Writer TShirts

I don’t know about you but have you ever noticed that despite there being an enormous community of writers in the US, it’s not often one finds a pretty tshirt with the word ‘writer’ on it. I’ve been looking for one for years, and found that whenever somebody referred me to a place where I could buy myself some writer tshirts, that the offending tshirt would have the name of an organization attached to it. Being of a somewhat independent mind set, I simply did not want to be connected to a writing organization. Then at San Diego Comic-Con International, I saw this awesome tshirt. It said in big, bold black letters, “WRITER.” I was sold. That was exactly what I wanted. So began my journey into designing tshirts for writers.

Completely inspired by what I saw at the con, i immediately set about designing my very first tshirt as a writer. I carefully chose the nicest print font I could - and it took a while - but it didn't look quite right. So I added a bold dash, and it looked much better. I looked around for someone to do me a once off tshirt, found one, ordered it, and then wore it. I was quite pleased with it and got some good   conversations going about the life of a writer. Soon enough, however, I realized, it just wasn't me! It just didn't tell my full story.

Of course, that's true for any design process. You design what you think you want. Once you give it feet and see the real thing, it doesn't quite look the way you thought it would look. That's okay. You soon find that as you think about it and ask yourself what is missing - color - shape - movement - it comes to you in a flash. That's when you 'fix' the design. The reward is an inward burst of applause and an outer garment you love.

I have to confess to you that, like most artists, if one is artistic in one area, one is generally artistic in another area. So it is with me. And I love beautiful things. I really wanted my writer tshirt to express a little bit more about me. It was all very well people coming up to me and saying, "I see that you're a writer. I have this book I've been writing..." 

I thought I'd like a more serious response - like "I really love your tshirt! Where did you get it?" 

Isn't it strange the way the mind morphs?

In any event, I promptly set about to redesign my tshirt and came up with something that was absolutely dead perfect for me. In fact, it combined the best of both worlds. This time, instead of the above opening line, I now received some compliments - and we even got around to discuss some writing. In addition, by the way, I added a tote bag. You have no idea how well that went down with people around me. I was even stopped in the streets to ask where I got them! Big Smile.

So you've done your first design and it's taken a while to come up with your second design, but you've got it now. Whether you subtracted a color or added one, added a shape or changed your existing design, it's better than the first one. You're on your way to becoming a tshirt designer. If you're a writer, you've probably put a unique spin on it with your fabulous way with words.

I don't know if you love compliments about your clothing, but I was set up for a life of wanting them when I was thirteen years old. This was because I went to boarding school at that age, and my mother went out and bought me a designer wardrobe of clothing. I went through five years of schooling and received compliments for the way I was dressed every single afternoon when we were allowed to change into civies. At South African schools, by the way, one wears a uniform to school. Nobody wears their own clothing. So that's why we were only allowed to change into our clothes once school was over for the day.

In any event, I set about looking at some more writer tshirts with matching tote bags and came up with these - below.

So by now you understand that it's not a case of instant brilliance when it comes to design. It's really a process using what you know in an unusual way. 

I love to doodle, and have been doodling almost as long as I've been writing. For most of my life, my doodles went from pen to paper to the trash can. Then about four years ago, my daughter completely freaked out at me because I kept throwing them away. She is a costume artist (speaking at a panel again at San Diego Comic Con International 2012) and pretty much got straight As for all her art at college. She kept telling me my doodles were art and that I shouldn't be throwing them away. 

I have to confess that thought stunned me, and just to see if she was right, started drawing in public places. The long and the short of it was that people really loved it. I was amazed. Now I don't throw away my doodles anymore.

So the bright idea occurred to me to combine my tshirt designs with my doodle art. This is what followed.

Okay, so now you're on stage four. This might be two or three months down the road or it might be twenty four hours down the road. It doesn't really matter what the timing is; it's just the process that matters. The process is the same, regardless of the time factor or the content.

Like a lot of people on the planet, I enjoy photography. I would not dare to put myself in the class of any professional photographer, though. Still, every now and then, a completely brilliant snap arrives and I am gobsmacked sufficiently to fall in love with it. I haven't got many of them, but it occurred to me to put those photos on tshirts. Actually, it occurred to me to put them on quite a few things, but I haven't got down to it yet. In any event, let me share with you some of my favorite photos on tshirts.

Many people enjoy photography, and you probably do, too. Some people prefer to put photographs on the back of a tshirt, rather than the front. I have to admit that in some instances, it does work better. If you've got really cool photographs that everybody loves it, give it a cute border, some quirky words, and design something around it. It needn't be a tshirt. It could be a calendar, a tote bag, or anything else.

Nearly three decades ago, I put my love of dress into action and trained to become a pattern maker. I also went for classes on color consulting, how to put shapes and sizes together, make up, hair styles, etc. I'm going to do a bit of a boast here and tell here that I got 100% for my make up exam!

For a while, I used everything I knew just for myself, but then friends started referring other friends to me, and shortly after that, I started consulting. It was fun. After my baby was born, I stopped as life became busy. 

When I arrived in the States, I decided to go back to college and registered for a fashion design degree. Shortly before I was due to finish, I did a rethink and registered for an interior design degree. I finished that one, but prefer decorating to interior design. 

So where am I going with my designs? 

I joined Zazzle because it gave the widest range of products that I could put my designs on. I haven't  yet fully explored it but, in time, I will. Now it's your turn, and if you need some help, you're always welcome to email me. I love to help.