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Monday, April 14, 2014 ARTS | 4

B.I.R.D.S Apparel
clothed in
community feel
see APPAREL, pg 5.
PAIGE CROSS | MUSTANG NEWS
B.I.R.D.S Apparel may be represented by a parrot
logo, but the idea behind the company is much big-
ger. Much like the popular I heart New York T-
shirts, the idea for the company sprang from a love
of a hometown.
The man behind the online clothing store, graphic
communication junior Josh Birnbaum, grew up in
Marin County before attending Cal Poly.
The concept is basically that the people and the
places of where you come from really shape who you
are, Birnbaum said. I am from Marin Country area,
so a lot of my designs are infuenced by the Bay Area.
Birnbaum came up with the idea his freshman year,
in 2012, when he started learning the computer pro-
grams that would allow him to complete his designs.
B.I.R.D.S is an acronym for Born in Rich Districts,
meaning anyone can fnd value in the place where
they grew up.
I want people to fnd riches from their district,
whether it is their friends or the places, Birn-
baum said. Whatever their area has to ofer, it is
about accepting that and the fact that has made
you who you are.
His designs are graphic and linear.
I try to keep it as simplistic as possible, really try-
ing to go for a refned look, he said. I am kind of
@kttrom Kelly Trom
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Monday, April 14, 2014 ARTS | 5
PAIGE CROSS | MUSTANG NEWS
AY BAY BAY | Graphic communication junior Josh Birnbaum created clothing line B.I.R.D.S Apparel. I try to keep it as simplistic as possible, really trying to go for a refned look, Birnbaum said.
a perfectionist, and I like the
symmetrical look.
His early designs feature a
graphic representation of the
Golden Gate Bridge, Warrior
and Giants colors, the phrase
Left Siders and other tradi-
tional Bay Area elements. His
current and future lines focus
on his logo.
Many people from North-
ern California have bought
his designs, as well as his
friends from other college
campuses, such as San Diego
State University and Oregon
State University.
That isnt necessarily the
target audience that I am
going for, but a lot of them
have grown up in similar
areas and similar environ-
ments with similar people,
so they are into the same
designs that I am, Birn-
baum said.
Birnbaum started designing
with some initial input from
friends in his residence hall,
such as business administra-
tion junior Dustin Dolby.
He showed me some de-
signs he made on (Adobe) Il-
lustrator and I thought they
were dope and wanted to buy
them, Dolby said. Everyone
in the dorm wanted to buy
one, so he said he would look
into it.
Birnbaum then looked into
getting price quotes on print-
ing costs and ended up se-
lecting a company in Orange
County called Merchwide.
I didnt know much about
clothing lines, but I was just
purely excited about it, Birn-
baum said. I knew I wanted to
do this and take the plunge. I
kind of just jumped into it with
a few designs in mind and went
ahead and got them printed.
Birnbaum printed those
frst few designs with the
support of friends who said
theyd buy one.
I never thought it would
get this big, Dolby said. He
came up with some clothes
that my friends from back
home are buying, people from
other colleges are buying. He
has really grown his market,
while using the Bay Area as a
launching pad.
Many of his friends in the
residence halls were from
the Bay Area and appreci-
ated his sense of style.
He lets people see his
roots through his clothing,
Dolby said. Thats one of
the big things he prides
himself on, is where he is
from. Even though he will
expand his designs, he will
stay true to that.
His current designs focus
mainly on his logo. The frst
tank tops and T-shirts sport-
ed designs that were foating
around in Birnbaums head
but didnt have a common
thread, except that they were
inspired by the Bay Area.
All of my concepts are now
built of of the emblem, be-
cause I want to build the brand
identity rather than just put
out random designs, Birn-
baum said.
Birnbaum mainly designs
at his desk at home or in the
sketchbook he has with him
at most times just in case
inspiration strikes.
Oftentimes, it takes prece-
dence over homework.
A lot of the time, a design
will come to me late at night,
Birnbaum said. There are
some nights where I get so
hooked onto a design and I
dont want to do my home-
work. I am fnding a balance.
Birnbaum has been grow-
ing as a designer and a busi-
nessman. One of his business
goals is to get his designs into
a brick-and-mortar store. He
has started talking to three
stores in Marin County about
carrying his designs: two surf
shops and a high-end skate
boutique.
My goal for summer is to get
it into all three of the stores,
he said. That is my home-
town, and I want my base to be
out of there.
The advantage to having
his designs in a physical
store vs. an online store is
customers have the poten-
tial to see what the clothes
would look like on them.
I think being able to ac-
tually try on something is
huge, he said. The hardest
thing right now is trying to
convey the sizing.
For now, he is focusing on
creating buzz for his products
on the Internet. Much like his
initial lack of strategy for co-
hesive designs, Birnbaum also
didnt have a marketing strat-
egy to generate interest.
As excited as I was and as
much as I want to do this, you
really have to be smart about
it, Birnbaum said. You have
to create the want for it vs. put-
ting it out there and hoping
people want it.
This is something he wants
to work on for his spring line,
which will consist of two de-
signs on diferent colored T-
shirts and tank tops. One de-
sign will feature a variation
of his current logo, and the
other one is a surprise, but is
titled Feathered Faithful.
Once I get the designs for
spring, I am going to start
posting pictures before I re-
lease them, Birnbaum said.
I think it is a smart market-
ing strategy, and it is a strat-
egy which I didnt have in
the beginning.
But Birnbaum isnt the
only one creating buzz for
his products. He heartily en-
courages customers to post
fan pictures of them wear-
ing their favorite piece of
B.I.R.D.S Apparel.
I really want it to be a
community feel, Birnbaum
said. I want people taking
their Bird shirts and going to
a sick view or going to their
buddies. I want them to em-
ulate what my motto is, and
not just wear (it).
Apparel
continued from pg 4.