Locked In Apparel
Gymwear Brand - Heavy Weight Tees
The first step in building Locked In was developing a logo that really captured the brand’s identity. I wanted something bold and versatile that would stand out, but was also clever. I wanted it to be simple enough to work across different platforms and be something that could be easily remembered. The design process was a mix of brainstorming, sketching, and refining ideas until I had a logo that felt authentic to the vision — strong, clean, and memorable. On the right was our first idea…. It needed some work. After 28 revisions with small tweaks and changes, we finally had our logo below. Creating the final logo to have the L and the I within the keyhole felt right. I finally had what I wanted and I could not wait to begin working on the t shirts.
After finalizing the logo, we got right to work using a Cricut to make about 40 shirts. They were simple but clean, and the main goal was to get the brand name out there. We started selling them around school for $10 a piece, keeping the price low because I knew the quality wasn’t top-tier yet. That choice was intentional—affordability has always been one of the most important parts of building this business to me personally. Heavyweight tees from name brands often go for $40 or more, but I wanted to create something accessible without sacrificing style, which is what made those first shirts such an important starting point.
As the first wave of shirts started gaining traction and people showed interest, I knew it was time to take the brand more seriously. I designed a new logo for the shirt to be an eye catcher. I ordered samples from three different manufacturers overseas, but none of them met the standard I was looking for. Luckily, I found a small local business that specialized in screen printing, and I decided to work with them instead. Going with a U.S. manufacturer came with some clear benefits—better communication, faster turnaround times, and higher quality control—but it also meant higher costs compared to going overseas. Even so, when I got the first mockups back, I was extremely pleased with the quality. It felt like a huge step forward, and it got me even more excited about the future of the brand!
I sold approximately 80 t-shirts out of the 100 made. I learned marketing and advertising through tiktok, instagram, and facebook. I also built my first website through shopify – I will never forget seeing that first order come in. It was interesting to see how the different viewers among each platform caused my content to perform differently. I began to learn the algorithm and carried this into my businesses that followed. I will always hold this business close to my heart as it was my first one, and I will always remember to stay locked in.
