About
Mission
As the market continues to become saturated with overly complex, cluttered designs, Ugmonk’s mission is to provide high-quality products with simple, fresh graphics.
Return to top
Story
Ugmonk opened its doors in August 2008, founded on my inspiration to bring simple, fresh designs to the t-shirt market. That inspiration began a year or two previous when, as a student, I started designing shirts for contest sites. After winning a few times, I realized there was a niche that my designs could fill. I graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in graphic design, married my high school sweetheart, and moved to South Burlington, VT.
My success at shirt design rekindled a dream to start my own online shop. It seemed like a simple enough idea, but I quickly realized there were a lot of pieces that needed to come together. After a few months of research and planning, things started to fall into place. After much brainstorming, I selected “Ugmonk” as a brand name (more on that later). With the addition of my brother’s technical expertise, we setup the Ugmonk store and blog, and then, finally, I had my first 200 shirts printed. There was no going back now!
We really didn’t know what to expect, but the response was amazing. Lowercase really struck a cord in the marketplace and sold out within the first few weeks. Orders were coming in from around the world, and we started spending our evenings packing and shipping shirts.
As Ugmonk started gaining some recognition and press, we released our second hit shirt, And Then I Woke Up. It sold out almost immediately and has become one of the staples of the Ugmonk brand. Thankfully this wasn’t just a dream that we were going to “wake up” from. As we stocked more shirts and added more designs, our loft turned into a makeshift warehouse/packing center. Ugmonk was here to stay.
As Christmas approached, we wanted to do something special for those less fortunate. We ran our first annual “Ugmonk Gives Back” Holiday Sale which was a great success and allowed us to give Christmas gifts to needy children all around the world. We look forward to doing more each year.
Why “Ugmonk”? For now that actual origin and meaning of that name shall remain a secret left for your imagination. It fit the bill for being unique, “google-able,” and brandable. While we may reveal where the name came from someday, we want “Ugmonk” to become simply another way to say “great designs and superior service.”
Our goal is to keep Ugmonk current and fresh, while providing top quality products and customer service. With that goal in mind, the rest of the story will have to write itself. Stay tuned….
Return to top
About the designer
Jeff Sheldon makes his home in South Burlington, VT with his wife and no pets. He graduated with a B.S. in graphic design in 2008 and has a passion for all things design. When he’s not designing, Jeff enjoys snowboarding, soccer, biking, photography, and sleeping.
Return to top