the bluecotton blog

Twenty-one years ago tomorrow, on August 12, 1990, Susan Hendrickson made an amazing discovery. In a cliff face near Faith, South Dakota, Hendrickson found what would turn out to be the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in known existence. Eventually named “Sue”–after its discoverer–the skeleton was very well-preserved and over 90 percent complete.

By now you might be wondering, what on earth does this historic event have to do with custom-printed t-shirts? Well, to be honest, nothing except that it’s a great excuse to create some dinosaur-themed designs in our BlueCotton design studio! Below are four dino-designs I created. All of them were made using only clip art and text tools native to the design studio–no uploaded images were used. You can click on the images below to open them in our design studio. Check them out and then create your own!

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It’s only June, but I can already smell sulphur and gunpowder in the air. The hiss of fuses and the crackle of sparks push forward in memory. My fingers start to tingle. It’s almost the 4th of July. Just as kids dream of sugarplum fairies at Christmas, I dream of earth-shaking booms, neighbor-rousing whistles and echoing reports. The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.

My parents said fireworks were a waste of money.

Luckily for me, we always spent the holiday at my uncle’s house, and he was not of the same opinion. He annually sent my cousin Clinton over state lines with a big wad of cash in a rubber band to buy “the good stuff.” We lingered over waterlogged coolers and leftover hot dogs as it grew dark and not-so-patiently awaited his return. We were not swayed by feeble attempts to pacify us with ice cream cones. Only flame and spark would soothe us.

As he pulled into the gravel driveway, we rushed the car like a crazed mob demanding sparklers, firecrackers and jumping jacks. Huge cardboard boxes were unloaded from the car’s trunk, filled to the brim with brightly colored bricks of firecrackers, mortar tubes and rockets on sticks. We amused ourselves with the magic snakes, parachuters and smoke bombs while the bigger kids lit the “big ones.” I have many fond memories of dud fuses, near-misses and misfire mishaps that cleared the observation deck (aka the front porch).

One thing I overlooked as a kid were how cool the firework labels were. I have grown to appreciate the artwork that was hastily ripped away in search of the fuse. I’ve rounded up a few firework labels I found around the web. From their inspiration, I went into our Design Studio and created some t-shirts using only clipart and design elements inside the studio. I’ve also designed a few t-shirts for my family’s 4th of July celebration this year which you will see below. I’d love to have your feedback on which t-shirt you like best- I’m having trouble picking the best one!

The Inspiration

My take on the Dragon Lady design. I chose a yellow t-shirt, used black background to create a black base, and enhanced it with red text and garment colored text. Plenty of cautionary verbiage included.

The Inspiration

My take on the eagle with a classic red/white/blue design with a gold highlights and stars.

The Inspiration

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Here’s my Cherry Bomb design, making use of several of our design studio elements.

The Inspiration

A lot of fireworks labels feature rockets and space designs. I found some great rocket clip art in our design studio, and worked from the Standard Fireworks design above to help me with my print color choices.

The Inspiration

Working from the classic TNT logo, I went with the simple flashbang behind the text, and added more explosive language below.

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As I was preparing laundry yesterday, I noticed that I had barely enough whites to constitute a full load. I went scrounging around the house, searching for a errant sock or other white item to add to the pile. “Don’t I have any white t-shirts to wash?!”, I thought to myself. Nope, not a single one in the hamper. Curious. Working for a t-shirt company, you can imagine I have quite a few t-shirts in my wardrobe. I opened the chest of drawers to verify whether or not I even OWNED any white t-shirts. I haven’t seen one all winter.

After much opening and shutting of drawers, much leafing through and shifting of shirts, unfolding and refolding, the result was clear. I counted exactly eight white t-shirts in a drawer, all free giveaway t-shirts that I have been unable to part with though I rarely wear. The majority of the eight are charity walk and other free giveaway tees. I keep these shirts because they are from a cause close to my heart, but I rarely (if ever) wear them.

This prompted me to think more about charity event t-shirts. What is the purpose of the charity t-shirt? Why do they occupy the bottom of my drawer even though I support and personally identify with the cause printed on them? How can we improve the charity event t-shirts’ standing? Can they be top-drawer material? If so, how do we get them there? Click here for answers to these burning questions…

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Like most software programs, the BlueCotton Design Studio has some really cool and useful features that may not be obvious to the casual user. One such feature is grouping! Grouping allows you to select multiple objects at once, letting you scale and move those objects as a collective group. This is especially useful when you’ve got your design just how you want it, but maybe not exactly where you want it.

Using the grouping feature is pretty straight-forward. When in the Design Studio, simply click and drag the selection box around the objects you would like to manipulate as a group. Now, with the objects selected, you can move and resize them together just as if they were a single object! Check out the video below for a simple demonstration of how to use Design Studio grouping feature!

Want more tips for using the BlueCotton Design Studio? Be sure to read our previous entries regarding the Distressed Effect and our library of Design Ideas.

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As if worrying whether you spell all the names correctly isn’t enough to think about, the color t-shirt you choose is just as important. The t-shirt color you wear sends an impression to those around you about who you are. Okay, maybe these messages aren’t so straightforward–as in wearing a pink t-shirt means you really like cake–but messages are sent to others’ subconscious where they will unknowingly develop a judgment of you.

So now that I have your attention and got you contemplating what your off-black (yes, I consider this a color!) tee from high school is saying about you, let me offer a little insight.

WHITE: The staple of all t-shirt colors. It is a popular choice, be it for fashion or it’s economical factors (white shirts typically run a little cheaper than colored ones). White symbolizes purity, innocence, sterility and light. So if you’re in some deep trouble with a loved one, this may be the color you want to swing for a few days to soften them a bit. White is the choice for good guys. Also, white goes with everything, which is a plus. The down side? It is difficult to wear since it shows dirt so easily.

BLACK: Can you say mysterious? This color signifies a variety of things. It is often viewed as being modern, stylish and timeless. People often opt for black because of the slimming effects of the color. Fashion aside, the color symbolizes strength, authority, but also submission and evilness. It can be overpowering while giving the impression of aloofness.

RED: “Hey! Look at me!” Red is definitely attention getting. It attracts the eye and even effects the body by increasing a person’s heart rate. Unlike black, red does not offer a slimming effect and sometimes can make a person appear heavier. (So if you’re trying to lose a few you may want to avoid this color!) Red is intense and may not be the color you want to wear when confronting your boss about getting a raise or trying to negotiate with your professor to extend your term paper deadline.

BLUE: The Switzerland of colors–complete neutrality. Peaceful, trusting, cool, dependable, and caring. Blue has a universal appeal, and designers often fall back on this color when working with clients such as banks and large corporations to reinforce that the company is dependable and trustworthy (ahem…. BlueCotton…). This color tends to increase productivity and help people perform better. The hue of blue can also have a large impact; navy is loyal, aqua is hip, light blue is serene, electric is fun. [...]

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