Doing It for the Fans: Custom Gear and Group Order Form Shipping

There’s so much to being a musician beyond making music. Catchy tunes aren’t a catch-all to finding success, and so much time is spent on building a fanbase that it can be difficult to actually focus on crafting new songs. Live performances, concert tours, self-promotion on social media, and creating custom merchandise are all timesinks that today’s musicians must contend with in order to catch peoples’ attention and gain a following.

Musician JSteph has been making music for the past five years, and seriously focusing on it since 2019. What started with an old laptop, a headset mic, and a sock has evolved into a passion for music production, complete with music videos and custom merchandise to match.

JSteph understands how custom apparel can build your brand with an eye-catching design.

Says JSteph, “After five years of hard work, I finally have been able to ‘brand’ myself a little more and gain somewhat of a small following. The whole goal of my music is to bring a light to the darkness…a hope to the hopeless. Every song I write is written with the goal of helping others in whatever situation they may be in.”

That ‘brand’ is something that musicians can use to help themselves stand out in a sea of songsters, and help them craft an identity to find their fanbase. With a brand, a musician can create custom merch to match—and give their fans another way to show support. “[Custom merchandise] not only helps brand me as an artist, but it also shows that people want to take part of this story I am creating,” explains JSteph. “This music I make is my life, and when people choose to support me by ordering my merch and wearing it around? That blows my mind.”

However, it’s not easy as a musician to create custom apparel. As someone who tries to find moments to make music between college classes, working a part-time job, and promoting his music, JSteph realizes the importance of time. When he approached Custom Ink to create his merchandise line, it was no surprise that he chose to go with the Group Order Form ordering option to help his fans get exactly what they wanted in the exact size they wanted — whether it was t-shirt, crewneck sweatshirt, or hoodie.

The Hanes EcoSmart 50/50 Pullover Hoodie is great for the outdoors—cozy and casual.

Custom Ink’s Group Order Form lets you collect individual orders and payments from multiple people for custom apparel with the same design. After designing your shirt (or crewneck sweatshirt or hoodie) in Custom Ink’s Design Lab, all you need to do is click on the option to “Order Together, Pay Separately”. Then it’s just a matter of setting a deadline for the order and sharing the order link with everyone interested! People can choose their own sizes and enter individual payment information.

Using the Group Order Form meant that JSteph could save time and energy on making sure his fans were outfitted with the merch they wanted—time and energy better spent on music making. Fans could choose between the Hanes Authentic T-Shirt, the Hanes Women’s Essential 100% Cotton T‑shirt, the Gildan Midweight 50/50 Crewneck Sweatshirt, or the Hanes EcoSmart 50/50 Pullover Hoodie. He wanted merchandise that would provide style, comfort, and a great price point. “Many of my fans are high-school or college-aged kids that don’t have much money but still want to buy. That’s exactly why I love choosing these items for merch!”

Both the Hanes Authentic T-Shirt and the Hanes Women’s Essential 100% Cotton T‑shirt provide a classic fit that can hold up to any concert festival while covering a wide range of sizes. The Gildan Midweight 50/50 Crewneck Sweatshirt offers a cozy way to rep your favorite band in cooler temperatures, and the Hanes EcoSmart 50/50 Pullover Hoodie uses recycled materials so that you can feel good and look good at the same time. While all of these items come in a wide array of colors, JSteph chose to go with the Ash versions to maintain a consistent look with his design across each shirt.

Up close, you can see JSteph’s logo, complete with his signature.

The design JSteph uses is clean and simple, much like his previous custom shirt order (also placed with Custom Ink). In keeping with his brand and other shirts, it features the song name “Those Days” in Bank Gothic typeface with an arrow and his signature logo. With a plan to release a custom shirt for every upcoming single release for his current project, having a theme and consistency is key to JSteph’s merchandise. He likens making custom gear to making music, saying “Whether it’s for a single or artist merch, don’t rush into it if you don’t have a set plan for yourself.”

Whether you are an established artist or someone who wants to showcase their hobby, custom apparel shows others what you’re all about—and options for shipping, like the Group Order Form, make getting it in the hands of your friends, family, and fans a breeze.

You can find JSteph on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube, and listen to his music on Spotify.