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Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Moderator
Date: August 22, 2011 03:29AM

If you could buy a high quality t-shirt with a design much like this, for a reasonable price, would you?

Assume "steel gray" all cotton fabric.

Assume that a small version of this logo appears on the front lefthand chest and a larger version of this design appears on the back. There might be a brief tag-line on the back too... something like "It's all about the cars!" maybe?

BritishRacecarT-Preview.jpg
(Image copyright Curtis Jacobson dba BritishRaceCar.com, 2011. All rights reserved.
The "British flag wheel" motif is a trademark of Curtis Jacobson dba BritishRaceCar.com.)


Bill Young
Bill Young
Kansas City, MO
(1337 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 09:23AM

Main British Car:
'73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Bill Young
Date: August 22, 2011 08:47AM

Curtis, I'm always open to supporting your efforts and would buy a couple, but I'm not too fond of the design. Like the use of the British flag motif as the wheel center, but loose it when the blue continues out to the wheel rim and tire area. I realize that you couldn't go with black out there, would blend into the checkered flag background, but what about using some dark grey in that area? I realize that would add another color to the silk screen and a bit of cost though.


DiDueColpi
Fred Key
West coast - Canada
(1365 posts)

Registered:
05/14/2010 03:06AM

Main British Car:
I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now!

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: DiDueColpi
Date: August 22, 2011 01:57PM

Hey Curtis,
I would be in for a couple as well.

Just my two bits worth,
It would be nice to go upscale a little.
I'm not really a T shirt guy.
A Polo or golf shirt would be more to my taste.
Our local Lotus club uses Rugby shirts that are nice looking and incredibly tough.
Also, what about embroidery instead of transfers?
Is it time to establish an identity?
By that I mean create a logo that would remain recognizable over time.
Having a logo that evolves to keep up with the times is good.
But we seem to change it radically every time a new shirt comes out.
However, I'm happy to purchase whatever you produce.
Cheers
Fred


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Moderator
Date: August 22, 2011 08:50PM

That's good input guys. Just what I need. I hope more people will chime in.

----

Some background: I had a layover in Detroit last year, and in the terminal walked past a rack of Detroit Redwings t-shirts... and I thought "What a brilliant piece of graphic design!" Their logo looks great in white print on a red background. Timeless. Distinctive. Scalable. Versatile. So that's the benchmark... and also the inspiration for my design. I added a checkered flag element because with just the wheel I'd have a logo for "BritishCar.com" instead of "BritishRaceCar.com". One of my gripes with the design above is that the flag looks too much like a checkerboard. I'm playing with different flag shapes, proportions, borders, etc.

Quote:
Having a logo that evolves to keep up with the times is good.
But we seem to change it radically every time a new shirt comes out.

I think you must be thinking of BritishV8... which I agree has some unique identity issues of its own. Until last year, the BritishV8 website never offered a shirt. Annual meet shirts vary each year to reflect the preferences of the host and the meet location. I think pretty much all of those shirts have been embroidered, with just a small design on the front only. I chose to offer silk screened t-shirts on the website for a host of reasons, including mostly that I wanted them to be a distinctly different sales proposition. Also, that I wanted them to be readable from a distance, readable from both front and rear, and even readable when the shirts appear in the background of photos. Between the first and second website t-shirt offerings... the first design sold out, I needed to change shirt vendors, I needed to fix a type in the text on the back of the shirt, etc. - and people kept asking me when shirts would be available again. The second front design was the same as the first, except two-color vs. one-color to hopefully make it more easily readable. I changed the back design because I thought people would want something new besides a different shirt color, and I also thought the second back design might be especially popular with people who've installed Ford engines in their cars...

So... this is the first serious effort put into coming up with branding for BritishRaceCar.com, unless you count these graphics:

1)
favicon.gif

2)
http://www.britishracecar.com/Banner.jpg

As for more upscale shirts - for both BritishV8 and BritishRaceCar - I'd certainly like to offer them(!), but I'm concerned about having to commit to inventory that might not sell well enough. Is there enough demand? I'll want to see more people chime in...


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Moderator
Date: August 23, 2011 02:21AM

Okay... How do you like this black-and-white version? Better?

BritishRacecar-Tshirt-BW.jpg
(copyright and trademark claimed...)

Everything shown in gray is shirt color coming through (i.e. unprinted).


Bill Young
Bill Young
Kansas City, MO
(1337 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 09:23AM

Main British Car:
'73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Bill Young
Date: August 23, 2011 09:55AM

Curtis, I do like the black and white better, doesn't lose the British flag idea at all and you could easily print that in three colors on almost any color shirt which is a plus. Shame they're not already in production, I'd order a couple to wear at the regionals in Hastings in October when we go up with the RV8 assuming it's ready by then.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Moderator
Date: August 23, 2011 01:43PM

I'm thinking about printing a dozen shirts real quick so I can wear them at Lime Rock and Watkins Glen. I've got an exceptionally cooperative local print shop and I like to work with them. I could come back later and order more...

I found a very affordable collared jersey sport shirt... basically, it's t-shirt fabric, but it would support printing front and/or back. It can be seen here: [impweb.imprintswholesale.com] I'm thinking charcoal gray, but the forest green might be an appropriate color too. The charcoal gray is in-stock locally, whereas the green would likely take an extra couple days for delivery.



Bill Young
Bill Young
Kansas City, MO
(1337 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 09:23AM

Main British Car:
'73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep

authors avatar
Re: Testing the Waters...
Posted by: Bill Young
Date: August 23, 2011 04:10PM

Curtis, if you let me know how much I'll send you a check or pay pal, your preference for a couple of either color if we can get them before October 15. XXL


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