BACKGROUND
Blue and White Collar was conceptualized long before the initial meeting between a group of friends in a Provo, Utah house in early 2017. Founder Ben Perkins grew up in Hong Kong and, while later living in the Philippines, frequently wondered why dress shirts weren’t made with a material more suited for hot climates. Years later he partnered with his sister Lizzi and friends Timmy Bates, David Shum, and, myself, Jordan Larsen.
Our goal from the beginning was to outfit as many people in dress shirts that weren't like the uncomfortable and stuffy shirts we all had to wear to special occasions, church, and work. After months of perfecting a suitable material that breathed, stretched, was machine washable, and wrinkle free, we were excited to launch this product.
KICKSTARTER // FURTHER PROGRESS
We decided to launch our shirts via a Kickstarter campaign in August 2017. After one month (and thousands of lessons on launching a start-up) we surpassed our goal and netted just under $22,000 from over 200 backers around the world.
Since the end of our successful Kickstarter campaign in September, we have continued to grow the brand and earn loyal customers through our superior product at a reasonable price, with our business continuing on blueandwhitecollar.com. We continue to adjust our product according to the feedback of our customers and come out with additional colors and styles to suit diverse preferences. We continue to develop new products for Blue and White Collar, but we’ll always be working on perfecting the classic white shirt.
2nd KICKSTARTER AND PROGRESSION
On March 5th 2018 we have launched our second Kickstarter campaign, amassing over $20,000 and again successfully funding the campaign. Since the second crowdfunding campaign, we have gone from strength to strength with our e-commerce site becoming the center of our sales, turning in record month after record month. We are well on our way to $100,000 in revenue in our first fiscal year ending in August 2018.
MY ROLE
During our Kickstarter project I co-wrote and co-directed our campaign video, designed the campaign page, and organized the overall aesthetic as it pertained to the formatting, logistics, and campaign operation. This process began months before the launch with production of samples and prototypes, minor UX design in the campaign page, and planning a campaign strategy.
I continue to function as the primary art director for the brand ranging from photography, video shoots, social media posts, and everything else under the sun you could imagine. This along side of day to day operations and coordination between our team, shipping manager, and our contacts at the factory producing the shirts. Feel free to check us out at our site, and social media channels @blueandwhitecollar, and buy a shirt if you're so inclined!
