Known brand review!

by Ben_P on March 4, 2013

A week or so back I received a T-Shirt from Known. Ironically they were not Known to me, safe to say though I now am thoroughly informed. They certainly give off the impression of a well designed and made brand especially since they were only established in 2012, so I have high hopes for 2013 and onwards.

IMG 20130304 185221 480x360 Known brand review!

The Tee I received ‘All Day Every Day‘ which is probably a slogan for their company as I’m sure they work round the on polishing their brand, I definitely commend them on their efforts so far. It’s a nice grey tee with a lovely printed All Day Every Day in two colours one shadowing the other and an accompanying Known Logo which is simple but effective. It’s available in 3 different colours too which is nice. I’m not certain on who the tee is actually manufactured by as they have removed the previous tags and put their own Known tag inside – which is always a nice touch, the quality of the garment is decent however I’ve received better tees in the past but this certainly could stand up against anything on the high street. The screen printing on the garment looks a tad thick so I’m concerned about whether it will crack in the future as I have only washed it a few times since receiving it, but saying this the thickness of it really does make it pop.

IMG 20130304 185301 480x360 Known brand review!

If I’m going to be honest I’m not a huge fan of the design, while the font work and everything is beautifully crafted I can’t foresee it being a troublesome design to create compared to others out there. Especially at almost £30.00 I personally wouldn’t buy it in shop, but that’s just me – I resent paying anything for tee’s really! However it seems that a lot of tees nowadays do cost upwards of that and more, the choice is yours as the consumer really. I don’t want to sound like I’m really beating down on this brand because I’m not. I just think on occasion some companies need a bit of a reality check to a certain degree. While I have been somewhat negative about this tee I do like it because it goes well as a tee that you wear with a zip hoodie, it’s understated but effective at the same time.

IMG 20130304 185318 480x360 Known brand review!

Overall Known look to be a well polished brand and really do give off a more established brand vibe but personally I think they need to give their designs a little bit more of a kick to it. I know on certain occasions I do think less is more, but as a consumer I’d like to feel that someone’s heart and soul has gone into a design (well maybe not that far) but I just feel Known need to give people more of a reason to want to buy their stuff. Let us know what you think in the comments section, I’d be interested to hear peoples opinions. Certainly don’t forget to check out Known’s website either and check out their other merchandise.


 

  • MrIncognito

    This label deserve a lot more credit than you give them.

    First and foremost, as you mention, the product is of good quality. Decent tees and a decent screenprint. More than most of the daily tee sites and certain popular brands can offer.

    The branding is strong and consistant. Good design & photography on the website.

    Best of all, they offer well designed artwork on the tees.

    This should be commended in independent brands. I for one am sick to death of daily tee sites and poorly designed pop culture mash ups with little thought gone into them. It’s a little sickening when brands with tasteful graphic design don’t get recognized for it.

    If someone can connect with one of the slogans on the design then £30 isn’t a great deal to pay at all. Perhaps it’s you as the reviewer who needs the reality check. Indie brands need to charge a little more if they are providing quality, they aren’t making them to order on cheap apparel like RedBubble, nor are they knocking out thousands of tees like some other stores. Have a look around, there a lot worse designs out there that cost a lot more. If you love & appreciate t-shirts as much as a reviewer should, then £30 for a t-shirt you like isn’t astronomical. It’s a perk to receive freebies, don’t be such a prick to say you RESENT paying anything for a tee.

    All said, my opinion is that independent brands might be facing a struggle expecting punters to buy tees with just an unknown brand name on them but at least these are well designed.

    Good luck to these guys anyway, I just hope they aren’t sorry sending the product to a reviewer who, despite being sent an item of quality, doesn’t seem to recognize the good points. Maybe he would have been better suited to one of the countless Dr Who/Big Bang Theory/Rageface type mash ups that we can’t get away from.

    xxx

  • http://hideyourarms.com/ Andy (Hide Your Arms)

    I’m curious as to why you keep bringing up pop culture designs when they have no relevance to this review? And the same goes to comparing them with daily sites, they’re completely different target markets.

    Regarding price, he’s said that he thinks £30 is high for a tee, but also that there are lots of shirts out there which are more than that and the choice is down to the consumer (which is effectively the same as your point). He also points out that it’s decent quality, though he has received better, he’s just being honest, and if he has concerns about the thickness of the print then he should mention it, especially as he also mentions that the slightly thicker print helps the colours on the designs.

    If Ben didn’t like the design it’s clearly going to influence his opinion, we were offered this tee by a company as an add-on to a different sample offer and did not know what design was on offer. Had we been aware it would have probably gone to someone that likes this style more, but Ben offered to review them as he was already doing the other review and it seemed silly for the company to ship out to two different addresses with samples.

