Vail Valley Bizwatch: Kind Design clothing

Business name: Kind Design.

Location: Eagle-Vail.

Date opened: July 2008.

Owners: Damon Baz Redd, Derek Baz Redd.

Contact info:

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Web: http://www.kinddesignclothing.com.

E-mail: kinddesignclothing@me.com.

Phone: 407-399-6115.

What goods or services do you provide? Kind Design is a clothing brand geared toward outdoor enthusiasts who prefer comfortable, American-made shirts, with simple, relevant designs. We also offer custom screen printing, on-site screen printing, and graphic design services – all operating right out of Eagle-Vail.

What’s new or exciting at your place? We just finished a big summer, starting with the Teva Mountain Games. Teva hired us for the on-site screen printing, busting out about 3,000 shirts in three days. Currently, we are in the early stages of designing our first line of ski clothing: jackets, pants, gloves, and more. Also, Kind Design is teaming up with Folsom Custom Skis to launch an artist series of ski designs.

What strategy do you use to differentiate your business from your competition? Our designs are unique and simple. Every article of clothing is a limited edition. We’re proud of being a small company that can produce high quality products, made in the USA.

What philosophy do you follow in dealing with your customers? What can your customers expect from you? Take into account everybody’s opinion, but don’t take anything personally. When it comes to custom screen printing, we can beat most of the prices you find online, but we are not the cheapest. We print everything by hand, ensuring the highest quality end result. We also help on the design end, and do not charge for the first two hours of work.

Tell us a little about your background, education and experience: We both grew up skiing every day in Vermont, pioneering the freestyle program at Mount Snow. A car accident in high school, resulting in a broken back and shattered knee, put a damper on our skiing careers. This is what brought us to the University of Central Florida. After graduating, Damon moved out to Vail, working at Double Diamond the first season, then Ski Patrol the following four winters. Derek moved to Switzerland where he taught skiing. He eventually moved to Vail where he now teaches freestyle at the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy. Our artistic expression has no formal background – just about everything we do was self-taught.

What is the most humorous thing that has happened at your business since you opened? Our first annual “kamp kind” this summer had 5 attendees, including me and Derek. It was great time.