NZBusiness+Management - June 2018

20 NZB JUNE 2018

Art

without

limits

prints for Chicago-based, online threadless.com. They invite

potential buyers to vote on their favourite T-shirt designs.

“By 2006, I was their best-selling designer, and was

contacted by some businessmen in Austin, Texas who

ÀHZPHRYHUDQGDVNHGPHWRJRLQWREXVLQHVV>ZLWK

them]. I’d do the designs and they'd do the rest.

“We formed ‘Glennz Tees’ and hit the jackpot when

our melting Rubiks Cube Tee appeared on The Big Bang

Theory, which is huge in America (syndicated some 140

WLPHVDQGDURXQGWKHZRUOG ́

Sheldon Cooper wore it in the opening credits and it

appeared four or more times in the series, he says.

“The great thing was, that design had been on our

website for about two years and then an unknown

wardrobe manager chose it. People Googled the tee which

led straight to us, resulting in thousands of sales. We

never found out who she or he was.

“You have to sell quickly, because in no time the tee

was being ripped off by hundreds,” says Glenn.

“That’s the T-shirt game, I’m afraid. But it taught me

several lessons. In the digital era, hard work, timing,

luck, social media and persistence all come together in

random ways. And it’s hard to repeat success. You must

create, constantly.

“It’s pointless getting hung-up on the copyright issue;

it’s the reality of the online business. Just let it go,”

says Glenn. “Stay out front, keep creating and changing

things. Add something. Evolve. And most importantly,

use social media, with the help of experts, to create and

reinforce a loyal fan base.”

Family-first business

Glenn designed the Santa-tracker for Google two-

years in a row (he gave it up the third year when he

HOME-BASED INTERNET BUSINESS GLENN JONES

ART HAS CREATED ITS OWN ‘BIG BANG’ RIGHT

AROUND THE WORLD WITH ITS HIGHLY POPULAR

T-SHIRTDESIGNSAND‘KIWIANA’ ART.

BYKEVIN KEVANY

lenn Jones Art is a family-centric,

Internet-based business that operates

IURP DQ RI¿FHDQGWKHNLWFKHQWDEOHLQWKH

re, Auckland villa of Glenn and wife Julia.

uction and shipping are farmed out. The

ess doesn’t hold stock, has no employees

s self-funding.

enn and Julia are living the ‘Kiwi Dream’ –

some.

The business is extremely successful.

enn has produced more than 300 art pieces

nd they’ve sold more than 20,000 prints.

And that’s just their local enterprise.

His inspiration? Taking the familiar and

the quirky from everyday life in New

Zealand, adding a touch of humour and

“adding his own spin”.

-Takapuna Grammar (post-school he

rt at Auckland’s Technical Institute but

QHYHU FRPSOHWHG WKH FRXUVH *OHQQ¶V FDUHHU WRRNKLPWKURXJKWKHUXUDO

press, a variety of design studios (gaining London brand experience for

8QLOHYHU DQG 6DLQVEXU\V EHIRUH EHFRPLQJ DUWGLUHFWRUDWDQDJHQF\ZKHUH

he worked on packaging for Fonterra, Frucor, and created the TipTop logo.

Dashwood hired him in 2003 for a two-day freelance job and he left in

2008 as creative director.

“At night back in 2004, to keep my creative side alive, I'd design T-shirt

Westme

Prod

busine

andis

Gl

and

T

Gle

an

A

Ex

studied commerciala

QHYHU FRPSOHWHG WKH FRXUVH *O