22/07/2024 by Aidan Scott
Owner and designer Aidan began the Big River in 2024, following seven years of employment within Architectural practices. Aidan made the move to become self-employed to realise his dreams of becoming his own boss.
The first t-shirt design that Aidan completed was the Tyne Bridges, as can be seen below. This has since become an iconic and immensely popular design with customers. Aidan finds the Tyne bridges fascinating, perhaps due to his background in Architecture. They vary dramatically both in terms of form and age, with the oldest being the High Level bridge built in 1850 and the youngest the Millenium bridge built in 2001.
Trading began at Richardson Dees Park in Wallsend with Urban Park Markets on the 20th April, and test trading continued over the next few months. Since then, Aidan has been awarded ‘NMFT North-East Young Trader of the Year’ and set up thebigriver.co.uk.
Aidan’s T-shirt designing has continued, with many more designs now available such as the Castles of Northumberland T-shirt and North Sea Dolphins T-shirt.
Quality and ethics have always been at the heart of everything we do. Our T-shirts are 100% cotton, pre-shrunk and screen-printed, resulting in a long lasting print. The shirts are also designed and printed in Newcastle as well as being Organic. We also use recycled and recyclable packaging wherever possible.
In August, Aidan took part in the Northern Pride event, with a stall in the Market Village under Greys Monument. To celebrate Northern Pride, Aidan released two limited edition designs, with a limited print run of just 50 each. The design takes Aidan’s original Tyne Bridge T shirt and overlays the rainbow flag, resulting in an iconic T-shirt to celebrate Northern Pride 2024.
The future looks bright for The Big River; we’re now taking orders for corporate gifts as well as orders for stag- and hen-dos. We’re also working on new designs and will be introducing a range of new products (not just t-shirts) which will be available in September.
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