The Infinite Self-Portrait

402 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Wombat, Sep 4, 2008

rwiksell

Discussion Starter · Aug 30, 2008 (Edited by Moderator)

I've been playing with this idea for months, and finally made the shirt. I call it the "Infinite Self-Portrait".

Sorry it's such a crummy photo, but you get the idea. Do you think many people would want to buy a shirt like this for $15?

By the way, this t-shirt concept is copyrighted

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withindustries

· #2 · Aug 30, 2008

Would it b a pic of u or them?

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rwiksell

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 31, 2008

It could be a pic of anybody you want. Although the idea is to use a photo of yourself.

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Solmu

· #4 · Aug 31, 2008 (Edited by Moderator)

rwiksell said:
Do you think many people would want to buy a shirt like this for $15?

It doesn't appeal to me personally, and I don't think it would have mass appeal (I think the majority of people would find it too egotistical to wear a shirt of themselves, even with the joke aspect), but I'm sure it would appeal to some customers.

rwiksell said:
By the way, this t-shirt concept is copyrighted.

Just as an FYI, you can't copyright a concept. Which is fortunate for you, or you wouldn't be able to do your shirt: you're hardly the first to come up with infinite recursion.

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Jasonda

· #5 · Aug 31, 2008

It's a cute gimmick but I don't see the potential for a lot of sales. You don't see a lot of people walking around with a picture of themselves on their shirt, this is pretty much the same thing.

And Lewis is right about the copyright. You can copyright the actual image you create (the picture), but not the concept.

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moffett8

· #6 · Aug 31, 2008

You need to be more creative. Not trying to be critical but not enough sizzle there to sell the shirt.

Philip

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pshawny

· #7 · Aug 31, 2008

You should find an art frame outline to go around the picture.

I wouldn't want a picture of myself on a t-shirt, but that's just me.

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rwiksell

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 31, 2008

Thanks for being honest.

Although I really thought that you could copyright a product concept. It's not infinite recursion that I'm claiming to copyright, it's the idea of a t-shirt with a self-portrait in infinite recursion. That's pretty specific, and pretty original, as far as I can tell.

And you may be right about it not catching on. I've gotten a variety of reactions from wearing it, but only a few of them see it as something narcissistic. Most people just think it's trippy and unique.

By the way, I'm not in the T-Shirt business, and I wasn't setting out to create a popular shirt design. So I can't really connect with the advice to be more creative. The concept just is what it is, and to add other design elements would seem to clutter it up in my mind. However, when I make individual shirts for people, there will be plenty of room for creativity there, depending on what specific look each person wants.

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Solmu

· #9 · Sep 1, 2008

rwiksell said:
Although I really thought that you could copyright a product concept. It's not infinite recursion that I'm claiming to copyright, it's the idea of a t-shirt with a self-portrait in infinite recursion. That's pretty specific, and pretty original, as far as I can tell.

You can't copyright an idea (or a product concept), no matter how original it is. Only the specific expression of an idea.

In theory if someone copies your idea but not the actual design you'd still have a case, but it would be hard to claim they copied it and it wasn't just a coincidence. No court would believe that Jinxes shirt of a knight that just happens to be saying "Ni" isn't a Monty Python copy for example, despite the fact that it's just a generic picture of a knight and not one from Python. But we've all gone down an escalator, looked into the mirror on mirror abyss and remarked "That looks cool" - it'd be near impossible to have a monopoly on an idea like that (in any form).

rwiksell said:
And you may be right about it not catching on.

While I don't think it will widely catch on, I think there is plausibly a market for your idea - the trick is in finding them.

rwiksell said:
The concept just is what it is, and to add other design elements would seem to clutter it up in my mind.

I thought the frame idea Shawn had would help with the rectangle border (rectangle on a shirt rarely looks good) and improve the shirt design. On the other hand neither of us actually like the shirt in the first place, so who knows what our idea of improvements are worth.

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TripleT

· #10 · Sep 3, 2008

Take the photo again with you standing in front of the same color, blue backdrop - you might be able to sell the "concept" as a novelty item, if you set-up a booth at a fair or a festival, and make these shirts for people as they walk by. Could be an "impulse buy."

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CUSTOM UK

· #11 · Sep 3, 2008

rwiksell said:
Although I really thought that you could copyright a product concept. It's not infinite recursion that I'm claiming to copyright, it's the idea of a t-shirt with a self-portrait in infinite recursion. That's pretty specific, and pretty original, as far as I can tell.

It's NOT an original concept unfortunately. I remember seeing a similar thing on tees about twenty years ago, the only difference being it was a pop performer on the tees. There is a well known painting where the artist is holding a framed picture of himself.... holding a framed picture of himself.... etc.

I don't think that there is anything on a tee that is truly original. We are all influenced by things we see in the world around us. Someone could be selling virtually identical designs to my own, in other country and we are not even aware of each other's existence.

It's only things like patents where independent research and searches on existing products are undertaken, that you can truly lay claims to. Copyright is not so well defined. Simply registering a copyright within your own country does not establish whether that item is already in existence (or not).

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TripleT

· #12 · Sep 3, 2008

*Just another idea - people might be more interested in the design, if it was their dog or cat rather than themselves in the picture.

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spankthafunk

· #13 · Sep 3, 2008

TripleT said:
Take the photo again with you standing in front of the same color, blue backdrop - you might be able to sell the "concept" as a novelty item, if you set-up a booth at a fair or a festival, and make these shirts for people as they walk by. Could be an "impulse buy."

I had a good idea. What if at a booth or festival, you had some green screening equipment set up. It would take a little money but you could have a custom, infinite t-shirt made with a customized background or somethin of the sorts.

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Wombat

· #14 · Sep 4, 2008

I've seen a peace shirt something like this many years ago...Also the word ECHO...

I think if you concentrated on animals as your theme...You could probably pull it off...Deep down, most people can't stand themselves, but they love there animals

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