Looking at everyday life with her heart and a smile – this is the simple recipe for success behind Ulrike Hirsch’s shop, “LOVEshirts”. It is there that she offers her loving illustrations and positive slogans on t-shirts and many other products. In this interview Ulrike reveals what inspires her and how her t-shirts can change the world.
Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do, who are you and what characterises your work?
Hello, I’m Ulrike, and I live for my work as an artist. I work as a freelance illustrator, painter and graphic designer. I also give workshops in intuitive painting, and I love making music and videos. The distinguishing feature of my work is the love that I put into it. I want my art to feed the soul, to please the heart and simply to create something beautiful and worthwhile.
Where do you get your passion for art and illustrations from?
I think I was born with it. Ever since I can remember, I have painted or drawn. And I have never stopped to this day. When the question first arose of what I should study or train to do when I left school, none of my family had any doubts: art. Preferably illustration. I wanted to illustrate children’s books or make cartoons. That was my dream.
You run several online shops and market your work very widely. What do you do, both online and offline, in order to become even more successful?
All of my offerings and a lot of my artwork are presented on my Website. I also blog regularly in my art diary, publish videos on my YouTube channel, post on Facebook every day and issue a regular newsletter with current projects, offerings and my latest artwork.
Offline I advertise with flyers, and above all with my enthusiasm for what I do. Perhaps the best advertisement is recommendations from satisfied clients and customers. That is what makes me happiest.
You launched your “LOVEshirts” shop with the help of Spreadshirt. Who is your target audience? Do you select specific products?
LOVEshirts came into being after a number of people asked me whether my illustrations were also available on t-shirts. My target audience is people who like to surround themselves with loving messages and want to enjoy having them on shirts, mugs, bags or pillows. It is possible to change the world just with t-shirts. If we wear shirts which have loving messages on them in the form of drawings or words, we can inspire our environment. We make people who see the t-shirts happy.
LOVEshirts has numerous themes: little everyday pleasures play a major role, such as a love of coffee. I also aim my messages specifically at families and like to draw cute animal designs for children. And then there are shirts with yoga or meditation designs. And music is very important! A lot of my LOVEshirts have a musical theme. The drawings are always limited to the essentials: a maximum of three colours, a few lines, simple shapes – and they are mostly in English, so they can be understood throughout the world. In my LOVEshirts shop I offer mainly shirts, hats, baby clothes, bags and cups. My LOVEshirts designer shop is for everyone who wants to create their own individual designs.
Are you able to say how much time you spend on your shop?
When I started, two years ago, I spent about one or two days a week working directly on my shop and in addition I created new designs on paper. At the moment I’m busy with a few other projects, so it is more like one day a month. However, I always have a sketchbook to hand in which I can record my ideas and jot down new designs.
In a previous interview you showed us some small business cards for your shop. You use them to attract potential customers directly. What has the response to that been?
I think you mean the stickers. For some time I have offered three very popular LOVEshirts designs as stickers in my art shop. People like ordering them with other products. We also enclose a special LOVEshirts flyer with every order from the art shop. Which is how customers who order posters or cards from me learn about the other beautiful things on offer. But by far the most direct “advertising method” is wearing my own LOVEshirts, for example when I give lectures. Then I am often asked where people can get t-shirts like mine. The perfect moment to pull out a LOVEshirts flyer.
What is the project that is closest to your heart at the moment?
Over the past year I have started up “Ulrike Hirsch TV”. This is my interactive painting workshop. People from all over the world can download my intuitive painting video workshops here, or watch them online. There are already video series on intuitive watercolour painting and intuitive drawing. I am currently working on a series about meditative mandala painting. So I spend a lot of time at the moment on shooting and editing these video workshops. And I love it!
And finally: Is there anything you would like in the way of further collaboration with Spreadshirt?
I would like to take this opportunity to praise the efforts of Spreadshirt. I have ordered from you a number of times to date and my experience with your customer service has been very, very good. There were always friendly people at the other end of the line when I called. So I know I can refer my LOVEshirts shop customers to your customer services with a good conscience if they have any questions, because I know they will be in good hands. I hope that your customer service continues to be just as friendly, patient and courteous. After all, my LOVEshirts shops depend upon it. Thank you!
We would like to thank Ulrike very much for this interview and hope that we have been able to inspire other shop owners with a few new creative design and marketing ideas. We look forward to your comments on this article.
