T-shirts need some critique

[e-sarbak]

I prepared two tshirt designs for our schools fine arts festival. Indeed, I dont have much knowledge about t-shirt designing business. Maybe you can give me some advise. Or you can just make some comments about the design. Also another question, do you know if companies can print gradient designs on tshirts?

1) www.deviantart.com/deviation/49155501 (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/49155501)

2) www.deviantart.com/deviation/49155635 (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/49155635)

you can see my other works from

e-sarbak.deviantart.com (http://e-sarbak.deviantart.com)

[fasterthanlight™]

i like the second link more... but you need to emphasis the 25th in the first design more using a darker shade of grey, also don't place it that far left on the shirt.. what with the curve of people bodies and theyre armpit, some of that will get cut off

[fasterthanlight™]

and for the second design... i'd consider downsizing both the front and back designs, you do want people to wear them right? ;)

[Tommy_S]

this one: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/49155501/
I do think, it has some good design. And the 2d variant is way too.. erm... simple and not original.

[e-sarbak]

@fasterthanlight: I will try to darken the "25th"

What do you think about the colors and the font? (this question is more about the first tshirt)

Do you know if companies can print gradient designs on tshirts? (repeated the question)

thanks...:)

[fasterthanlight™]

gradients are definitely possible, but its one of those "high-end" things that only expensive really really good printing companies do

[RadioactveChimp]

^^^ I've been silkscreening for 4 years now so ask me all the technical questions you want.

Gradients are for sure possible with something called halftoning. Basically a good example of a halftone is if you take an old comic strip (some people call them funnies) and look at it really close you'll see that it's made up of tiny dots. You can make halftones in photoshop, I do it all the time ;)

[e-sarbak]

@radioactivechimp: Last year we had same kind of festival tshirt business. We met with a company and they printed the designs on tshirts. When we got the tshirts we were totally shocked. The designs on the tshirts seem like colorful yoghurt on canvas. After couple of washing machine experience, all the paintings got off. Normal tshirts have designs printed in higher quality. What are those techniques? What is the terminology of those printing techniques on tshirts?

[RadioactveChimp]

well if i am understanding you correctly, you're saying that after the shirts went through the wash a few times, the design came off.

Could be a few things:

1) The paint was not cured to the correct temp for total adhesion to the shirt
2) Cheap water-based paint tends not to last forever, you want "plastisol" or any type of paint that is not water based and needs to be cured
3) It could be that they were not screen printed at all, but just a simple iron-on transfer but I think you would have noticed that.

-D