Feature: Red Tie Products

By Meghan Morrow

WritersNewsWeekly recently spoke with Paul Nandzik, President of Red Tie Products. Red Tie Products, which include Grammar Matters T-shirts, is an eco-friendly company working toward promoting literacy while retaining an ethical means of production. With great moral standards and even greater senses of humor, the team behind Red Tie Products has worked diligently to create a fun and exciting way to experience literature.

WNW: Let us first start off by asking who you are. Who is the face (or faces) behind Red Tie Products?
Nandzik:There are many faces behind Red Tie Products, but by and large, I (Paul Nandzik) am the driving force behind the company. My titles include Founder and President, but “Brainfather” might be a more appropriate, though thoroughly unorthodox, title.

My wife, Marie Nandzik, spearheaded our expansion into jewelry. She’s well-versed in the industry and has a great mind and a great eye for crafting exquisite designs. God bless her, she tries to teach me about all the stones and metals and techniques, but 95% of it goes over my head.

Also, long time friend, Vinnie Russo, has designed a number of graphics for the company. He also convinced me to start up a podcast, which he edits and tweaks and everything else a sound engineer does. The podcast is definitely something we’ve done a poor job of keeping up with. I never imagined there was so much work behind it – at least in the way we’re doing it. We research everything thoroughly beforehand, then try to make it as entertaining as it is educational.

Oh yeah, and Vinnie’s also invaluable when it comes to quickly breaking down the booth at the end of a show.

WNW: What got you started in creating Grammar Matters designs?
Nandzik: That’s an interesting question with a long answer.

I came up with the idea while I was studying English at SUNY Fredonia. My peers’ grasp on grammar was so lacking that many professors literally stopped class to teach basic grammar lessons. As a joke, I created a series of away messages for AIM, including the “Outrunning Errands” and “Who’re” gags. The away messages got a lot of laughs, but I never thought much of it.

Once the gears started turning though, my original idea was to write a book about grammar, so I kept a Word file full of these little grammar goofs. The first entries were, of course, my pet peeves, like saying ‘A.T.M. machine’ or ‘P.I.N. number’. To this day those still make my eye twitch.

I also sketched out a significantly less clever design for the Outrunning Errands gag, intended to be one of many illustrations for the book. I knew I wanted comic-like panels and stick figures, but I’m not much of an artist (even when it comes to drawing stick figures).

After moving to Pittsburgh in search of new and exciting work, I got to talking with a friend of a friend before deciding to launch an actual business around the Grammar Matters design.

As an interesting bit of trivia, Mr. Grammar’s signature red tie (and what would later become the name of the company) was the result of a passing suggestion I made to liven up the stick figure’s personality and appearance.

Anyway, wonky classmates aside, my burgeoning fascination with poetry – especially in regard to line breaks – was another influence since, you know, poetry can get away with poor grammar in the name of ‘highbrow art’.

WNW: We see that you also create jewelry; do you plan on expanding Red Tie Products any further?
Nandzik: Absolutely.

We made a very distinct decision to name the company Red Tie Products (rather than ‘Grammar Matters’, which isn’t a very good name for a company, IMHO) so that we would have the flexibility to expand.

I’ve got some great ideas for non-grammar-related graphic t-shirts that are geared toward geeks, as well as posters.

The geek in me would also love to expand into video, board, miniature, and card gaming. I’ve got great ideas for them all.

WNW: What do you hope to accomplish with Grammar Matters?
Nandzik: I’d like to make some money, of course. More specifically, I’d like to be able to make enough money so that I could quit my other jobs.

On a much deeper level, though, I really want to inspire people to think as much as I want to make them laugh.

I launched Red Tie Products right when the Great Recession really hit hard (probably not the best business plan I ever came up with) back in 2008. At our first comic convention, I stood eagerly behind our table as we drew a crowd. Not everyone bought something, but everyone laughed – and that pattern continues to this day. So, to be able to offer people a good laugh – that’s something I hope to accomplish in good times as well as bad.

On the ‘inspiring thought’ side of things, I would certainly like more people to have a greater appreciation for language. Grammar should never be thought of as dry, boring, or irrelevant, even though it’s taught that way (I can’t understand why). In my opinion, the best way to appreciate the correctness of grammar – or, indeed, anything – is to appreciate its incorrectness. That’s why we use the comic panel design layout.

The study of grammar, like so many other avenues of study, is one that encourages analytical thought, which is really just the skill of knowing how to think, and I believe that knowing how to think deeply in a versatile manner will – by its very nature – help people better themselves. Based on my research, a language deficit is a major factor in juvenile crime.

As quoted by the U.S. Department of Justice:

The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.

WNW: Why have you worked so hard to maintain ethically-produced merchandise?
Nandzik: I think it’s important to respect and dignify every human; and the idea of making any sort of gain directly off of someone else’s misfortune seems to me very much like burglarizing your neighbors, then selling their stuff at your garage sale. In my eyes, an unethical business is an illegitimate business.

My stance on this does make our products a little more expensive, but it’s not called the ‘high road’ for nothing. If we’re going to spend our money, we might as well spend it to ensure the future of our world is a good and decent place to live – or at least better than it used to be.

After all, it wasn’t so long ago in our own history that we took advantage of child labor, that we suppressed the rights of minorities, and even owned slaves. Yet since abolishing these immoral practices, how many minorities have helped to revolutionize the way we live our lives?

WNW: Have you always been interested in promoting literacy?
Nandzik: It was never really an overt interest of mine, no, but it was definitely something I did as an English/writing tutor. Other than Red Tie Products, the most fun I ever had promoting literacy was when I worked this temp job pushing a broom during the graveyard shift. I was working with a Bosnian refugee couple, and when we went on break, I helped them with their English and they helped me with my Bosnian. It was wonderful, and I continue to cherish those memories to this day. I just wish they didn’t chain smoke.

WNW: Do you have any plans to expand your fight for literacy?
Nandzik: Yes, I’d like to start up a community workshop, a scholarship, and a Mr. Grammar video game that would help people learn grammar. I’d also like to do a Mr. Grammar web comic, although I’m not sure if that really counts.

Certainly, though, I’m all ears if anyone has suggestions.

WNW: This final question is directed to Mr. Grammar himself. Do you ever tire of correcting grammar all day and dream of another profession? If so, what is that profession?
Nandzik: Some days I do tire of correcting grammar. It used to be a long, unforgiving job, but it’s better now that I’ve developed a sense of humor about myself.

Still, we all have our bad days, and on those days I like to sit back in my chair by the window and dream of being…Batman!

For more information on Paul Nandzik and the team behind Red Tie Products, visit www.redtieproducts.net.