Research Behind the Drop
I've technically been planning for a merch drop for more than a year, though I never put in the time for research until about half a year ago. There was hours of research behind each decision. Whether it be which website to host the merch on? What items to make? When to release it? How is the quality of the items (fabric, stitching, size availability)? Size and placement of art on merch? How to take photos (color composition, camera angle, lighting)? Where to take photos (studio, outside, random place)?
All that, and it's only just the tip of all the questions that I've had and mulled over. Hopefully I can give you some insight on what I've been doing to make things perfect for you, my supporters.
How I Picked The Designs
I wanted to create merch that my family, friends, and I could wear on a normal occasion, and that means lowkey, non-invasive designs. These designs should be something I would buy at a retailer, but have easter eggs that mark it as merch.
The Macho Hoodie, Mochi Hat, and Sleepy Giri were something that already existed and I had worn them multiple times on stream before, and those are well known MachoRice items. The other two had to be lowkey easter eggs, hence the rice ball shirt and onigiri onsen tote
Fabric and art placement
GAWD this was hard. The two biggest limiting factors here was TIME and MONEY. I could do all the research I wanted to about cotton:polyester ratios but it would mean nothing if I didn't have a physical reference. I had to experiment with as many variables as possible while trying to order as little samples as possible to limit costs. This is why some of the photos in the gallery aren't exactly the same as the product photos. It's because I would make the design, order a sample, and then edit it to make it even better - but I just don't have the money to order a brand new sample after every edit.
To further limit the amount of samples I had to order, I actually pulled out my tape measure and measured out how other companies have placed and sized their art. Though I still messed up a bit at first, but it's all fixed and ready to go now :)
In order to find the PERFECT hoodie for you, my musubis, I ordered 5 different types of hoodies and had 3 people do reviews of each type based on the softness, thickness, stitching/cut, and overall feel. So REST ASSURED! I plan to give my supporters the best possible option!
There's really so much more that I've put in behind the scenes for this and I could go on endlessly, but I'm telling you this not to make you feel bad, but mostly so that you can have confidence in what I'm delivering to you.
I want to put my 110% into everything I do and although merch is a "for fun" thing that I've been wanting to do, I've also always wanted to do it properly and I hope you can provide me feedback on how I could do even better in the future as part of my "research behind the 2nd drop"