A Conversation with Brett Weiss: Designing Iconic Music Merch for Wild Oats, Brockum, and More
We recently sat down with Brett Weiss, who previously worked as a graphic designer for Wild Oats, Brockum, and JSR Merchandising, to discuss his career in the music merchandise industry, the creative process, and the burgeoning world of vintage band tees. Here are some highlights from our chat:
Q: How did you first get started in the graphic design industry, specifically in music merchandise? Was that always the goal?
Brett: It was really a lucky chance. It was tough finding design jobs back then, often low-paying. I was working as a claims processor at Prudential Insurance. My mom found an ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer for a job at Wild Oats in New Jersey, which involved designing concert merch. I was always really into music, so it sounded like a good fit.
Q: You mentioned working with iconic bands. Is there one project or band that stands out as especially meaningful?
Brett: I have my favorites. I don't know if they were necessarily the most meaningful for my career, but definitely ones that still stand out, like The Rolling Stones. They had a Halloween show, and I took their tongue logo and gave it vampire fangs for the front of the shirt. On the back, for the Voodoo Lounge tour, I actually carved the Stones' tongue into a pumpkin and photographed it. It didn't come out exactly as hoped and needed some retouching. But yeah, that was one of my favorite ones.
The above two photos show the actual pumpkins he carved for the Haloween Week Voodoo Lounge Tour shirt and the design he made with the pumpkins he carved and photgraphed.
Q: What was the creative process like for designing official shirts for different artists, such as Alice Cooper or David Bowie? How much creative freedom did you have?
Brett: I pretty much had a lot of freedom. More so back then than now. Nowadays, everything seems to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Back then, you could kind of just "throw it at the wall and see if it stuck". Sometimes you'd be given a band photo or photos of members and asked for a photo T-shirt, so you'd try to make something interesting with what was provided. Other times, the band had no idea what they wanted; they just needed a new T-shirt line. Those were actually harder, because with no direction, they often only knew what they didn't like, which was frequently half of what you'd send them.
Q: How did you balance commercial appeal with authenticity when designing for artists with such loyal fan bases?
Brett: I'm not sure. You just kind of tried to design a T-shirt that you yourself would wear. When working on it, you'd think, "Would I wear this shirt?". You'd brainstorm with other artists about how to make it cooler. You just try to do something that fits the band, something you think is cool and that people would want to wear.
Q: Have you ever seen a shirt you designed reappear years later as a prized vintage "grail"? What does that feel like?
Brett: Not so much ones that I personally designed entirely, but definitely ones that I worked on. I've seen them fetching high prices, like some for Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers. Some go for a couple hundred bucks. I worked at JSR Merchandising after Brockum, and they had the license for the movie Princess Mononoke. Some of those shirts go for over a thousand dollars. It's cool to see. It's not something I ever expected. If I had, I would have held onto more shirts.
Q: From your perspective as a designer, what makes a music T-shirt valuable today? Is it the artwork, the band, the tour, or nostalgia?
Brett: I think it's a combination. If no one cares about the band, it doesn't matter how rare the shirt is. But it's also about the classic designs. People wear shirts just because they like the graphic, even if they don't know the band. For older fans who saw the tour and want that shirt back, nostalgia might drive the value. For others, they might just want a shirt with a cool graphic.
Q: What do you currently think about the resale culture around vintage concert t-shirts? Do you see longevity in it, or could it be a fad?
Brett: That's what I keep wondering myself – whether it's time to dig everything out and try to move it before the market crashes. I don't know. Something like baseball cards has gone up and down forever, so it could be like that. Or it could be something like Coca-cola collectibles in the nineties that were popular, and now no one cares. It's hard to say. For original shirts for popular acts, I think they might maintain their value. Whether a Princess Mononoke shirt will still be worth a thousand dollars in 10 or 20 years, or if it will crash to half the value, is uncertain, as I've seen that happen with other collectibles. People still want them, but the value can go down a bit. It's hard to say.
Q: How do you feel about collectors and resellers viewing these shirts as art pieces or historical artifacts, rather than just merchandise?
Brett: I like it. I think they are art pieces. A lot of people don't realize all the work that goes into them. You just pick one up at a store or concert, but you don't see the hours of work designing it, doing color separations. It's like doing a painting, just on a t-shirt. I like T-shirts as artwork. I have books with vintage T-shirts and enjoy looking at the designs for inspiration.
Q: Have you ever thought about archiving or re-releasing some of your past designs?
Brett: Re-releasing isn't really my decision; it's more the decision of the licensee or licensor. There have been designs that have been re-released, especially because the vintage market is popular. Sometimes management wants to recreate an old T, but all they might have is the shirt itself or a small jpeg found online. You have to put a lot of effort into trying to make something that looks close to the original.
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to today's artists or designers hoping to create merch with lasting impact, what would it be?
Brett: There's a lot more opportunity now with the internet. I've seen a lot of talented people posting their stuff. Just keep at it. Be persistent. Send your stuff out. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. When I was in school, they'd say none of us would be rock and roll designers, and here I am.
Q: If you could reissue one design from your catalog with a modern twist, what would it be?
Brett: That's a tough one. One of my favorite designs that was just mine and not band-related was a Zombie Mona Lisa from around 1990. People have actually contacted me about that shirt, even tracking me down through eBay asking if I still had the original art to sell. I'd like to do that one.
Thank you to Brett Weiss for sharing his insights into the world of music merchandise design!