T-shirts: Sausage the Trilingual Cat

Our current site editor, Elise Bianchi, introduces us to Sausage the trilingual cat.

Two young Brisbane entrepreneurs, now based in Japan, are making a name for themselves with their cute and lengthy character Sausage the trilingual cat. Ian Glidden and Dave George, childhood neighbours from Brisbane, established Sausage Vs. The World  as a t-shirt-selling business in the Japanese city of Kobe in 2013 and they have ambitions for their long, precious cat that stretch across the globe.

Originally intending to take on the Japanese market as newcomer foreign designers, Ian and Dave decided that this wasn’t ambitious enough and set their sights on the world—hence Sausage Vs. The World. Both Ian and Dave are University of Queensland alumni and, originally conceived in Brisbane, Sausage’s first run of prototype t-shirts were sold among the language clubs at the University.

But turning Sausage from an idea into a business has proved both challenging and rewarding. They have had to wrap their heads around the graphic t-shirt business, experienced flawed samples, and disagreed about ideas. But they have persevered, done their research, and committed both time and money to make Sausage a reality. The result of their persistence is an initial three t-shirt run that is currently for sale on their bright and eye-catching website.

They have also taken to social media with Sausage, with the majority of their advertising being through Facebook and Instagram, where Sausage sometimes goes on adventures in real life. In Japan, particularly in Kobe and Osaka, there has been some subtle advertising with stickers, as well as a lot of word-of-mouth and in-person sales. Two Australians making t-shirts in Japan has turned out to be quite an intriguing talking point!

Ian and Dave have also had to tackle the Japanese idea of ‘cute’ and how it differs to Australia and other parts of the world. Sausage may not be as cute as many Japanese characters, but they are aware of this and have tried to establish his own particular charm. Though their primary demographic is men and women from 18 to 30, they have also received considerable interest from parents wanting kid’s sizes, so they are currently looking into those options too.

The website features their comic, which they consider to be the heart of Sausage. Ian, graphic designer and original Sausage creator, regularly updates the comics to tell their trilingual character’s story as he travels around the world, as well as updating the site with special Sausage illustrations. Sausage, like Ian, speaks English, Japanese, and Chinese. The site recently ran a series of Japan-themed Sausage illustrations, including Samurai Sausage, Schoolgirl Sausage, and Godzilla Sausage.

In the future, Ian and Dave would like to take Sausage into stores and they are currently on the hunt for any Brisbane-based shops that would be interested in taking some Sausage stock and spreading the brand within the Brisbane community. They are currently looking at prototype bookmarks, stickers, and plush toys for Sausage, while he will continue his adventures around the world.

Website: www.sausage-cat.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SausageVsTheWorld
Instagram: www.instagram.com/SausageVsTheWorld