[jiron]

My friend and I seem to be butting heads on designs. He tends to always like a design then right before we agree to send it to a screen printer he always seems to find and pick at small details that would not be noticeable to a consumer, but it would change his outlook on the design thus delaying our progress. I try to argue with him that although I agree to bringing out a design to its full potential however when it comes down to sales marketing is the key. He has an art degree so I know he looks at the designs in a more art perspective but I try to bring a point that majority of customers won't look at the design in that way, they would buy the shirt as a general whole, i.e they like the color, the feel of the shirt and the general idea of the design rather than buying it because the 'feng shui' is there. Can you guys help me with this area? Am I wrong? Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.


-jiron

 

[michellefanfan]

Hi Jiron,

If i was a target customer of your tees, i was attracted by your marketing policy, then i went into your store, i will buy the great design t-shirt instead of regular ones, because i can get it from other places, why do i have to buy from you?

In a word, marketing and design are same important.

Good luck with the business of you&partner.

Bill

 

[BroJames]

What are your designs and target market?

For designs that cater to the general public marketing should be more important for as long as the design looks OK (although not perfect). For niche markets, marketing is still more important but design detail should come in fairly close. Close enough to put others in the same boat you are now in. But if you have a brand and it is recognizable by your customers and have a nice shop that sells them then I think design detail is less important.

I am not referring to a poor design though.

However, I think you should discuss this further like maybe giving you some authority to call the shots since you are in marketing. Something like, if he thinks that a design is "good enough", then you can decide to push through with the printing and sales. He can channel his creativity in upcoming designs. Or maybe brainstorm for some kind of agreeable solution so as not to lessen his enthusiasm.

 

[jiron]

My target area is the gamer industry, people who play console and pc games as well, age targeted from 15-40 from highschoolers to college kids to fully grown adults but are into gaming. We typically know for the most parts what gamers are not that picky in fasion. Many like to wear shirts that have something with humor on it. I am a gamer myself and always wear casual clothes, (shorts and t shirts sandals etc...) when heading out the house. Our designs are based on parodies and spoofs of many things from todays mainstream culture to clothing brands and many more we can think of twisting. So we want to basically make our customers laugh and giggle when they see our tees.

Attached is one of the designs we debated about,first he liked it for like a month then his agrument was the text on the left side of the box the letter 'p' was off angle. Then he was suggesting the pill packet was off as well...
now he basically wants to redesign it .
Most likely your're not gonna get the joke if your're not familiar with the gamer lingo, but you can surely guess what medical brand we are spoofing. But as I said earlier do you think since that 'p' is kinda off or maybe the 'pill packet' doesnt feel right. would it deter you away from the design as a whole?
Thank you very much again for the respones

-jiron

p.s if your not familiar with the word 'pwn' here s brief link that summerizes it
Pwn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kimura-mma]

Hey jiron.

From a professional design perspective, I do believe the design is a bit 'unfinished.' The packaging can be fine tuned, perhaps the fonts can be updated to something more interesting and the design composition can use some work.

However, this is intended as a funny, cartoonish design, so the details don't have to be perfect. Trying to make everything perfect almost takes away from the joke. It shouldn't be be an exact replica, just enough to know what it is and be funny.

All that said, your friend is just being a typical designer. He wants it to be perfect because he wants it to sell well and not feel like he could have done a better job. But this will fix itself with time and experience. He will learn when designs are done and ready to go to print. You guys just need to find a balance. It's not going to be perfect. But at some point you need to stop fine tuning and get your product to market and start selling.

On a legal note, you may want to consult an attorney before going to market with these kinds of designs. Creating parodies is not exactly legal. You could be at risk to be sued. You can use the parody defense in court, but it's not a sure thing and legal costs are expensive. It's best to get some advice in advance to learn what to avoid and what you can do to lessen your risk.

Hope this help and good luck with your brand!

 

[BroJames]

. . .
Attached is one of the designs we debated about,first he liked it for like a month then his agrument was the text on the left side of the box the letter 'p' was off angle. Then he was suggesting the pill packet was off as well...
now he basically wants to redesign it .
. . .

So why was it not printed of redesigned within that 1 month?

Is he an experienced designer? I am not a designer but instead of the "P" being off angle and the pill packet being "off", I noticed that the words pwnagra at the end of the box is not properly skewed. And the crown on the shirt, vompared with the crown on the box, should be rotated a little more clockwise.

As far as the design is concerned, I think it should be ready for market. As Tim said, in spoof or humor shirts, the details don't have to be perfect. If you are able to convey the message across to your target market and the way you intended then the design is good. However, unsuitability of the design or redesigning it entirely is another matter that you 2 should really sit down and discuss.

Personally, how do you feel about the design? Is it ready?

On the legal side, with David Letterman and John Leno making jokes and poking fun on people, companies, and the government and getting away with it, maybe you can too. But then, maybe offended parties think twice before going up against the large media conglomerates with fancy lawyers so checking with a lawyer may be a good idea.

 

[kimura-mma]

Television functions as communication. T-shirts function as clothing. They are governed by different laws. So what is done or said by a television personality is not a good indication of what can be legally printed and sold on a t-shirt.

The issue here is the infringement on Pfizer and Viagra trademarks. I'm sure they have big time lawyers on their side. So having a lawyer on your side is definitely a good idea.

 

[BroJames]

Television functions as communication. T-shirts function as clothing. They are governed by different laws. So what is done or said by a television personality is not a good indication of what can be legally printed and sold on a t-shirt.

The issue here is the infringement on Pfizer and Viagra trademarks. I'm sure they have big time lawyers on their side. So having a lawyer on your side is definitely a good idea.

. . .
On the legal side . . . checking with a lawyer may be a good idea.

On top of big time lawyers at their disposal, chances are they have full time lawyers as well.