Comments on: T-SHIRT COMPETITION FINALISTS- VOTE NOW!

By: saba

saba — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:29:10 +0000

gud one others are gud but not out of the track, usual design

By: Mr. Crabby

Mr. Crabby — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:00:34 +0000

Yawn

I don’t mean to be a downer here but I feel all these designs are uninspired and predictible. These look just like the thousands of other shirts I see every day. In fact the “Tree/Roots/Lungs/Heart” design looks identical to a t-shirt I see one of my co-workers wear. I guess the message I was taught in elementary school during the 80’s of “trees and birds = happy environment” still stands. Ho hum

Frankly I think things have changed a lot since then and I view Inhabitat as a place that shows me how much it’s changing. If we want to bring attention to the things that are happening we have to stop regurgitating the same tired imagery.

By: diana huerta

diana huerta — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:10:57 +0000

Root of solution is my favorite.

By: Rich Cardiff

Rich Cardiff — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:26:02 +0000

I just can’t bring myself to vote for any of them. I wouldn’t wear any of the shirts.

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 07 May 2007 00:43:15 +0000

I like the root of the solution. It will spark more conversation than the others, and dialogue is key.

By: racheblue

racheblue — Mon, 07 May 2007 00:02:10 +0000

Hi, I think the shortlisted designs are all aesthetically good. However, I voted for Tree/Root/Lungs/Heart because (like my Plant The Seeds of Change design which didn’t get in, boo hoo ;o) it is more than visually pleasing.

It conveys a message that is easy to see and read and understand and stands more chance of attracting attention and curiousity than the cute owl or plant/trees with little or no text! I thought the design brief was to create a t-shirt that SPEAKS rather than just to look pretty or cute!

This is no time for whispers – we need to speak with a loud voice!

By: Steven

Steven — Mon, 07 May 2007 00:00:02 +0000

WHAT I MEANT TO SAY:
Do you vote for the cutest candidate because they are the cutest, or because they would perform the intended job the best? The answer depends on what kind of contest. A who is the cutest contest is different than electing an official to run an important vital office. In other words, it is all relative. But the question is TO WHAT. Can anyone else relate?

By: Steven

Steven — Sun, 06 May 2007 23:46:31 +0000

IN AND OUT OF CONTEXT:
Context matters in terms of the functionality of most any design. Sometimes, however, it is nice to throw all limitations out the window and just design away. Other times it helps to create a clear frame work of ideas, concepts and requirements a design must meet to insure that the final design does what it is intended to do. In home design, for example, many designers seem to forget to design for things like solar gain. Much of the time this is because the home was designed out of context. It was designed in an office far away rather than on site where the importance of the sun would have been blazingly obvious. For the shirt design contest we need to consider that the shirt will be viewed totally out of the normal context that a regular visitor to the inhabitat web site is used to. For example there are stories, ads and background colors and such on the web site giving context to any new content that is added. Take all that context away and we have to create a bit of context so the artwork of our design makes sense to the viewer. We must also consider that concepts like green can have many meanings without any context to support our intended meaning. In addition, if some or all of the concepts are new to viewers then these new concepts might need the support of something the viewers can relate to in order for the new concepts to begin to have meaning. This t-shirt contest was particularly challenging because the elements bamboo, the color green, an owl and the words “inhabitat” and “green” and “design” are a challenging combination to give the proper context that conveys our intended meaning to someone on the street seeing these for the first time.
Bamboo might bring to mind Japan or the tropics for some and a plant that tends to take over your yard to others. Some might think of bamboo as a sustainable plant while other might think of panda bears.
An owl could bring to mind “Woodsy the Owl”, the concept of wisdom or an endangered species or many other concepts.
Green could mean landscaping, being more environmental or simply the color green..
With so many kinds of design and designers the possibilities are almost limitless with the word “design”.
I am not sure if the word inhabitat is a real word or what that might bring to mind for the average person on the street.
Without any real context to bring focus and understanding to these words and symbols it is hard to say what one might think.
Perhaps all that does not matter or perhaps all that does matter.

