T:shirt Design Submissions_Keep them coming

Posted on November 26th, 2007 by mwong.
Categories: Participate.

[by Adrienne Yang]

I thought I would attempt to squeeze in a little bit of contribution before arriving at the conference.

Was your design process undisturbed?
nope; just trying to see what the tools could do (or not do) took some
adjusting to.

Did you gravitate towards some tools that were not available?
I did (i.e trying to see if I could place images/text within a shape, like you could in illustrator…I think this has to do with the fact that I have not used other programs (before Photoshop/Illustrator).

How was your design affected?
At first a little frustrated; it’s like going backwards. A handicap; takes a little re-learning to see what’s possible and what’s not.
Also the fact that we are limited to fonts that can be used was interesting; the ubiquitous use of bad type face (i.e comic sans) makes you wonder about their choice/selection by those unfamiliar with formality of type design–what’s the attraction? why the persistence?
I chose to use a free font…in some ways, I am thinking those bad fonts could teach us a few things about type (i.e possibly how to make that bad type better), even if we are designers but not type designers.

What are the implications of non-designers designing with professional tools?
well, i would say that non designers could easily learn the tools but it takes experience for the person to know and perceive what is (subtleties in) good design.

How much do we rely on our tools?
too much. I did attempt to use the pencil tool to draw but it became more of a vector tool for connecting lines or curves..which is too clean.

Where would we plot this activity’s outcome on the continuum of control?
not sure i understand this question fully…because of the use of free tools and software, non designers can think they are designers. What this all means is that the role of designers become more important in terms of educating others about our roles as communicators.

[by Liese Zahabi]

Here is my humble submission……I had never heard of Intaglio, but it was really interesting to mess around with it.

Here are my comments….
Was your design process undisturbed?
For the most part, yes. I found the program to be pretty intuitive, and I’ve had so many years of using different types of software that it was pretty simple to navigate.

Did you gravitate towards some tools that were not available?
No. I thought about a concept before I opened the program, but I deliberately kept the concept simple, knowing that the program would not be capable of anything too complex. In some ways, I probably short-changed it’s capabilities.

How was your design affected?
I don’t believe the final design was affected too much. I often come up with more interesting solutions when my options are limited.

What are the implications of non-designers designing with professional tools?
The main implication I see is that the work is more polished at first glance then it should be….or than it really is. The computer gives the illusion of a finished piece whether it was well thought out/executed or not.

How much do we rely on our tools?
More than we should. I would dearly love it if more designers (or people, for that matter) would sit down in a quiet place and really think through a project, before any tools (including pencil and paper) were introduced. Everything should begin with the brain.

This was a fun activity! I look forward to seeing more submissions on the blog soon…..(the ones already there are really interesting!)
Liese Zahabi
Graphic Designer
Ann Arbor, Michigan

[by Kelly Cunningham]

I found Intaglio surprisingly easy to use and intuitive. Of course, I know how to use bezier curves and know command keys, and they crossover. The tougher part was finding a decent free blackletter. In the end, I settled for Gartentika.

[by Armando Rigau]

[by Gretchen Rinnert]

note: Gretchen took it a step further, limited herself with options and designed in Microsoft word.


What are the implications of non-designers designing with professional tools? How much do we rely on our tools?
OMG - we completely rely on our tools. I hate word.

Where would we plot this activity’s outcome on the continuum of control?
Closer to USer control (or participant control). Although I feel it not quite at the end. As you design with this software, you hands feel tied. It’s very frustrating.

We would love comments on your process, experience and final design.
My process was looking at the threadless website and thinking about what they would not want. My friend run skreened.com. You don’t have to be an expert. Anyone can open their own shop up, similar to cafe press. But, it is more designer - friendly. You don’t have to be voted up to get a shirt printed. Others can still buy your shirt, and they do have a ranking/voting system.

Was the design process undisturbed?
Yes - I felt controlled by the Microsoft system.

