<!--quoteo(post=1703940:date=Apr 1 2009, 06:09 PM:name=slayer20)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(slayer20 @ Apr 1 2009, 06:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1703940"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I made a suggestion thread along time ago suggesting T-shirts for ns, and I made something similar to this. It's kind of bad if you think about it...but it's still pretty good!
That's just genius. No, we're not going to be printing those. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
- I'm definitely leaning towards black American Apparel shirts for all the reasons you guys mention. We want stylish, quality shirts that are going to last awhile. We made some Unknown Worlds t-shirts (only 3 of them!) a couple years ago for GDC and we used American Apparel and they are awesome. Find pic attached (I happened to be wearing it today!).
- I couldn't agree more Xerond. We are all about quality (NS v1.0 balance/perf notwithstanding) and would rather charge a bit more for something you'll really like wearing.
- I think we'll use <a href="http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm" target="_blank">Amazon Fulfillment</a> for shipping so it shouldn't cost too much to go to the UK.
Thanks for the awesome and helpful replies everyone (especially rofish!). Love it.
<!--quoteo(post=1703993:date=Apr 2 2009, 05:41 PM:name=DooGie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DooGie @ Apr 2 2009, 05:41 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1703993"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That Amazon fullfillment works for other EU countries too right?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href="https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help-folder.html/104-5002127-3430350?ie=UTF8&itemID=200146920#IN1" target="_blank">https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/ex...D=200146920#IN1</a> <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->In what countries is Fulfillment by Amazon available?
Fulfillment by Amazon is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan. To use these services, a seller must create a selling account under separate terms in these countries and manage the account separate from accounts in other geographies. For assistance with setting up accounts in Europe, go to Amazon Business Services.For account setup on Japan, contact fba-jp-infor@amazon.com.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I would guess darker colours would work best, but please offer an alternative to black. I have too many black T-shirts because that seems to be the colour manufacturers think people want for their Music/Games tees.
Decent quality transfer. My god there's no point having an awesome logo if it starts to peel to pieces after less than 12 months. The quality of the actual meterial is negotiable for me (although 100% cotton and not a baggy fit preferred) provided the image holds for as long as I want to wear it outside the house.
<!--quoteo(post=1703955:date=Apr 2 2009, 06:28 AM:name=ChromeAngel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChromeAngel @ Apr 2 2009, 06:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1703955"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Almost as important as the shirt itself... shipping shouldn't cost more that the merchandise. Seems to be the real issue here in the UK.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->QFT.
And also +1 to the guy who said don't make it a big dirty advert with no character whatsoever. I'd prefer a design that has people ask what it's from (at which point I can lie if they're blatantly not interested in games or tell them emphatically it's from a kickass game coming out called NS2 if they are into games). The best scenario would be me wearing this shirt somewhere and getting a secret hand signal from a fellow NS fan, with everyone else just thinking it's some cool abstract logo. The UWE logo seems to fit best for that.
Maybe do a mix of different types of design, so you've got the 'marketing hoar' (for games events), the 'abstract pop icon' for the geeks who don't want to fuel the stereotype, the 'I am the darkness' black tee for the geeks who are at one with their geekdom and just prefer a shirt that won't reveal their eating or washing habits, and finally the 'cutesy tee' with maybe a more pop/cartoony design for the kids and so-inclined girls and boys.
<b>Worse case scenario:</b> - Polyester mix tee (= moar sweat) - Black-only colour option (= 'I blend in with my natural habitat', 'I embrace the darkness', = moar geek) - Any words at all/too many words (eludes too overtly to the fact it's a games fanboy shirt, = moar geek) - Badly fitting one-size-fits-all that I have to tuck in and half hide underneath a hoodie or jacket to show off the logo without looking like I just walked out of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
I like the sound of that, definitely a good choice to go with the AA and the black. I'll definitely be keeping a look at this thread so I can buy 'em the very first minute!
Also that Unknown Worlds shirt you posted a picture of there looks pretty neat!
I agree with what Crispy said, nothing too obvious. Although a shirt with plain "Natural Selection" printed on it with an arrow pointing down to your crotch would be nice.
Amazon Fullfillment required UPC codes when I looked at them a year ago. Apparently, now they offer Amazon only barcodes. (UPC codes are a $1000 for ten.)
umm.. i think dark colors would generally fit much better to NS but i dont like black tshirts at all unless the art on it is really good and BIG
why do not make this a contest? ppl design shirts, and the best one is being chosen or voted and gets a cookie i have no doubt there are enough who would like to design such a shirt
oh and by the way..... why are there no proper ns(2) wallpapers for desktop?