RELATIVITY AND PURPOSE:
All in all one has to decide what the intended purpose is for the design that is being created. That purpose creates what the elements of the design and everything else become relative to. If the purpose of the shirt is to advertise the web site then the shirt would need to clearly let the viewer know a web site is the focus. None of the current designs mention or indicate a web site. If the purpose or intent is to create a shirt that is cute or pretty with the constraint that certain words and few optional elements like an owl, bamboo and the color green be used by the designers then these designs would work for who ever thinks that they are cute or pretty which tends to be a matter of personal taste to some degree or another. If the purpose of the shirt is to sell shirts then the design constraints should be nearly limitless other than what the shirt printer requires so the design, that the viewers like enough to buy, could be chosen by those that would buy that design. If the shirt does not matter and the purpose is to advertise Branch and TS Designs then that would be what the designs needed to be relative to. If that was so the shirt designs would need to mention branch in a way that the viewer would know it is a web site rather than a small part of a tree.

CLARITY OF PURPOSE:
The design I submitted was not chosen as a finalist. This could have been that the design was not relative to the intended purpose of the shirt. My design and many others might not have been chosen because the design was not attainable by the shirt printers. Although with up to 6 color printing that is somewhat hard to imagine but possible. I apparently misunderstood the purpose of the shirt as I thought the shirt was to advertise the web site and the web sites message. It would be interesting to see what the viewers would have choose if they could see all the designs. Of course the viewers, in order to vote properly, would need to know the purpose of the shirt so they could vote for what design best meets that purpose. Do you vote for the cutest candidate because they are the cutest or because they would perform the intend job the best. The answer depends on what kind of contest. A beauty contest is different than a electing an official to run an important office. In other words, it is all relative. But the question is to what. Can anyone else relate?

By: toni

toni — Sun, 06 May 2007 22:07:05 +0000

I have to agree with Steven and Kelty.

Most of these entries shown are very similar, and to be honest not terribly interesting or provocative. They all have a very trendy appearance and communicate little about inhabitat as a web site and about green design.

“I am the root of the solution” speaks out a bit more than the rest about green and environmental issues but design? I don’t see it.

The “I give a hoot” owl is cute, a girl’s shirt for sure, I certainly can’t see a guy ever wearing it. Also, I’d be careful where you place the owl, it is in a bit of a delicate location for women. Perhaps if it were placed on a little pocket, it might not be in such an awkward place. Or high on the chest. I have had this problem often with shirts and logo placements. It’s not exactly fun to have a big logo right on your breast for all to stare at.

There are several companies out there that have trees/roots as their logo/aesthetic so I don’t think that inhabitat’s shirts would stand out much if they, as well, had that same expression.

Also, careful where you place the overflow pattern into the armpit area – it can look like a sweat stain.

I don’t know if I would wear any of these shirts – even though I really like inhabitat and want to support the site.

By: dani

dani — Sun, 06 May 2007 00:44:57 +0000

the winking habby looks like it has pink eye and the bottom of the tree looks like theres a big ding-ah-ling growing out of it.. i really dont think this is the best tshirt to really promote.. please revise your decisions!

By: ritika

ritika — Sat, 05 May 2007 12:17:47 +0000

hi there, i like the tree/roots/lungs/heart.. well thought of! but most of the designs are very very similar..i wish we could see a wider range of thoughts in the finalists.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:18:43 +0000

The poll site doesn’t seem to be working.

By: mearon

mearon — Fri, 04 May 2007 05:18:56 +0000

do another contest

By: anna

anna — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:27:03 +0000

Tree / Root / Lungs / Heart gets my vote!

i’m posting this in the comments because for some reason the little widget won’t let me vote :(

By: Aude

Aude — Fri, 04 May 2007 00:21:57 +0000

I concur with Steven and Todd. They raise some valid questions. However, you’ve only got so many seconds as a “walking billboard” to communicate your message. The upside down tree did it for me!