Did you gravitate towards some tools that were not available?
Yes - I couldn’t figure out how to layer the image and type. So I gave up.
How was your design affected?
It sucks, thats all that can be said :)

[by Michèle Wong]

It was not as hard as I was expecting it to be to use Intaglio. And surprisingly, it had more features than I thought it would. I noticed my tendency to use the software as a quick prototyping tool. Of course, I use illustrator, photoshop and indesign to layout my designs but with the intention of reaching a certain point of closure/satisfaction…In this exercise, I came in with too many assumptions/biases. I considered the tool as being inferior before trying it out…that definitely affected the outcome—basic typical image and typography juxtaposition. I also noticed some tendencies that I have when faced with the challenge of making something look “designed” to place, in this case, the graphic, at the bottom or edge. NOT centered of course, i told myself.

Software guided my actions/intent. maybe simplified them. or is this psychological? or a result of a rushed design?

I definitely want to give Intaglio a second chance and push it to its limits and see if there are any changes in the quality of the design. I believe that as designers, we can overpower the software (limitations, if any) because of skills, knowledge, and educated decisions.

[by Armando Rigau]

Was your design process undisturbed?
It took me a while to get a hang of the program. I am used to using Illustrator and the features of Intaglio were quite different. However, I was able to completed - not as fast and good as I wanted - but in a fair amount of time.

Did you gravitate towards some tools that were not available?
Coming from Illustrator, I tried a couple of keyboard commands that were not available. Other worked. But in general, knowing that I did not know the program I tried to make it simple enough.

How was your design affected?
The final design is not how I really envisioned it given that I could not find the right tools, but the drawing still captures the idea that i wanted to convey.

What are the implications of non-designers designing with professional tools?
Simply, it is hard! But I also think it is hard because one is not used to the icons and features of each tool. I think that anyone - designers and non-designers alike - can within a number of hours get a general sense of the program. (In fact, that is how I learned to use adobe suite).

How much do we rely on our tools?
We rely heavily. Humans tend to hate (drastic) change. It is as if one is used to drive automatic and then is forced to due shift.

Where would we plot this activity’s outcome on the continuum of control?
There is definitely a designer control from my part. My tshirt is designed to be worn as designed. I wouldn’t expect people to add to the tshirt.

[by Alberto Rigau]

What are the implications of non-designers designing with professional tools? How much do we rely on our tools?
I think that non-designers working with professional tools, in a way, is very similar to professionals working with amateur tools. It has to do with what one is used to. I can imagine a non-professional executing a great design on a software like Intaglio if they get used to the software. I mean, think of the people that illustrate with etch a sketch. I could never do those “professional looking” drawings, yet we have people that are using this amateur tool to create wonders.

Where would we plot this activity’s outcome on the continuum of control?
More to the audience control side since it is intended for others to continue editing the shirt.

We would love comments on your process, experience and final design.
This was a total disaster. (I think this sums it all)

Was the design process undisturbed?
It took me around 38 minutes to get this done. It is embarrassing. Then again, this was in a way the same way that I felt when I began illustrating in illustrator for the first time, so I have

Did you gravitate towards some tools that were not available?
More than tools that there not available, I was more inclined to use shortcuts that were not there. I’ve gotten used to designing in a shortcut based technique, and it was hard not having them available.

How was your design affected?
It was really hard to navigate the interphase in a way that allowed me to executed what I was imagining, hence I had to adapt and change the design. The I would not be able to carry out in a professional environment where the project heads in a particular way or direction.

0 comments.

Online design activity

Posted on November 20th, 2007 by mwong.
Categories: Participate.

Design a t:shirt that will never be produced on threadless

Threadless describes itself as “an ongoing tee shirt design competition.” Started in 2000 by two Chicago area designers, Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart, Threadless chooses 4 to 6 designs each week from 600+ submissions to be printed and sold from the site with the winning designer receiving $2000 in cash and prizes. The Threadless community scores the designs but Threadless also filters the designs…

Designs submitted to Threadless have to meet certain regulations. Threadless makes sure to specify that they are “not talking about fraternity logos or a photo of someone’s new puppy.” From what I understood, all submissions have to relate to the theme “Loves Threadless”, cannot contain appropriated imagery and must be designed in a vector art program such as Adobe Illustrator or a raster program such as Adobe Photoshop. The Explanation of Submission Decline Reasons section explains other ways Threadless filters (controls) submissions. In the score a design section of the Threadless website, there is a clear distinction between the visual language of the novice and the expert participants.

