We got (read: pestered until we were granted) the chance to chat with Jacob DeHart, SkinnyCorp/Threadless co-founder and all around cool guy. He let’s us in on some of the details surrounding the next revision of the site, and when we might expect it to break into the wild.

Oh, and he was kind enough to grab just the tiniest, most adorable screenshot of the new site. Squint, really hard.

Chris Cardinal: Could you start off by telling me who you are and what you do at threadless? (obvious eye roll)

Jacob DeHart: I’m Jacob DeHart and I’m one of two founders of skinnyCorp/Threadless. Jake and I are responsible for coming up with new ideas for Threadless and other businesses. We also do all of the programming for the sites.

LT: (wow. really?)

LT: heh; what I mean is, is it just you two programming?

Jake answers this question and a bunch others, plus, some very tiny teaser images of the new site, after the jump.

JD: It’s always been the two of us for Threadless, and in fact Jake usually tackles most of it himself. Sometimes he gets in these grooves where he charges through the site and busts out most of the site in a few days (and nights).

JD: Recently we took on 2 more programmers to help us with our other sites, but as of yet they haven’t touched Threadless.

LT: And the site’s coded in…

LT: a combination of Flash/PHP?

LT: With a MySQL backend and a bouqet that suggests a fine merlot?

JD: Its all in PHP, with a a mysql database. Oh yea there’s flash too. But in the new site you’ll see a lot less flash and a bit more javascript.

LT: AJAX?

JD: In a way yes. I don’t want to get into a discussion about the difference between AJAX and DHTML …

LT: Let’s just assume I’m aware of the differences already.

LT: Onto the next question.

LT: How long have you guys been working on version 2.0? (*Is* it 2.0?)

JD: We’ve always had ideas for the next version of the site. I think the idea of adding videos for each product gave us the drive to start with a brand new design

JD: And no its not 2.0, its probably more like 6.0

JD: We used to redesign Threadless every 6 months or so.

LT: What will change visually on the home page? If you’re removing the Flash elements, can we expect a completely new approach?

JD: The new homepage gives you a much better feel of whats been going on with the site. The focus is still on the week’s new shirts, but better displays the latest submissions and photos from the gallery.

LT: Any chance you could send us a (low-res, watermarked?) screenshot of the beta?

JD: i leaked a shot of the profile page, let me see if I can find that

JD:

JD: thats a screen from the new blogs page layout

LT: But no such front-page love for us?

JD: Ok fine! give me a second

JD:

JD: You may have to squint a bit

LT: Hehe, well thank you for that at least.

LT: When can we expect to see it launch, then?

JD: Soon we hope, sometime in June if everything works out alright!

LT: And you’ve moved servers since to prepare for the new site?

LT: (While simultaneously killing millions of innocent blogs?)

LT:

JD: You’ll have to talk to Jake about that one, but yea we’re still in the process of upgrading our servers. We’ve really come a long way, I remember years ago when we were running Threadless off of 1 shared server and once our new system is finished we’ll have about 20 running all of our sites.

LT: Wow.

LT: Do you host them on site?

JD: We use www.tilted.com for our hosting needs

LT: How will video come into play with the new site?

LT: Will it be a bunch of Threadless-team’s (read: Craig’s) crazy antics, whilst wearing new shirts?

JD: Haha pretty much!

LT: Will you be hosting the videos on the same servers?

LT: (Read: Should we be concerned that videos will slow the site down at all?)

JD: no not at all

JD: Don’t worry about that

LT: Does the new version have a code name?

JD: Hmm, no but I can make one up for you if thats cool?

LT: That’d be *fantastic*

LT: It should probably convey the proper mixture of sexiness and danger, as we all expect the new Threadless to elicit both feelings deep inside of us.

LT: Just sayin’.

JD: OK we’ve decided on Threadless Deathmatch

LT: I think that’s sufficiently dangerous.

LT: Although, perhaps a bit lacking in the sexy department…
Part II is yet to come, but we definitely have some more questions in store.
The front page screenshot, while absolutely miniscule, gives us a fleeting taste of what’s in store, and it definitely looks fun, but most of you will be concerned with the profile and blog pages… The profile page should have better gallery pics that don’t overwhelm the design, and a much cleaner layout altogether.
Any questions you think we should have asked? (Remember, we’re not quite finished here.) Leave a comment and let us know, but in the meantime, we know we can hopefully expect the new site, perhaps sometime this month. You know you’re excited.

Tags: ajax, code, design, interview, jacob dehart, layout, new threadless, shirts, skinnycorp, t shirts, threadless