Project description
General information:
To put it simply, we want a killer t-shirt done by DesignContest designers for DesignContest designers.
The top three rated designs in this Community Contest will be awarded prizes as follows:
Gold - $300 + 10 000 rating points
Silver - $150 + 5 000 rating points
Bronze - $75 + 2 500 rating points
We are not doing this t-shirt for our clients, we are doing it for ourselves, the community of designers. So you'll be designing something you'll proudly wear yourself. It is a community contest so you should feel free to let your creativity flow without any limits.
It is important to note that we do not want our logo to be the central theme of your design. The logo should be there, but it doesn't have to be the focal point of the artwork. Feel free to change the colors of our logo if necessary to best compliment your design, but keep the overall style of the DC logo true to form.
Creativity is the key word in this brief, so I'll say it again - you should not limit yourself. Anything could work as long as it is about your experience as a DesignContest designer and/or design in general.
Personally I would like the winning design to be a narrative illustration. I'd like it to tell a story. Here some ideas for what this story could tell:
- show the world how cool it is to be a designer, how important graphic design is and how you can find it all around.
- you can also show how tough it is to be a graphic designer and that not everybody has what it takes to be one, how much work and talent you've got to put into it to succeed.
- tell the story of the survival in the hostile environment (just kidding) of a contest where the best designer gets it all. And of the rewarding feeling (and cash) that you get when you win one.
- tell us about your design process. How do you find new ideas and inspiration?
- show your design principles. If you are a real designer you care about every single pixel of your creation (or every curve of your vector art). And of course all your work is 100% original. A designer is not a thief!
Or, create your own story and turn that into a great t-shirt design! We're looking for something with a bit of humor and a lot of creativity.
Technical requirements:
The t-shirt will be printed using screen printing process. So, limit the number of colors you use to 4. And this means no gradients between these colors. You can however use halftone to simulate gradients.
Read our blog post about designing for screenprinting here: http://www.designcontest.com/blog/2011/07/designing-a-t-shirt-for-screen-printing/ - follow the guidelines in this article for designing and preparing your files.
The artwork should be done in vectors. Or in minimum 300 dpi bitmap. You should have this file ready when you win this contest, but you don't have to submit the full size until you win. Your entries should be maximum 1000x1000 px.
If you use any text all the fonts should be converted to outlines. If you use any strokes, they should be expanded to fills.
The graphic will be printed on the front of the t-shirt only. You are welcomed to choose whichever color t-shirt works best for your design, but remember the guidelines about printing on dark colors (these guidelines are mentioned in the blog article above)
T-shirt mockups are allowed in this contest.
Comments about others designs are allowed in this contest. After all it is a community contest, let's have fun and hear out any praise or criticism as long as it is constructive and friendly. Really love another designer's work? Let them know!
Final format:
We we require an EPS file of your winning design, that meets all of the guidelines for screen printing. Remember to only use 4 spot colors in your design. And, create something that you would be proud to wear!
Good luck!