  • http://www.facebook.com/punk.ben Ben Procter

    For starters I’m kind of glad someone posted! So thanks.

    My main gripe with this t-shirt is it’s pricing and from my opinion lack of design effort. I can’t legitimately comment on how much effort or time they’ve put into the design because they may have slaved for hours and hours over each individual letter. However I very much doubt they did, I’m sure it could be knocked up in 30 minutes. That’s not to say that it isn’t aesthetically pleasing I’m just saying there is probably little effort into it. I’ve sold one t-shirt before of a friends design, we reasonably priced it at £15 and we made a fairly healthy profit. Indie brands don’t have to start out at £30 per t-shirt which is just stupid in my opinion, I tried to not let it reflect poorly upon the review because it’s unfair to judge something based upon one particular factor.
    Also yes while saying I resent having to pay anything for a t-shirt, doesn’t everyone? I’m sure you’d like free t-shirts and another point the t-shirts aren’t exactly free when myself and other bloggers do have to spend time and effort into writing the posts, it’s also relatively cheap advertisement for indie brands to get noticed. We’re not here to just belittle up and coming or well established brands but to offer an opinion and any guidance we might have – I would never dream of claiming what I say is gospel because it isn’t. That’s the beauty of an opinion!
    I also would expect you as a reader to appreciate the fact that we try to give an honest opinion – I don’t particularly enjoy being mean or pointing out flaws but I feel it is necessary to give a well rounded review. Otherwise everything I would be saying is a lie and that somewhat defeats the purpose of it in the first place.

  • MrIncognito

    I bring up the pop culture designs coz that’s all we seem to see these days and 99% of them are really bad with no artistic merit whatsoever. Also, the shirts from daily tee sites with these pop culture designs are generally poor quality but it’s generally never mentioned by t-shirt reviewers and bloggers, instead it’s often positive comments. That said, in your case, your newer, more critical approach is welcomed.

    You are always going to find a better quality of tee or print, i just suspect he was pulling this brand up on things that were not really an issue and not giving them enough credit for what they are doing right. He did say the quality stands up against anything on the high street so why criticize it in the first place?

  • http://www.facebook.com/punk.ben Ben Procter

    The reason I mention quality is because if I paid £30 for a t shirt id expect better than say Gildan. continental clothing or american apparel would factor in nicely and still create a profit dusty paw a brand I’ve reviewed twice have bamboo and only charge £20. £30 for a non premium tee is absurd and that’s my opinion or at least it should have something to give it value. Multi screens or more in depth artwork. Im confused as to why you defend a simple typography shirt that costs £30! Clearly you have a lot of money spare – not all of us do. At least Known might get a purchase from this! Which is good.

  • MrIncognito

    This isn’t a ‘simple typography tee’ nor could it be ‘knocked up on 30 minutes’ as you suggest. Try it yourself. They haven’t typed it out in Microsoft Word using a desktop font you know.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Douglas-Henderson/783540299 Douglas Henderson

    Ah a lovely debate. I agree this is not simple typography, being a graphic designer/illustrator myself I understand that it is hard to get it to work right, I have loads of sketches as a testament to that. I think their tee is really nice looking but I do have to agree with Ben that £30 is a little steep. But it’s all about target market and Known do look pretty damn good

  • http://www.facebook.com/punk.ben Ben Procter

    I’m not saying it has been knocked up in 30 minutes but it certainly doesn’t reflect that someone has painstakingly slaved over it – I’m not a graphic artist and never have nor will claim to be. But based on looking at it I as a consumer wouldn’t feel like its worthy of £30 and that’s my opinion that you nor anyone can dispute but you make the exact same comment on pop mash up tees which I would guess take longer. I’m sorry that not everyone shares your view and I appreciate its different to mine and I’m glad.

  • MrIncognito

    ” I’m sure it could be knocked up in 30 minutes.”
    Your words.

  • http://www.facebook.com/punk.ben Ben Procter

    Could is a very key word there isn’t it. It COULD be knocked up in 30 minutes and it HAS are very different things.
    I’m absolutely positive someone can do that in 30 minutes and if you disagree well frankly that’s just stupid.

  • MrIncognito

    And that evaluation is based on what exactly? I’m telling you know, and as the gentleman who has posted below will agree, that design took longer than 30 minutes. And it would take anyone with talent more than 30 minutes to get it right. This is based on 15 years experience of being a graphic designer.

    It’s not stupid to disagree with a stupid comment.

  • http://www.facebook.com/punk.ben Ben Procter

    There is absolutely no correlation between time and skill. I could spend 50 hours doing something that someone could do in 5 minutes. It’s an illogical statement. Either way I’m done with debating/arguing/discussing what ever you want to call this because it’s going round in circles.

  • http://hideyourarms.com/ Andy (Hide Your Arms)

    This conversation should probably stop now.

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