After working 10 hour days and studying the same topic for 3 hours each night in preparation for what will likely be the last academic exam of my life, I've been using my spare time during my commute to just shut my brain down and listen to some music, so I haven't been able to type post as frequently as I wished. But I want to keep you guys updated with the STEEM t shirt project. Many of you guys have provided great commentary and support for this project, so here is the next update!
Here are some layout photos of the shirt with a variety of colors (including the Steemit teal color).
What do you guys think of the shirt design and placement?
What colors do you think would fit?
Should I add the words STEEM somewhere?
What color works best?
Having never actually created a t shirt, there was a lot of research involved since there are litterally hundreds of stock shirts to choose from and multiple ways to get the graphic on the shirt. Some of the problems that I'm looking to address is:
The answer would be to simply order a shirt and figure out how it looks and feels IN REAL LIFE.
Choosing the t shirt was the first step and that's when I found out that there are different grades of cottons, primarily regular cotton that consist of varying fiber lengths and diameters which have been spun together to create the threads. This is the cheapest option by far, and I've actually gone through all of my old clothing to figure out how my shirts have worn over the years. It happens that the cheap t shirt is quite durable but the material has gotten really tough and hard over the years, so regular cotton was immediately out the door. I want you guys to own a shirt that will last, because for many of us, we are living through a brand new era, where we want to remember the first editions of whatever it is that we buy to memorialize the event!
Instead, I went with the premium cottons which are created out of cotton threads made solely from the softer, longer fibers.
The choice ended up being a Hyanes 4.5oz ringspun cotton t shirt. This is a fashion fit t shirt that's a bit more conforming to the body, (or so it was advertised). The 4.5oz is lighter than the standard beefy 6oz t shirt, which I think will be too hot for most people wearing the shirt in the summertime.
There are classic ways to get the artwork such as screen printing, but the durability was questionable and the upfront cost was simply too high. Then there was the transfer sheets which are placed on the shirt, and then ironed on. While this was much more affordable, it lacked the detail necessary for the fine detailed lines. There is also dye sublimation which is extremely popular right now, but it does not work on cotton shirts since it requires a synthetic material to transfer the color.
That leaves only 1 other option, direct to garment printing, or DTG. This is actually one of the cheapest options, but it's also one of the most dynamic solutions since you can print one-off shirts easily. They also have a huge dynamic range of colors and detail.
For large scale production, it is the most expensive unforunately, but this is why we purchaed a few samples. Stay tuned for photos of the sample soon, they are due to arrive next week on monday, March 5th!