Thats a cool idea and all, but you won't be able to print that, you'd have to have the shirt fabric custom made and then use that fabric to make the shirt... as in, its not gonna happen.
I'll post some guidelines if some people want to tackle a shirt contest...
The hard thing about shirt design that I learned through experience is that too much creativity won't work. There are a lot of limitations and the only way to get past those is to have a lot of $.
<!--quoteo(post=1704120:date=Apr 3 2009, 12:41 PM:name=Xerond)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Xerond @ Apr 3 2009, 12:41 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1704120"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Thats a cool idea and all, but you won't be able to print that, you'd have to have the shirt fabric custom made and then use that fabric to make the shirt... as in, its not gonna happen.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You can do that design with '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_press" target="_blank">belt printing</a>'. It's more pricey than traditional screen printing, but it's not financially impossible as it generally doubles the printing cost making a (completely guessing here) unit price of ~$15. It still puts you in the sweet spot of $20/shirt and still profit from it.
<!--quoteo(post=1704132:date=Apr 3 2009, 04:12 PM:name=rofish)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rofish @ Apr 3 2009, 04:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1704132"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You can do that design with '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_press" target="_blank">belt printing</a>'. It's more pricey than traditional screen printing, but it's not financially impossible as it generally doubles the printing cost making a (completely guessing here) unit price of ~$15. It still puts you in the sweet spot of $20/shirt and still profit from it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The text and the logo yeah, but holding onto the stripes in his design would require the fabric to already be like that, a bell printer won't hold onto a design like that very well especially with more than one color. Either way it would require custom fabric.
Bell prints are awesome, I'd like to see some, but this one wouldn't work well.
<!--quoteo(post=1703992:date=Apr 3 2009, 02:31 AM:name=Flayra)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Flayra @ Apr 3 2009, 02:31 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1703992"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->*thumbnail*<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> That design rocks. Also the hoodie idea is good.
<!--quoteo(post=1704181:date=Apr 4 2009, 08:54 AM:name=Psyke)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Psyke @ Apr 4 2009, 08:54 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1704181"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I need another good hoodie. Preferably one with a zipper. Those are nice.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> but i guess hoodies would cost more -> lower promotion factor..?
<!--quoteo(post=1704183:date=Apr 4 2009, 08:59 AM:name=c0ke)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c0ke @ Apr 4 2009, 08:59 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1704183"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->but i guess hoodies would cost more -> lower promotion factor..?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm just guessing here but I would be pretty certain the two don't necessarily over lap because for the customer just because they would desire a hoodie, doesn't mean they would take a t-shirt instead. Offering both would certainly mean a greater promotion factor, IMHO. At that point, it would just be a question of transferring the cost of the merchandising materials and labor to the customer, unless you are concerned that the cost of t-shirts and hoodies would have to be offset elsewhere in their business or that they are trying to make a profit in the merchandise beyond promoting their game/business.
Edit: Oh, I just realized something else I am unclear on about the t-shirts, are they going to have to be bought wholesale, stored, and shipped out by UnknownWorlds or is it just a deal struck with a t-shirt company to use a UnknownWorlds image on t-shirt that is then printed and shipped on demand? I could understand only t-shirts being available if it was the first way but I sincerely hope its just a licensing deal so they don't have to handle any of the product themselves, which always leaves open the unfortunate possibility of dealing with all the resulting headaches that brings, either dealing with problem purchases or over stocking on merchandise or a whole host of other business related SNAFU.
What I'd be interested in: - background: NS color (red, orange or blue) or black - foreground: NS color or white - possible designs: --- NS/TSA logo, no text --- infestation, no text (though, *chuckle* just flashed in my brain as a cute reference) --- simple natural selection diagram using character silhouettes (marine vs alien, "survival of the fittest")
Essentially something that would only be identifiable to those people who are familiar with the IP, and a cool shirt design to everyone else. "Natural Selection" is generic enough to work. I wouldn't mind it in the form of a domain name either (ie. naturalselection.com) to promote it. I probably wouldn't buy something with "Unknown Worlds Entertainment" on it, but maybe "Unknown Worlds". Still, I'd lean towards simplicity and probably no text.
<!--quoteo(post=1704021:date=Apr 2 2009, 11:38 PM:name=KuBaN)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KuBaN @ Apr 2 2009, 11:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1704021"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->FRONT: Breast-pocket-sized TSA Logo Outline BACK: A scorpion with wings that hovars without flapping!!!!!!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Damn KuBaN beat me to it.
