What merch item do you wish was your original idea?
I have helped make some pretty fun merch items over the years. One of my favorite recent ideas was making Sunami branded brass knuckles, an item that was so fun and so appropriate for such a great band.
Another that comes to mind is when I packaged a shirt in a styrofoam tray like you get from the meat department in a grocery store. Folded it so the "bloody" portion of the shirt art was displayed when it sat on the tray, then shrink wrapped it and put a sticker on the outside to really make it feel like you just bought a steak from the local butcher shop. I also once rolled shirts up, packaged them individually in Chinese food take out boxes and sold them with band branded fortune cookies. I know people that loved the packaging so much they have not opened these items to this day.
Much fun as these were, I have to give the crown for most unique and fun merch idea to my friend Phillip and his company Fashionable Death. Phillip is a genius, he and I both worked for Lil Ugly Mane, Holy Mountain doing the apparel printing and Fashionable Death running his online store and releasing his albums. One of my favorite Lil Ugly Mane albums is Volcanic Bird Enemy And The Voiced Concerns. This album is a masterpiece, if you have not heard it please go do so now. If you have heard this album please leave comments on this post about how much you love it!
Anyway back on target here, for the release of Volcanic Bird Enemy And The Voiced Concerns we printed all the shirts and Phillip handled the release, this is where I tell you about Phillip's genius. He sold a limited edition cassette tape of the album packaged in a can...well, a trick can. The can was made so that when you opened it there was a spring-loaded smiley face that would literally fire the tape out at you, like the old snake in a can gag. Phillip sent me one and I marveled at this thing and was just blown away by how creative and how fun this packaging was. Truly inventive and inspiring, reminding you that it has NOT all been done and there are fresh ideas out there!
Comments
Like your meat pack, I once sold a magazine in medical blood waste bags I got from a job. I used to hide zines packed with art, slaps and drawings and whatever else in those bags, and hide them in the city and post a vague photo for followers to go find. Something local like that is fun. I also used potato chip bags and tampon boxes, beer boxes. dog biscuit boxes etc. It was a graffiti magazine. Hopefully this helps spark an idea. Thanks for all the stuff over the years! I loved it so much when you guys would print on the envelopes. I display some in my studio.