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One can notice patterns and categorize the content of the designs. Almost all of the Threadless community’s accepted submissions could be distributed under the following categories:

1. animal and nature
2. entertainment and food
3. holiday and celebration
4. fantasy
5. texture and patterns
6. Slogans and quotes

Note that retro seems to be present in almost all categories. What does that say about style, trend and consumption? Why does the nostalgia of the past become marketable?

It is clear that Threadless controls a lot of the variables involved in the making of the design. It approves or disapproves of the type of content; it controls participant’s design choices—the quality and quantity of design elements; It sets dimensions and file type; It subtly suggests (i mean, control) what tools/software should be used to create the design. By suggesting that a professional design software be used by the Threadless community to create, is Threadless requiring that the novice participant learns the software? How does the novice software skill reflect on his final design? Is this Threadless’ nice way of saying “no thanks”—by requiring software skills that novice designers might not have? or Is this process inspiring novices to become more literate in the professional software? are there implications?

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As designers, we cruise in the land of Adobe software packages. We would find our way around if we were blind-folded. We use key commands and can easily (sometimes) put together a breathtaking design.

In this online activity, we want to invite you to participate in the design of a tee shirt that you think will never be produced on Threadless. You are encouraged (i mean, you have to) design your tee shirt using

1. Intaglio, a traditional Macintosh drawing & illustration application for beginners. A demo version can be downloaded here Once it is installed, use the demo version.

2. One of the following 2 sets of tools
>> Set one: The Default tools
These can be any default fonts—Arial, Verdana, Georgia, Times New Roman, Comic Sans etc. + 3 appropriated images of your choice.

>> Set two: The Freebie tools
These can be any free font from this website + 3 clipart images of your choice. example site

Once your design is ready, make a screengrab (shift+apple+4). Screen shots are preferable because saved versions of your design from the demo software will have an ugly “unlicensed” watermark.

This activity encourages you to design in a beginner software with limited options, default or free fonts, appropriated imagery or clip art images. It opens a discussion about novice v/s expert user, novice tools v/s expert tools, limitations of tools, personal control over design choices.

It makes one wonder if good designers can design beautifully with
limited tools.
What are the implications of non-designers designing with
professional tools?
How much do we rely on our tools?
Where would we plot this activity’s outcome on the continuum
of control?

We would love comments on your process, experience and final design.
Was the design process undisturbed?
Did you gravitate towards some tools that were not available?
How was your design affected?

Send designs (screen shots) and brief comments to Michèle Wong at mmwongku@ncsu.edu

I will be posting some of my designs over thanksgiving break!!!

3 comments.

The Revolution will be Blogisized

Posted on November 3rd, 2007 by dgonzalescrisp.
Categories: Critique.

This thread reveals more than I think it intended about participant agency, typified in this statement, offered by one “aarongough” last spring:

I think you should all just grow up…
I am sick to death of everyone’s cry baby attitude.
For this to be OUR community it has to be SOMEBODIES business…
and a business needs to abide by at least some laws.
Chill out people (my emphasis).

Anyway, my post is offered here more to direct you all to this critical assessment of social networking. See Trebor Scholz and Paul Hartzog: Toward a critique of the social web.

0 comments.

:: Missed the October 29 deadline? ::

Posted on November 2nd, 2007 by alberto.
Categories: NCState_Students.

Missed the October 29 submission deadline but still want to participate?
Contact us at optionshiftcontrol_submit@ncsugraphicdesign.net with your proposal.

Maxed out on your travel budget for the year and can’t make it to Raleigh? We’d prefer to have you here, but we’ll settle for your printed and/or digital media in your absence. Work will be on display throughout the event.

The proposal should consider the topic of the symposium in the form of one of the following:
presentations
design and research projects
proposed artifacts
workshop
panel discussions
group activities

0 comments.