Thomas Covenant T-shirts? SHIRTS! SHIRRRTS!

Post by **kevinswatch** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 7:26 pm

I've been having this crazy idea in my head for a while now that selling Covenant T-shirts would be a great idea for a Covenant site. I got this idea mainly from all of the other fan sites I see for other series, mainly Wheel of Time. But I've always wanted to do something like that here. There are only really two things which are stopping me. First, is that I wouldn't want to put anything on a T-shirt that would annoy SRD copyright wise. Second, I want to know if there is support from you guys first aka if you would actually even concider buying a shirt. The site I would probably use to sell and create the shirts would probably be Cafepress, which makes some really nice shirts. I would probably also sell them for as cheap as the site lets me, and any profit I get from the shirts would just go into running KevinsWatch (which doesn't require very much funds as it is). So do you all have any ideas for sloagans for the shirts? I'm thinking about just having a simple phrase on the front and "www.kevinswatch.com" on the back. Things that come immediately to my mind are...

"Don't touch me. I'm a leper."

"This is all just a dream...this is all just a dream..."

"100% Unbeliever"

"I have a white gold ring and I'm not afraid to use it."

Heh, I donno. Those are just some crazy ideas off the top of my head. We could have variations of those as well or completely new ideas. If I come up with more, I'll post them here. But please, post your comments.-jay

Post by **danlo** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 7:40 pm

I think it's a fantastic idea Jay! I 4 1 would snap them right up! I saw some beautiful George R. R. Martin "Winterfell" t-shirts at the Bubonicon Convention this summer and they sell them through Martin Websites--HOWEVER I believe Martin does get a precentage of the sales, as well he should--yes, u might want 2 check with SRD or his lawyer first! Aye! There's the rub...

Post by **Lord Mhoram** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 8:05 pm

Personally, Id buy a "Dont touch me" shirt!

Hey, Dont touch me, I have leprosy ryhmes!

Post by **Vain** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 2:43 am

I'm worried about jay

First we had "Dissecting the Lind"

Now we have: "T-Shits"

I'm not too sure if there are major issues. I don't think the phrases are copyrighted???

I'd buy a: 100% Unbeliever t-shirt

The two 0's need to be White Gold Rings though.

Post by **danlo** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 3:20 am

Jesus Jay!! This is a family site!!! I never noticed that! OMG!!!!

Post by **kevinswatch** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 5:49 am

Arg! I hate my typing sometimes! I spelt it "T-shits" multiple times in my post too, but edited them the first time. I must have missed the one in the title. Hehe. Oh well, it's edited now. If you're still interested in a "T-shit" rather then a "T-shirt", you're out of luck.-jay

Post by **caamora** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 3:43 pm

How about "Foul's the name. Desecration's the game." Or would that be Kevin?

Sound's great to me! I'd buy a T-shit (

T-shirt) or two!

Post by **Lord Mhoram** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 4:02 pm

Now, Jay where would I buy my t-shit??

I like it, Caamora...very nice.

Post by **Skyweir** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 11:11 pm

Love the T-shirt idea ..

would love to have me a t-shirt with a pic of the Watch on it .. not just plain .. or of Andelain .. and with the words at the bottom .. <no referrence to t-shit here by the way

>

phrases like 'Dont touch me!' and '.. Unbeliever' 'Groveller' .. 'The Chosen' 'The Oath of Peace' .. 'Kevins Watch' .. 'Hellfire' .. 'Melenkurion abatha!' 'Melenkurion Skyweir!'

.. a pic of the quest for the One Tree on the Drumond .. with the words 'Stone and Sea!'

Or a pic of the isle of the One Tree .. with the name 'Ak-haru Kenaustin Ardenol' and maybe even .. 'Guardian of the One Tree' too .. printed on it!

oh there are soo many great idea's swarming through my head ..

yep t-shirt marketing - even within a limited market .. a good idea!

mmm ..

Post by **kevinswatch** » Sun Nov 10, 2002 5:18 am

Well, the only real problem with pictures is that I don't want to run into any copyright problems. Using words is no problem, as long as they arn't copyrighted by Donaldson (aka I don't think we can use the phrase "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever"). But with pictures, they are owned by the respective artists. And I don't want to put someone's else's art on a t-shirt. So yeah, that's why if we do make shirts, they will probably be text only. So what are your favorite quotes? I like the idea of 100% Unbeliver with Whild Gold rings for the 0's. If you all can post your favorites, then maybe I can make up the designs and then get the shirt site made.-jay

Post by **Foamfollower1013** » Sun Nov 10, 2002 5:39 am

I like "Don't touch me"...even though I still can't hear that phrase without cringing...

The "This is all just a dream...this is all just a dream" one is cute too.

~Foamy~

Post by **caamora** » Sun Nov 10, 2002 5:35 pm

Jay - Have you ever thought of trying to contact SRD to get his permission to use the copyright? From what Danlo has said (i.e., meeting the guy!), he seems like a pretty decent fellow.

How about "That's too easy" for a T-shirt. TC says that a lot. So does SRD in his interviews. Of course, no one would know what it means. But, then again, no one would know what Melenkurion abatha means!

Post by **Skyweir** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 2:28 am

I love the 'That's too easy' idea!!

.. there is some pleasure to be gained from watching the 'SRD un-read common folk' scratching their heads in wonderment at the phrase 'Melenkurion Abatha!'

.. its an evil pleasure .. but pleasure nonetheless

As for pics .. no one knows what the Isle of the One Tree looks like for sure .. a pic of any lonely isle would suffice .. and it would give the T-shirt an eerie graphic complimenatary to a given phrase.

We also have some hoot'n toot'n artists here that if you ran a competition may be happy to enter some art work that could ultimately be chosen for a t-shirt!

Or Caamora's suggestion would work too! If you approached the relevant person's .. SRD in particular .. you could find permission to use some particular graphic not that difficult to get.

After all .. unless the shirts are meant for a wider audience .. we are talking a relatively limited market .. SRD's support re: this kind of fan merchandising .. may be useful.

Or keeping it simple is good too .. I like the 100% Unbeliever with the 0's as rings is cool! ..

Post by **caamora** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 4:38 am

Sky-
I LOVE the idea for having the artists on this forum do their own drawings for the T-shirt! GREAT IDEA!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 5:45 am

I think that the t-shirts are a wonderful idea! And its ok about the t-s*$%#s. I'm a rotten speeler, too, Jay.

Post by **kevinswatch** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 6:55 am

OK, I was playing around with some fonts. Let me know which one you like (if any) or if you have a better font idea (please don't be shy).

So what are the finalists? I think I can have only so many shirt designs at the begining. I think we can get more if we sell a lot. So vote for your favorite 3.

1. "100% Unbeliever" (Probably a Finalist)

2. "Don't touch me. I'm a leper."

3. "This is all just a dream...this is all just a dream..."

4. "I have a white gold ring and I'm not afraid to use it."

5. "Foul's the name. Desecration's the game."

6. "That's too easy."

7. "Melenkurion Abatha!" (Unless copyrighted)

8. Other (Keep posting new ideas)

Yeah, I guess I can easily e-mail SRD...but I'm just too shy. It seems like such a big deal over just a few simple t-shirts.-jay

Post by **Ahanna** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 1:24 pm

I think the T-shirt idea is very nice, Jay.

Imho, since the text is going to be short and concise, a headline type sans-serif font is preferable. Impact or Arial Black would be very becoming for a T-shirt design, you may also want to consider Avant Garde, Century Gothic, Verdana or Futura. I also suggest you use capitals for the first letter in each word (excepting prepositions). I don't think the text size should be too large, 32 – 48 pixels perhaps (smaller if the print is asymmetric, and larger if centered). I like graphic design when it's clean, simple and discreet, but that's just my personal opinion.

All the text suggestions above are nice, but here are some more:
Be True
We Suffice
Wild Magic has no Law
Stone and Sea are Deep in Life
I'm Lost and Found
Unfettered, Shriven, Free
EarthFriend
EarthPower

Post by **duchess of malfi** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 5:52 pm

High Lord Jay, I like the top font you used, and the #1,3, and 5 sayings. Would you use the saying on the front and put the website's name on the back? I always like those t-shirts that say something on both sides.

Post by **kevinswatch** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 7:42 pm

New images to take a look at.

And yeah, on the back I plan to put something like "www.kevinswatch.com".

Also something to concider is font color. Just black, or would you rather see blue, red or green? Other colors to add?-jay

Post by **Lord Mhoram** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 9:20 pm

How about Dont touch me? In...blue or red....please.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Thomas Covenant T-shirts? SHIRTS! SHIRRRTS!

Thomas Covenant T-shirts? SHIRTS! SHIRRRTS!