From Charlie's post seems like they've already settled on pretty much everything I'd have to say. I agree with having a couple of designs, some having natural selection plugged balantly and some being just artwork or subtle logos (and maybe a small unknown worlds plug). A few different colours would be nice, but if your going for just one colour, I'd go with black, that said I'm a big fan of good fit simple white t-shirts.
Oh damn, I'd sooo buy a gorge plushie, or NS2 concept art posters, if you can get around to more merchendising.
gorge plushies would be such a beststeller tbh. unfortunatelly hard to make one if you dont have the connections i guess <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
Brand/make of the shirt DOES matter. Don't go and buy fruit of the loom charlie, please don't. American Apparel or anything superior will be perfect. If I wear a shirt that says "I play computergames" at least it should have a decent quality both printwise and makewise.
<!--quoteo(post=1704239:date=Apr 6 2009, 12:27 AM:name=c0ke)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c0ke @ Apr 6 2009, 12:27 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1704239"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->gorge plushies would be such a beststeller tbh.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> nice, that would be killer
I like to my T's plain. It should just be a black shirt with a very cool looking Natural Selection 2 Logo. That's It! Even the logo used in the website banner (top) would suffice. Maybe some amazing sounding quote on the back or a catch phrase that encapsulates what the game is about.
As for brands, can't go wrong with Polo shirts. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
Comments
<a href="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1544/nstshirt.jpg" target="_blank">http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1544/nstshirt.jpg</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's just genius. No, we're not going to be printing those. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
- I'm definitely leaning towards black American Apparel shirts for all the reasons you guys mention. We want stylish, quality shirts that are going to last awhile. We made some Unknown Worlds t-shirts (only 3 of them!) a couple years ago for GDC and we used American Apparel and they are awesome. Find pic attached (I happened to be wearing it today!).
- I couldn't agree more Xerond. We are all about quality (NS v1.0 balance/perf notwithstanding) and would rather charge a bit more for something you'll really like wearing.
- I think we'll use <a href="http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm" target="_blank">Amazon Fulfillment</a> for shipping so it shouldn't cost too much to go to the UK.
Thanks for the awesome and helpful replies everyone (especially rofish!). Love it.
<a href="https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help-folder.html/104-5002127-3430350?ie=UTF8&itemID=200146920#IN1" target="_blank">https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/ex...D=200146920#IN1</a>
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->In what countries is Fulfillment by Amazon available?
Fulfillment by Amazon is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan. To use these services, a seller must create a selling account under separate terms in these countries and manage the account separate from accounts in other geographies. For assistance with setting up accounts in Europe, go to Amazon Business Services.For account setup on Japan, contact fba-jp-infor@amazon.com.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sounds tricky.
Decent quality transfer. My god there's no point having an awesome logo if it starts to peel to pieces after less than 12 months. The quality of the actual meterial is negotiable for me (although 100% cotton and not a baggy fit preferred) provided the image holds for as long as I want to wear it outside the house.
<!--quoteo(post=1703955:date=Apr 2 2009, 06:28 AM:name=ChromeAngel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChromeAngel @ Apr 2 2009, 06:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1703955"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Almost as important as the shirt itself... shipping shouldn't cost more that the merchandise. Seems to be the real issue here in the UK.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->QFT.
And also +1 to the guy who said don't make it a big dirty advert with no character whatsoever. I'd prefer a design that has people ask what it's from (at which point I can lie if they're blatantly not interested in games or tell them emphatically it's from a kickass game coming out called NS2 if they are into games). The best scenario would be me wearing this shirt somewhere and getting a secret hand signal from a fellow NS fan, with everyone else just thinking it's some cool abstract logo. The UWE logo seems to fit best for that.
Maybe do a mix of different types of design, so you've got the 'marketing hoar' (for games events), the 'abstract pop icon' for the geeks who don't want to fuel the stereotype, the 'I am the darkness' black tee for the geeks who are at one with their geekdom and just prefer a shirt that won't reveal their eating or washing habits, and finally the 'cutesy tee' with maybe a more pop/cartoony design for the kids and so-inclined girls and boys.
<b>Worse case scenario:</b>
- Polyester mix tee (= moar sweat)
- Black-only colour option (= 'I blend in with my natural habitat', 'I embrace the darkness', = moar geek)
- Any words at all/too many words (eludes too overtly to the fact it's a games fanboy shirt, = moar geek)
- Badly fitting one-size-fits-all that I have to tuck in and half hide underneath a hoodie or jacket to show off the logo without looking like I just walked out of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
So basically geek chique, not geek cliché.
I like the sound of that, definitely a good choice to go with the AA and the black. I'll definitely be keeping a look at this thread so I can buy 'em the very first minute!
Also that Unknown Worlds shirt you posted a picture of there looks pretty neat!
All T-shirts I buy online are TOO SHORT. Please consider investing in some LONG T's for us more vertically evolved.
BACK: A scorpion with wings that hovars without flapping!!!!!!
Amazon Fullfillment required UPC codes when I looked at them a year ago. Apparently, now they offer Amazon only barcodes. (UPC codes are a $1000 for ten.)
but i dont like black tshirts at all unless the art on it is really good and BIG
why do not make this a contest? ppl design shirts, and the best one is being chosen or voted and gets a cookie
i have no doubt there are enough who would like to design such a shirt
oh and by the way..... why are there no proper ns(2) wallpapers for desktop?
edit:<div align="center">a possability..
<img src="http://8ung.at/c0ke/nsTshirt.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" />
not THAT bad xxD</div>
I'll post some guidelines if some people want to tackle a shirt contest...
The hard thing about shirt design that I learned through experience is that too much creativity won't work. There are a lot of limitations and the only way to get past those is to have a lot of $.
You can do that design with '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_press" target="_blank">belt printing</a>'. It's more pricey than traditional screen printing, but it's not financially impossible as it generally doubles the printing cost making a (completely guessing here) unit price of ~$15. It still puts you in the sweet spot of $20/shirt and still profit from it.
The text and the logo yeah, but holding onto the stripes in his design would require the fabric to already be like that, a bell printer won't hold onto a design like that very well especially with more than one color. Either way it would require custom fabric.
Bell prints are awesome, I'd like to see some, but this one wouldn't work well.
That design rocks. Also the hoodie idea is good.
but i guess hoodies would cost more -> lower promotion factor..?
I'm just guessing here but I would be pretty certain the two don't necessarily over lap because for the customer just because they would desire a hoodie, doesn't mean they would take a t-shirt instead. Offering both would certainly mean a greater promotion factor, IMHO. At that point, it would just be a question of transferring the cost of the merchandising materials and labor to the customer, unless you are concerned that the cost of t-shirts and hoodies would have to be offset elsewhere in their business or that they are trying to make a profit in the merchandise beyond promoting their game/business.
Edit: Oh, I just realized something else I am unclear on about the t-shirts, are they going to have to be bought wholesale, stored, and shipped out by UnknownWorlds or is it just a deal struck with a t-shirt company to use a UnknownWorlds image on t-shirt that is then printed and shipped on demand? I could understand only t-shirts being available if it was the first way but I sincerely hope its just a licensing deal so they don't have to handle any of the product themselves, which always leaves open the unfortunate possibility of dealing with all the resulting headaches that brings, either dealing with problem purchases or over stocking on merchandise or a whole host of other business related SNAFU.
- background: NS color (red, orange or blue) or black
- foreground: NS color or white
- possible designs:
--- NS/TSA logo, no text
--- infestation, no text (though, *chuckle* just flashed in my brain as a cute reference)
--- simple natural selection diagram using character silhouettes (marine vs alien, "survival of the fittest")
Essentially something that would only be identifiable to those people who are familiar with the IP, and a cool shirt design to everyone else. "Natural Selection" is generic enough to work. I wouldn't mind it in the form of a domain name either (ie. naturalselection.com) to promote it. I probably wouldn't buy something with "Unknown Worlds Entertainment" on it, but maybe "Unknown Worlds". Still, I'd lean towards simplicity and probably no text.
BACK: A scorpion with wings that hovars without flapping!!!!!!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Damn KuBaN beat me to it.
From Charlie's post seems like they've already settled on pretty much everything I'd have to say. I agree with having a couple of designs, some having natural selection plugged balantly and some being just artwork or subtle logos (and maybe a small unknown worlds plug). A few different colours would be nice, but if your going for just one colour, I'd go with black, that said I'm a big fan of good fit simple white t-shirts.
Oh damn, I'd sooo buy a gorge plushie, or NS2 concept art posters, if you can get around to more merchendising.
unfortunatelly hard to make one if you dont have the connections i guess <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
nice, that would be killer
Maybe some amazing sounding quote on the back or a catch phrase that encapsulates what the game is about.
As for brands, can't go wrong with Polo shirts. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />