Step 4: Making phone calls

As I return to Malaysia to my job, leaving my logistics management to my team, I am able to continue writing after a few days of getting everything back to normal again. So here we go: we shall continue from step 3, on to step 4.

Once I conducted my research, I was able to make a concise decision on the type of fabric I wanted, and the type of printing I wanted. I also chose to check out more than just one supplier and printer, so as to compare prices. My main way to judge the overall quality of the supplier was to ask the questions based on my research:

- Material properties (GSM, knit, etc)

- Printing properties (plastisol or other type)

- MOQ (Minimum order quantity)

- Price per T-shirt

- Production time

- Delivery time

I also made sure to visit each supplier website and see the overall layout and quality of their website, any samples they have featured, and whether they have any large existing clients.

Along with emails, I also made calls, as this allows you to gauge the knowledge of the person on the other side of the line. If they sounded odd, dumb, or unable to comprehend certain details mentioned, I avoided giving those numbers another call.

While looking for the right supplier, I also decided to test a pair of my designs with an existing T-shirt I bought from the market. I got a screen printer from my town to help me with 2 samples, and asked him to get a print made for each design. Since I only printed 1 piece each, I had to pay for the print-stencil as well, but that was fine.... it is always best to spend money on tests rather than blow money afterwards trying to fix the design in unforeseen circumstances!

here were the first 2 prints I did