Member Article

Brian Noonan, founder of creative startup TShare, talks t-shirts, trends and technology

He’s been there, he’s done it, he’s got the t-shirt and now he’s encouraging artists, illustrators, photographers and other creatives to design and print their own clothing with the click of a button. Bdaily’s associate editor, Ellen Forster, speaks to founder of Brighton-based startup TShare, Brian Noonan about the city’s booming business climate.

Originally founded in late 2014 by Brian Noonan, TShare is a creative platform where artists can develop, showcase and sell their designs via the medium of t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts.

The Brighton-based startup has recently launched a new creative studio as well as embeddable stores for creators to design & sell merchandise with ease.

The TShare platform also allows users to easily create a free bespoke ecommerce site to sell their designs, setting their own commission levels and tailoring a storefront to share with the world.

What started as a creative pursuit for Brian and his team has since evolved into a promising business, well-placed to take advantage of Brighton’s vibrant, creative community.

“We set out with the simple aim of creating a space for artists to develop, showcase and sell their designs but we started realising the potential power of this as a tool for musicians to build merchandise lines too,” Brian said. “The process is simple with the option to either upload a finished design or use the TShare studio to create something unique. Our studio is to merchandise creation what photoshop is to photo manipulation!”

For Brian, there was no better place to call home than Brighton, he explained: “We’re all local to the area and the creative vibe of this place gets right into your core. It’s hard to beat and as a business and a creative bunch of people it really suits us. We love it!”

As a digital startup, TShare aims to stay ahead of the curve. Brian said the company is moving towards creating sustainable products, he commented: “There have been a lot of changes [in the industry] in the last 24 months and a key trend is ease of access with an upward trend towards sustainability; ecologically sound inks and sustainably sourced base products.

“Beyond this we’re also seeing things like ‘live fashion design’ direct to garment (DTG) being used in marketing campaigns by fashion houses. It’s a great time to be involved.

User experience is key to TShare’s offering, as the new creative studio aims to streamline the design and purchase.

“We want to make it super easy for people to create and share great designs,” Brian said, “Create. Wear. Share. This has has always been our key focus, from our Creative Studio to embeddable stores to social media integration for accessible, stress free product creation and promotion.”

“The TShare model works by printing on demand so any concerns felt by creators over fulfilment, postage or wasted stock are eliminated – this is a stress we wanted to absorb particularly for bands and musicians creating merchandise.”

For the rest of 2015, Brian and the TShare team want to continue to develop relationships with the creative industry both at home in Brighton and nationwide, he concluded: “We want TShare to be an open, active, creative community so building that base up throughout the year is top of our list.

“We have also launched a featured artists series and have exciting projects with musicians in the pipeline which we’re looking forward to sharing with everyone.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .