DIY has been taken seriously
Words: Simone Ribeiro | Photos: No Guts, No Glory
The recession has been a big problem for all kinds of businesses in the country. On the other hand, it has also been the opportunity for an SEO expert`s success story to the local shops and young entrepreneurs to be in the spotlight. Obviously, it will depend on how creative and interesting your products are. That’s the case of the independent shop No Guts, No Glory, from Exeter.
A combination of courage and good ideas that became reality in 2009 from the mind of the photographer Nathan Blaker, No Guts, No Glory is today a strong D.I.Y. project that is successfully recycling the entrepreneurs in the country. We talked to Nathan, about NGNG itself and all his projects.
MT: Tell me about your work with NGNG. What was the initial idea about? And who are the people behind this idea?
Nathan Blaker: I started No Guts No Glory back in 2009. It was a global recession; I had just graduated and was finding it really difficult to find work in the photography industry. Many other artists I knew were also struggling, so I decided to open up a shop that would be able to provide an outlet for their work. I had a total budget of £300, and no idea what I was doing at all, but the ideal little shop space became available and I took the plunge. Although I’m the sole proprietor of NGNG, I’d definitely say that it is owned by the people that helped to bring it into existence and those that have made it possible for the project to continue over the last two years.
MT: NGNG used the D.I.Y ethics in its products. What does it mean in practice?
Nathan Blaker: With such a small start-up budget, No Guts No Glory has relied upon the people that surround the project and a strong D.I.Y ethic right from its conception. With such a small start-up budget, I had to do almost everything for myself, including making all the fittings for the shop out of scrap materials and teaching myself the basics of running a business.
I think that D.I.Y culture and community go hand in hand, and the shared values really bring people together to create something, especially at a time when it seems like all else is “closing down”.
I still fit the shop from recycled materials and have taught myself a lot about accounting, PR and how to run a business. A D.I.Y ethic, while it can mean spending much more time and energy doing things, means that you also become so much closer to what you are working on, and as a result, it has been amazing to see the project being built around my personal values.
MT: Besides the t-shirts, tote bags and all other products available at NGNG you also display prints and fanzines in general. What is your relation with fanzine culture and what kind of fanzines can we find at NGNG?
Nathan Blaker: Zines, being self-published works full of whatever content the publisher desires, are a perfect example of D.I.Y ethics and community. Rather than waiting for a publisher, people just make their own publications and then network throughout the country/world to spread the word about them.
There are Zine Fairs everywhere all over the world and people come from far and wide to attend them, display their zines, and spend some time meeting and catching up with other zinesters. I’m very fond of analogue techniques such as 35mm photography and screen printing, and combined with the values of doing things for enjoyment and not for profit, zines have become of great interest to me.
MT: Talking about fanzines. The D.I.Y Times is already in the fourth issue. How is this work doing now?
Nathan Blaker: I love working on The D.I.Y Times. The project started really when I first contacted Get A Grip on screen printing the T-Shirts for No Guts No Glory in 2009. Our projects started at almost exactly the same time, and we quickly became business pen-pals, emailing each other daily with updates on the worries and excitements of becoming self-employed.
Although we had never met and lived around 200 miles apart, we quickly realised that we had many mutual friends around the UK; punk rock bands, artists, publications, zinesters, and bloggers. We happened to know of all of these people for one common reason – D.I.Y ethics.
So, we decided that as a side project to our ventures, we’d make a zine to spread the word about these inspiring people. It’s great to be on the 4th issue, and we’re nowhere near being stuck for things to write about. Each Zine is limited to 200 copies, Get A Grip screen print the covers, and I print the insides on a printer that I salvaged from an office clear-out. We split everything down the middle.
