There are many people that have the ability to create an amazing shirt or piece of apparel, only to be at a lost creatively when it comes time to make a follow up that sticks to the brand ideals. Dont fret, it happens to the best of us. How do you follow up success with more of the same you may ask? Look at Pixar. Thats not a typo. I know many might feel that this is entirely off subject, I mean "come on, were talking about shirts here right? What does Pixar animation, the company that makes kids movies, have to do with making cool shirts for my brand?" They know how to make consistently, GREAT selling movies, that appeal to a HUGE demographic, and thus far, they have not failed at making a critically acclaimed success to date. Part of being truly successful in business matters, is being able to look at others success's, sometimes not even in the same field is you, and learn from there example. <h3>1. Make something that has wide appeal, by creating your own genre.</h3> <img src="http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/ts/images/tale_left.jpg" /> Toy Story. Prime example of success, this movie launched Pixar into the spotlight virtually overnight, and earned them recognition and single-handedly over threw the entire hand drawn animation genre which had reigned supreme amongst children's movies for nearly 5 decades. <h3> How did they do it? </h3> Every child on the planet likes toys. If you didn't like toys as a kid, you weren't a child, you were most likely insane, and are now reading this article from the lovely confines of the asylum you currently reside in. What Pixar did, was take something that every person in the world has at one point in life thought of, that being toys that are alive, and translated it to a live action movie. The success was assured because they made a film that everyone could relate to in some way, even if they didn't like the movie in of itself. <h3>How can I do this with the clothing I create?</h3> You can't. The clothing industry is amazingly complex place, where trying to cater to everyone will only land you bankruptcy and a drinking habit that would put the whole of Russia to shame. But, what you can do, is make sure that you are highly educated about what your target demographic likes and wants. When you learn what people like now, and why they like it, it makes it easier later to predict what they will like. Marc Ecko made shirts that drew heavily from street culture. Spray paint, urban settings, graffiti, all these things were not invented by Marc Ecko, but he put a name and face to a genre that in many respects lacked identity, and by doing that secured his spot amongst the top of Street Wear brands in the world. <h3> A color pallete is a powerful thing for a company to have</h3> <img src="http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/nemo/images/tale_left.jpg" /> Although this isn't Pixar's company palette, Finding Nemo did something that was truly unique. By working with vibrant colors throughout the movie, (clown fish orange anyone?) they made a mental impression on your mind that those colors are and were, associated with that film. They have successfully done this in all their movies, but most notably, Monsters Inc., which focused on "cool" colors, The Incredibles, which relied heavily upon vibrant yet vintage colors, and Finding Nemo, which used the colors of the sea to visually entrance audiences. <h3> How do I use this information with my brand?</h3> Not every company has a set choice of colors that they utilize. But the ones that do have the upper hand of not only having a striking company name, but a color that represents the brand as a whole, making it a two fold way to have people remember they're brand. Examples include The Hundreds, whose bomb mascot's red and yellow fuse make it almost instantly recognizable, and Benny Gold, who has used Argyle and the associated colors to really make the pattern his own. Having a color palette for your company will make it easier to recognize, and will also give you another point that separates you from the pack. <h3>Brand Consistency</h3> <img src="http://www.techzi.net/wp-content/uploads/the-incredibles.jpg" /> The Incredibles was an amazingly consistent movie. Through out the entire film, you are reminded of the time period in which the film is set, and the accompanying technology that was available at the time. You never feel that something is out of place, or that a vehicle or structure doesn't belong. That's because Pixar went through pains to make sure that the overall feel of the movie, including all the things in the film itself, were consistent with one another and wouldn't be distracting. Pixar has managed to do this with most all there movies, and they do it so well that many don't even realize it. That's what true consistency is supposed to accomplish. <h3> How do I use this information with my brand?</h3> By making sure that every shirt you make, every product your company releases, follows design guidelines that you have set for your brand, you will create a unique and dynamic feel for your company that mesh's perfectly, allowing you to do the hard part, sell! Looking at Pixar as a company, there are many lessons that can be gleaned from how they do things, and these are just a few of the one's that I found to be useful to the clothing industry. **Disclaimer** <font size="2" color="red">Under Article 7, Section B, of the Scoundrel's Code, it is forbidden to view non-manly movies without the company of a woman who has held you captive against your will and forcibly commited you to watching the film in question. Should such an incident occur, The Scoundrel's Code stipulates that the following movies should be watched 3 times in succession to cleanse the now polluted Scoundrel's brain. 1.Fight Club 2.300 3.American Psycho Failure to carry out this task will result in the immediate revocation of Scoundrel status, and will, if left unchecked, allow future possible repossession of THE MAN CARD. For more information on villainy, scoundrel's, and all its associates, please visit <a href="http://www.theelegantscoundrel.com">The Elegant Scoundrel</a>, and subscribe to the RSS feed.</font> 2009-01-05T21:13:22-05:00 What you can learn from the commercial success of Pixar movies. true 0 221 What clothing designers can learn from Pixar movies 1822 1 2009-11-21T09:42:16-05:00 4997