof to the Three Wolf Moon T-shirt on Amazon. Some inclusion left me scratching my head though.

The story of Threadless is inspiring. Highly recommended for designers and the entrepreneurial types.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book December 11, 2012

By Lisa

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A ton of awesome, inspiring images that will really get your creative juices flowing. Great to see people that enjoy awesome t-shirts as much as I do.