[govtissues]

Okay so here goes... Some background
My husband and I bought some images at an estate sale that we knew we needed to put on t-shirts. After much research we found they are not copyrighted so now we begin trying to get them onto shirts.
The images are vintage govt. training propoganda (which sounds odd, but the are super cool)
We are ordering shirts from Alternative Apparel and plan on starting with 10 designs (some for women, some for men) We are only printing about 25 of each design to take them out and shop them around...
I have yet to settle on a screenprinter. I am worried that my images are so unique (and can prove to be incredibly valuable) How do I ensure that my screens are not used to print anything I dont authorize? Is there a standard contract? Should I have a lawyer draw something up?
Any exampes of Lookbooks? I tried one link to one and it was dead.
Also, screenprinting gurus.... We have a vintage image, on a vintage shirt - Is there a technique that can make the screening look aged? I just dont want it to appear brand new. KWIM?
We are targeting the SoHo boutique market and hoping to have a pretty hefty retail price. A gal can wish, right?
Sorry I am all over the place, I am just excited to get some feedback on here.

 

[Rodney]

I am worried that my images are so unique (and can prove to be incredibly valuable) How do I ensure that my screens are not used to print anything I dont authorize? Is there a standard contract? Should I have a lawyer draw something up?

As long as you go to a large and reputible enough screen printer, you shouldn't have an issue with this at all.

1) Most screen printers have their own in house Non Disclosure, Customer Rights agreement.

2) Screen printers just aren't in the retail business for the most part, they make their money by printing YOUR designs when YOU need them.

3) They probably have printed images that are much more valuable

Any exampes of Lookbooks? I tried one link to one and it was dead.

Which one did you try? You can try sending a message to raakmo from this thread and see if he can show you an example of his lookbook (he may have moved the location of the file on his server):
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=1785

Also, screenprinting gurus.... We have a vintage image, on a vintage shirt - Is there a technique that can make the screening look aged? I just dont want it to appear brand new. KWIM?

There's a few ways this can be done. One is by putting a "mask" or filter over the image file (usually done in photoshop or illustrator) to give it a cracked look. There are a lot of t-shirts printed like this nowadays. Another is to put less ink coverage when they are printing the shirt so the "hand" isn't so heavy when you run your hand over the design. There are probably others.

We are targeting the SoHo boutique market and hoping to have a pretty hefty retail price. A gal can wish, right?
Sorry I am all over the place, I am just excited to get some feedback on here.

To be honest, I think I have seen a lot of those US Propaganda posters on t-shirts already. That's not to say you can't be successful trying to market them to a high end offline demographic, but I'm pretty sure I've seen quite a few at cafepress.

 

[govtissues]

Thanks for the info Rodney
I think propoganda may not be the proper way to describe it, as I know what you mean. My images are from post WW2 training manuals, and definitely obscure.
Thanks for the tip on the mask as I am a photoshop newbie and preparing the images myself for output. There are so many amazing capabilities in photoshop, I am sure it will take me a long time to figure it all out.
I appreciate your thoughtful response