It's cool that you can customize Vans on the Vans.com website, but there are a lot of issues with their customizer tool. Vans is trying to offer a custom product, without the custom experience. Their customizer tool works for some people, but the majority of people leave their website after attempting to upload their own image and it not looking right. Without the ability to have more control cropping, customers are left with cut off images or error messages saying their image doesn't fit.
There are definitely some advantages to customizing on the Vans website. The shoe is assembled after you purchase. This gives you the ability to pick each panel and have them build the shoe exactly to spec. The price is good too, coming in right around $100 for the custom shoes at checkout. But there are also some major draw backs.
Here at Blvd Custom we see some major issues with the Vans Customizer tool that no computer software or robot can automatically fix. We feel every customer should be assigned a personal graphic designer to size their image after ordering. We feel you shouldn't have to wait 7 weeks for custom shoes like it does on the Vans website. We feel every customer should approve of a visual mock-up before the shoes go to print. That way you can see exactly how your shoes are going to look when you get them. And we get everyone's shoes to their door step in 2 weeks.
People visiting the Vans website also deal with the issues of text placement and sizing images. When does Vans plan on letting customers have a different image on each shoe? For being "custom" there are really not a lot of options when working with their antiquated customizer tool.
That's why we introduced our own Vans image upload feature: https://www.blvdcustom.com/collections/go-custom/products/custom-slip-on-vans-go-custom
We do not have an automated preview, and there is a reason for that. We don't feel the software can give you an accurate look of what your shoes will look like. And the software definitely can't crop out the background behind your pet to avoid harsh print lines. That's why we have in-house graphic designers.
Ordering custom Vans with us is easy! Simply visit the GO CUSTOM Vans Slip On page on our website. Click "Personalize It" and fill out the fields letting us know your shoe size and shoe color. In the next field you will let us know if you want the same image on each shoe, or a different image on each shoe. If you decide you want a different image on each shoe, another field will open up so you can upload an additional image.
Last but not least, the design notes section. This is where you can let us know any details about the images you have uploaded that we may need to know. For example, if you want the same image on each shoe, but you want the images mirrored so they're symmetrical, this would be the place you can tell us. Or, if you want two different images, and specially want one image on the top of your left foot and the other image on the top of your right foot, this would be a good time to tell us.
Either way, we will be sending you a mock up to your email for approval before we go to print.
About the printing process: We use 100% environmentally friendly inks. All shoes are printed made-to-order with a Brother DTG printer. The quality is amazing, and we guarantee you will be happy with your purchase or your money back.
We attached some pictures of shoes we have made. We started with these two images below. Our graphic design team cropped out the background and sized the image correctly.
And the shoes turned out like this!
Take a look at these Black Slip on Vans:
On these shoes we used Adobe Photoshop to crop out the grass background and mirror the image on each shoe.
Are you interested in getting custom Converse? You can upload your images here for High Tops: https://www.blvdcustom.com/collections/go-custom/products/converse-chuck-taylor-hi-tops-go-custom
Low Tops: https://www.blvdcustom.com/collections/go-custom/products/converse-low-tops-go-custom
TOMS: https://www.blvdcustom.com/collections/go-custom/products/custom-toms
Please send us an email: info@blvdcustom.com