How long have you been doing what you’re doing?

I’ve been doing art my entire life, but been professionally designing for about 4 years.

How did you start your brand?

I started Ugmonk in 2008 as a side experiment and creative outlet for me to marry my passion for tshirt design and typography. At the time I was doing a lot of tshirt design work for clients and thought it would be fun to launch my own brand. I had no idea if I’d ever sell my first 200 shirts, but they sold out in the first few months and Ugmonk has continued to steadily grow from there. Two years and thousands of shirts later, Ugmonk is still going strong and we’ve sold shirts to over 50 countries around the world!

How did you come up with the name Ugmonk?

For now that actual origin and meaning of that name shall remain a secret left for your imagination.  It fit the bill for being unique, “google-able,” and brandable.  While we may reveal where the name came from someday, we want “Ugmonk” to become simply another way to say “great designs and superior service.”

Where are you based and what do you like (or dislike) about living and working there?

I recently moved back to the Philadelphia area from Burlington, VT.   While I can run Ugmonk from anywhere, being centrally located hear in PA near several major cities is great for networking and travel. 

What qualities set you apart from other T-Shirt making companies?

There are hundreds if not thousands of other brands out there, but with Ugmonk my goal is to deliver simple, bold designs with excellent quality. We use  super soft ringspun cotton tees and used advance printing methods like water-based and discharge printing which leaves the prints soft and comfortable.

What is your process for creating a new T-Shirt, do you screen print yourselves? Etc.

I do all of the designing for Ugmonk. I usually start with a pencil sketch to get my ideas down and then scan them in to the computer and continue to refine the design from there. You can read more about my process here: http://www.ugmonk.com/2009/12/01/ugmonk-behind-the-scenes/

Once a design is complete I send it off to my screen printer who does the actually tshirt printing.

What inspiration/influences do you draw from when creating new designs?

Everywhere. I get inspiration from things I interact with and observe around me, it could be anything from an ad I saw in a magazine to the typeface used on sign in a store window. There are so many details that often get overlooked, but being a very visual person I find myself constantly looking at thing a little closer and making mental notes of things I see. I also enjoy studying the pioneers of graphic design and looking at the works of the master typographers.

Do you bring artists/designers in to collaborate on T-shirts? If so, how do you go about finding them and deciding to include them in your line?

At this point, I do all of the design and haven’t done any collaborations. While I may introduce some collabs in the future, I feel it’s best for me to continue to establish the Ugmonk brand and keep things consistent.

What were you doing before this?

I worked as a graphic designer at an agency in Burlington, VT.

When are you most productive? Do you come up with your best ideas while your just hanging out or in a full-fledged business brainstorm session?

Ideas come to me at the weirdest times, sometimes when I’m on a walk or bike ride, sometimes just late night when I should be sleeping. I am kind of in a continual brainstorm session and just try to capture my ideas as they come to me.

Is there any direction you hope to take your line in in the next year or so? Are you planning on doing anything differently?

I plan to keep expanding the line of tees and hoodies as well as adding some new non-clothing related items to the the Ugmonk line very soon. Stay tuned…

Five songs you can’t stop listening to right now?

Great Northern – MountainJonsi – Animal ArithmaticTemper Trap – Sweet DispositionMuse – The ResistancePaper Route – Are We All Forgotten

What do you like to do when you’re not developing and distributing awesome T-Shirts?

Hanging with my wife, snowboarding, playing soccer, and experimenting with photography.

Any last words or shout outs?

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