While a local indie band tears through its set, a folding table covered in piles of shirts sits tucked away in the corner of the venue, surrounded by listeners with cash in hand.
They all hover over the table for one reason: to snag some band merchandise.
Band merch can range from stickers to tote bags to the ever-popular band tee. When someone sees a band sticker on a water bottle or someone repping their favorite local artist’s shirt, they might be inclined to check them out.
Merch can serve as a kind of visual branding for an act, according to graphic designer Reed Mann.
The 22-year-old designer has worked with a number of local Gainesville bands, getting her start with fan-favorites The Nancys and Buboy. Just as merch acts as an advertisement for the bands, it has also served as promotion for Mann, as other bands seek to hire her after seeing her work.
Because of the highly representative nature of the merchandise, design development often involves close communication with the band, she said, calling for a deep understanding of their style and ethos. Through lengthy dialogues and trial-and-error, Mann evolves the designs to find their likes and dislikes.
“It involves a lot of communication, a lot of back and forth,” Mann said. “‘Who are you? What do you want to communicate about yourself through these designs?’”
But it’s not just the designs themselves that communicate the band’s identity. Manufacturing methods can also speak volumes about the community a band inhabits, said Macy McClarin, a 22-year-old graphic designer and recent UF graduate.
While printing through on-demand services like Printful or Custom Ink remains a popular choice, many small bands handcraft their merch as a way to save on production costs. The artisanal manufacturing process can add to a band’s indie aesthetic.
“Just being able to hold it, feel it, touch it, see the little imperfections of the hand drawing, it's just so human,” McClarin said. “I think that the people who are making DIY merchandise are tuned into the DIY nature of all of it and really respect the artistic process of music and art and the community.”
One band that captures this DIY spirit is Tallahassee-based Weatherboys.
Rather than sending its merch designs to a print-on-demand company, Weatherboys buys blank garments from a local thrift shop. It then hand prints its graphics with a heat press machine at the church its guitarist — 21-year-old Jacob Da Costa — attends.
“When we would order from Shopify and Printful and stuff, we could only get maybe eight shirts max for $150,” Da Costa said. “Now we can get 45 shirts for $150.”
The savings allow the band to bring down the expense for fans and bolster its own revenue. While a shirt from another local college band like The Nancys — whose merch is printed by Aesthetic Print and Design in Gainesville — would cost $30, most items sold by Weatherboys cost around half of that.
Weatherboys’ innovative approach to merch production also gives each piece a unique flair. No two pieces are exactly the same.
Whether it’s adorning the backs of laptops, enhancing an outfit or displaying your taste in music, band merch serves as a physical manifestation of an intangible sound.
Contact Christopher Rodriguez at crodriguez@alligator.org. Follow him on X @ChrisRodri29386.
