Advice needed for Scroll T Shirt

[jerryripped]

Apologies if this is inappropriate or in the wrong category...

Having spent the past 24 hours diving down the scroll wormhole (newbie here that just started paying attention to 'em after googling Eagle Beak), I crafted the attached designs for a T-Shirt for myself.

Would would you experts go with, A or B or C or D? If I am gonna be half as cool as y'all, I at least wanna get the strap right!

[Zach Wilson]

I like C and then D. Cool looking shirt!

[TX2AK]

I think they all 4 look great and a little trippy to stare at (which is cool)! I definitely like C best, since it depicts where the strap goes for most of us (I think). I wear an “Open Road” style hat almost every day, and almost always when we are performing, and I confess that I’ve made the goofy blunder of knocking my hat off and/or struggling when practicing or playing with friends. That’s only an issue if I’m playing “utility” and switching instruments; so, I usually wear a ball cap or no hat for those situations. Otherwise, I don’t take my instrument off on stage. I’m no muscle man, but even my puny traps make the strong should strap untenable - I don’t know how Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe made that work for prolonged periods of time; but I don’t know how they did a lot of things that are more important than strap placement either!

[Sue Rieter]

I like D, as I find the strap distracting. C I like second best, if you really want to show the strap.
Very neat how it looks like mandolin scrolls and the ocean at the same time. Cool design. If you made them available, I'd go for one.

[Dan in NH]

B. It's the way Bill did it.

[TheMandoKit]

D.

Don't see any reason to show a strap at all.

[jmagill]

None of these immediately say 'mandolin' to me. They look more like stylized Japanese waves.

[Dave Hicks]

None of these immediately say 'mandolin' to me. They look more like stylized Japanese waves.

I agree, but I kind of like the subtlety.

D.H.

[JEStanek]

I'm with the others, especially on a blue shirt this looks like a surfing shirt more than a mandolin shirt. But, If I were to pick a favorite from those listed, no strap.

Jamie

[JFDilmando]

D..... strap... too distracting to overall image

[Sue Rieter]

None of these immediately say 'mandolin' to me. They look more like stylized Japanese waves.

You could add a surfer on a pick above the waves

[Marcus CA]

I'm with the others, especially on a blue shirt this looks like a surfing shirt more than a mandolin shirt. But, If I were to pick a favorite from those listed, no strap.

I agree with the first sentence, which is why I’d include the strap. (Of the three strap options, I prefer C.) So, if you decide to leave out the strap, I’d use a different color shirt.

[Steve 2E]

I'm a solid D. No strap. Even as a mandolin player I think A-C would probably go over my head. If I saw D for the first time I would probably think waves and that's okay, but if the person wearing it was playing a mandolin I might think scroll. Either way it looks good without a need to define the strap.

[Bren]

I like C.
D just looks like some automated design.

[JiminRussia]

Ummm….no thank you.

[journeybear]

... on a blue shirt this looks like a surfing shirt more than a mandolin shirt.

I believe this is a mock-up image with a randomly chosen color. If the shirt goes into production, I imagine a variety of colors will be available.

Speaking of mock-ups - If you do indeed go into production, i suggest choosing one scroll image and repeating it. You have five different ones here. Consistency is key.

[Sue Rieter]

...If the shirt goes into production, I imagine a variety of colors will be available....

That might depend on whether they're screen printed or produced print-on-demand.

If actual silkscreen (which I prefer as it holds up better, and imho, looks better) then you'd have to choose colors that could use the same ink color(s). Otherwise, the printer would have to clean the screen in between, and they wouldn't really like that unless volumes are substantial.

Print-on-demand has its own advantages; not having big tubs of old shirts in the closet is one of them.

[jerryripped]

Thanks to everybody for the feedback! A good reminder that one has to have a tough skin whenever the internet is involved. I have just made my first donation to the Café as a token of my appreciation for this great community.

Since this is a shirt just for me (per my original post), I am going with the no strap version D because I realized I am first and foremost a surfer, and version D provides nice ambiguity for my newfound love for the mandolin.

For the technically curious: I do all my shirt designs in PowerPoint. I realize there are myriad better design tools available, but this is an homage to my former career when I lived in MS Office world. I use the Curve Line shape (3 Curved Lines per scroll that are then grouped) and tweak the points as best I can. This is a huge pain, but it makes if feel more "human" to me. I then copied and pasted that grouped scroll 4 times, rotating slightly each time. The leftmost scroll is as if the mandolin was on a stand, the rightmost as if in playing position.

If at least 5 other folks want version D for themself, simply private message me before I order mine on DEC 1st and we can figure out the details and if/how to go that route. The shirt will cost approximately $45 (including shipping) from the vendor. I am not making a profit, nor interested in ANY drama, taxes, returns, etc. This ain't no business thing. I am simply showing MY newfound passion for this crazy lil' bad@ss instrument, and if others want to share in that passion via a stupid shirt designed in .ppt by some surf dork who can only play butchered Jerry tunes, great!

[journeybear]

I was assuming print-on-demand. I'm pretty sure that describes the majority of production at Etsy and such, so as to avoid that very issue of overproduction of unwanted stock. Looks like some good advice here for jerryripped if he proceeds with this. When putting up a page or site for the business, display the colors and sizes available.

[JeffD]

because I realized I am first and foremost a surfer, and version D provides nice ambiguity for my newfound love for the mandolin.

Ahhh. I did not get that at first. Now that you explain it, it makes sense.

I am not even sure I have associate the mandolin scroll with a wave, or anything dynamic like that.

That repetition is not how we experience the scroll as mandolinners. One scroll, centered in the middle of the shirt, with a strap attached, would evoke the mandolin spirit to more mandolinners.

But if its for you, it need not be accessible to anyone else.

I think perhaps as a tatoo?

[journeybear]

There's a precedent for mandolin-related tattoos. There is a thread or two, or more. I forget if I ever posted this, seen at a gig.

I am not even sure I have associated the mandolin scroll with a wave, or anything dynamic like that.

I doubt anyone has. It's just that when the image of that detail was removed from its original context and repeated this way it suggested something of that sort to some folks here. It does resemble an ancient Greek frieze to me, or perhaps the stylized representation of waves in Japanese art.

[JeffD]

I am not a very artistic person. When I see decorative shapes and filigree I am not one to interpret what the shapes mean. Now that I see it, of course of course.

I am more literal I guess. I would think a tee shirt with a surfer playing a mandolin while surfacing through a tunnel of water would be real cool.

[Sue Rieter]

I am not a very artistic person. When I see decorative shapes and filigree I am not one to interpret what the shapes mean. Now that I see it, of course of course.

I am more literal I guess. I would think a tee shirt with a surfer playing a mandolin while surfacing through a tunnel of water would be real cool.

I guess it would have to be a carbon fiber model

[JeffD]

I guess it would have to be a carbon fiber model

Photoshopped might be better.