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Design and Conceptual Thinking.

1990 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Dave G
I'm very interested in what you are thinking about when it comes to making t-shirts. I'm talking about the design and conceptual thinking aspect of it all. What kind of design ideas are you coming up with? What do you or your company represent? Are you trying to make a statement? If so, what and why? I appreciate the feedback!
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i think "what are people doing now?", "what's in the stores?", "what have i seen a lot of in the past few months?"... and then i don't do it.
zagadka said:
i think "what are people doing now?", "what's in the stores?", "what have i seen a lot of in the past few months?"... and then i don't do it.
.... I say do what you do and set the " New" trend. With some luck destiny will find you. Get out there and plug your stuff.

Being a legend in your living room will not do it. :D

Focus on your stuff and don't worrie about who is doing what.
mossman said:
I'm very interested in what you are thinking about when it comes to making t-shirts. I'm talking about the design and conceptual thinking aspect of it all. What kind of design ideas are you coming up with? What do you or your company represent? Are you trying to make a statement? If so, what and why? I appreciate the feedback!
personally i don't think its that deep, since we are talking about Art.
Be Unique with your art and concept... even if it sounds and looks crazy.
Be Unique with your art and concept... even if it sounds and looks crazy
This is so true. It is truly amazing what the internet opens up as far as a marketplace for your originality.

Something that you think would only satisfy your personal creativity can turn out to be a worldwide success.

You just have to know how to reach them (your potential buyers). They are out there though.
juicy couture is our business model.

they wanted to create what was lacking in their closets- they designed things that appealed to them personally. they never had a target market in mind, took out tens of thousands of dollar loans at the bank, and look how successful they are. if that isn't inspirational, i dont know what is...
they never had a target market in mind, took out tens of thousands of dollar loans at the bank, and look how successful they are. if that isn't inspirational, i dont know what is...
It may be inspirational, but I'm not sure I'd call it the ideal way to start a business (or a "business model" that I'd suggest trying to duplicate:)) That's almost like the lottery model of independent wealth :)

There are probably 1000 more stories like that that end up with folks in debt.

But with some preparation and planning, you can put yourself in a better position to succeed.
Get your own idea right, design it, print it, market it... and then you'll see if success will find you or not.

But more importand, never give up!
I do what I want to wear, and adapt my painting and design style to my shirts. I have never came up with a the concept first. Hours of doodling usually makes it happen.

If people like it great, we have fun and thats how I would love to keep it.
I know for me, I can only work on what's special and interesting to... well me! That's why I do it. I'm a graphic designer for a living, but making/selling shirts is my side biz and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't enjoy it.

Give an example. I was born in 1971, so you can probably deduce what my inspirations are as far as pop culture from my past. I designed a "Shogun Warriors" shirt based on the 2 foot tall toy robots made by Mattel I had as a child. They started selling like hotcakes and business was good. I assume mostly because it was an untapped area (at least that specifically) and I'd like to think partially because I had a good design.

My friend says to me, "Hey, you know what you should make next? Robotech shirts!"

I don't care about Robotech or any aspect of it. Therefore, I wouldn't want to spend hours conceptualizing and drawing an idea, execute it, start selling and then have to look at them when I produced them!

To me, there's no fun in that. Drawing the Shogun Warriors was fun because it brought me back to my childhood and I could really get into the design and have fun with it.

I like to share what I like with others who will appreciate it. I guess I'm selfish like that. If it was just about money, I'd be doing something else.
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I as well design stuff I'd wear. Makes it easy.
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