BoA

BoA was one of the first introductions I received to asian music. The story of BoA's rise to success is so messed up and interesting. Basically she's from Korea and she was found through some talent search when she was 11 years old. She pretty much been bred since then to live, eat, sleep dancing and singing. She makes her job look so effortless when you watch her perform live. She's suppose to be doing her first American performance on MTV on December 5th in New York. I'm posting her newest single which is what she's going to use to try and break into the American market. I wish her luck cuz she totally has what it takes. Check out her new video below:

Never Say Die Cute Closeups

I was printing our Never Say Die tshirt tonight and was bored while waiting for them to heat up so I took a bunch of pictures of them. I will be putting up a last preview of next month's design so keep your eyes open.

Sungazer Concert

Last night Dora and I attended my close friend Marc's concert. Their band Sungazer played in a great little bar called Saint Laurent Bar 2 which turned into a rap/reggae bar after the show was done.






















That's Marc sporting an Akumu Ink tshirt.











Later in the evening Marc showed me this pic on his phone of his paper toy that he made.











On the way home we saw a manhole overflowing.

Latest Preview

This is the same design I previewed below. It will be available next weekend ;) Bookmark this link because as soon as the shirt goes online I'll post the link here.

More Posters

It's Friday again and I'm watching Sold Out: A Threevening With Kevin Smith. So far it's more like the first one in terms of interesting stories. Also I got the rest of my posters and put them up in my printing room. So here are some pics of the posters and you can see my screens that I use to print your shirts in the foreground.

More Vintage Blood

Here is a preview of our December design. As I've mentioned in the last post I was inspired by our past design Death's Embrace as well as the Dark Knight movie.

December Creeping

Today was great fun. I watched the Dark Knight again (second time so far) while working on the December design. Let me put it this way: I was very inspired by the Dark Knight movie as well as our Death Embrace tshirt for this new design. Previews will come shortly.

Inspirational Posters

Dora bought some posters for me a while back, and I got some for myself as well. And guess what...they arrived today! I have a couple more coming that will go up in the printing room which I'll post when they've arrived. So now you can get an idea of what my office space looks like:

Akumu Ink Paintings

I've already mentioned this I know. But here is the official post.






















Anyone can make and sell a print. But I want to offer you something more. I want to offer products that are high end, limited, and custom. I want to express to you the difference between mass produced whether in small quantities or large quantities compared to something made just for you. So this month's new item will be our paintings. All our designs will be available this weekend. I'm still working on redesigning the site. I've just added last night a new feature on every item page called "Customer feedback" which will link to our Etsy page allowing you to either provide feedback on our service and products as well as read what others think about us.

Books of the Dead

I love these hand made book covers. All made from leather to give the impression that their like old sorcerer books. I am totally considering filling my shelves with these.

This person on Etsy was featured in the blog section. I really love the concept, and if time permitted I would totally love to experiment with this medium. Anyways, if anything it opens the doors that if we can come up with an idea all we need to do is put it into practice. You can visit her Etsy page here.

BAPE :: Ideology

There's a real interesting blog post I found about Nigo (the guy behind BAPE) over at complex.com. I'm really fascinated by his "number 2" comment of why his clothes are so expensive. I found myself having to explain to buyers at the tattoo conventions why our shirts were 28$ when some other guy a couple booths down was selling a lame mass-produced Walmart looking tshirt for 15-20$. Read the article here.






















Hopefully tonight I'll get a chance to put the paintings up.

A Lot of Hard Work

If you do read my blog every day or so you might have noticed that I've been very quiet recently. The reason for this is there's not only been a lot of orders coming in but Dora and I have been working hard painting a custom piece. We were hired to do a painting of Montreal blogger and Akumu Ink fan Tanya McGinnity for her birthday. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Here's some pics of our hard work. If you're interested in getting a painting done, no matter what the subject matter feel free to email me.

Then, Now, What's to Come?

Here's a brief overview of the past, present and future of Akumu Ink:

When we started Akumu Ink the point was to produce a unique quality product for you at an affordable price. So we entered the market in February 2008 with tshirts.

In October 2008 we brought in hoodies to meet your needs. Again printed on an American produced product. No sweat shop labor used. The highest quality we can afford while still retaining a competitive price. Still at this point all our products are printed after you've ordered them by us. We do NOT outsource any of our silk screening.

Now in November we will be making something very customized. We will be offering hand painted art pieces featuring the art of Akumu Ink. These are NOT prints! But actually painted by hand, by us, for you. You can currently get your hands on your own Akumu Ink painting through our Etsy page or by clicking on the following links: Tokyo Painting, Of Horror Painting.






















The rest of the line of our diverse options of paintings will be up some time this week. With Akumu Ink we're not just your regular tshirt label. We're real people and we're willing to create products that you will be excited about.

Sale Ends Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the last day of our 17$ Sale. After that I am washing out those screens and I will print them no more. There are a few random sizes left (from this years tattoo conventions) and you can purchase them in the RIP section at regular price afterwards. But for now I'd just like to say it was a nice run Beloved and RockStar, you've been with us since September of last year as sketches in my notebook. Back when I had no idea how to design a tshirt, and had not even made a tshirt yet, or even expected anyone to buy one.

It's crazy to think that a year ago Dora and I had absolutely no idea what direction we were going to go in. But for now we will be making room for new designs coming in 2008. Currently we are working on high quality items that will be so limited, and so original, you'll be sure no one will be copying your unique style.

Band Photos

The boys from the Netherlands' band Meet the Storm have not disappointed us. Here is their latest photo shoot. They are currently editing their video which I will post here as well when it's completed. But for now you can hear them on Myspace.

Letting You Know

This month started off with a bang! Everyone's been ordering like crazy. We just restocked Boutique Perfide here in Montreal, so go check them out. And just got a huge order for the Lions Laier Boutique in BC, if any of you live out there be sure to go by in a couple weeks from now. They will be carrying an assortment of Akumu Ink hoodies, tshirts and tote bags.

Dora and I have been putting together some awesome ideas for holiday gifts which I think you're going to love. I'll probably be able to preview some of those items.

Also our boys from Meet the Storm are working on a performance video which has 3 of the members wearing our tshirts. We'll post that up when we get the finished copy.

Never Too Late

It's never too late to talk about a Halloween movie. I just read up on this last night.



So as you may have noticed the banner on the Sales page. Last call for those designs. They will go out of print come Saturday. If you're considering getting your friends Akumu Ink Christmas presents, keep an eye out.