| It used to be that a business owner looking to churn | | | | his work and simply producing what he can get away |
| out a new line of t-shirts would have to contact a | | | | with. |
| specialist designer. That is, someone with a decent | | | | Sounds great! What could possibly go wrong? Well.... |
| portfolio, a reputable qualification, or at the very least | | | | Cons: |
| a decent amount of experience in the field. With the | | | | - People create all these designs for fun. The |
| advent of various design "contest" sites on the net, | | | | majority of the shirts are designed by someone who, |
| a huge database of user-generated t-shirt designs | | | | in the nicest possible way, doesn't know what they |
| are now readily available and a fraction of the price | | | | are doing, especially from a professional design |
| that a designer might charge for a single shirt. | | | | perspective. |
| However, free-lance shirt designers haven't bitten the | | | | - Just because it looks good on the net, next to a |
| dust just yet. As many potential clothing | | | | ton of other 'original' shirts, that doesn't mean it's |
| manufacturers are finding out, in the world of | | | | going to look good on the rack in Topshop... or even |
| user-generated content you always get what you | | | | on a human! |
| paid for, and often less! | | | | - Many of the top ranking shirts involve a rather |
| First though, lets look at the at the positives. | | | | complex piece of artwork. It definitely wows the |
| Pros: | | | | members, but might make for a rather 'busy' shirt. |
| - Gives young unrecognized talent and opportunity to | | | | Additionally much of the detail will be ruined if the |
| gain recognition and earn money. A naturally gifted | | | | manufacturer wishes to print in a more economic |
| 15-year-old would likely find it tremendously difficult | | | | fashion. |
| selling his/her designs at that age with no art | | | | - Printing designs isn't always a straightforward |
| qualification, experience etc. | | | | process. Clients have reported buying designs from |
| - The designs speak for themselves. If something is | | | | contest sites for a low fee, and then being forced to |
| highly ranked on a contest site, it's because people | | | | pay several times that again at the print shop just to |
| like it; obvious proof of commerciality. | | | | get the colors fixed! |
| - Absolutely massive variety of shirts of all types to | | | | In my humble opinion shirts designed for fun should |
| choose from. | | | | be made for fun. The DIY design sites are an |
| - Easy to find a look that suit's a specific brand or | | | | awesome place to get an original looking shirt (if it |
| occasion. People create all these designs for fun. A | | | | prints ok), yet, at the moment, are only a very small |
| trained professional designer may very well be sick of | | | | threat to the business real designers. |