So I've got these t-shirt designs...

[Serpentine]

...and I'm not sure what to do with them. I'd like to find a site or something that would make and sell the shirts for me. Cafe Press is one, and someone's pointed me at Redbubble, too. Has anyone had any experience with these or other companies, and any advice or recommendations?

[Serpentine]

No one? Really? That surprises me.

[Astrella]

A friend of mine had a shirt made before but I'm not sure what zie used; I'll ask zir next time I talk to zir.

[Serpentine]

Wellp, 'til someone comes in with any advice, I'll just use this thread to post some of my design ideas (note: some of these were tweaked for a DA contest, so just ignore the DA logo bits):

Variations on the theme of angels and devils.
I've actually made this one into a shirt for myself, sans DA logo.
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/066/6/7/Holy_Direction_Sign_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/a/3/Damned_Devil_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/0/4/Exalted_Angel_T_Shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs28/f/2008/052/2/e/Angel_Devil_Design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs30/f/2008/052/1/5/Angel_and_Devil_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/9/8/Deviant_Art_Concience_Design_by_Serpentine16.png
This one I actually have had made into a shirt, and will be doing again soon (frick, I'd better call that place soon...), thusly:
http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/599888_10151063631667140_1034539352_n.jpg

Similar style to the above.
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs50/i/2009/261/3/9/Pirate_vs__Ninja_Tshirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/103/8/0/Foxboy_design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/103/2/2/2264a841d50a987ed21dc0b1a014d742.jpg
Really need to fix that tail...

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/9/e/Pirate_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.png

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/5/d/Ninja_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

Other
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/e/5/Cat_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs27/f/2008/085/7/9/Fox_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h287/serpentine16/happystorm.png

[Dr.Epic]

Variations on the theme of angels and devils.
I've actually made this one into a shirt for myself, sans DA logo.
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/066/6/7/Holy_Direction_Sign_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/a/3/Damned_Devil_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/0/4/Exalted_Angel_T_Shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs28/f/2008/052/2/e/Angel_Devil_Design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs30/f/2008/052/1/5/Angel_and_Devil_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/9/8/Deviant_Art_Concience_Design_by_Serpentine16.png
This one I actually have had made into a shirt, and will be doing again soon (frick, I'd better call that place soon...), thusly:
http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/599888_10151063631667140_1034539352_n.jpg

Similar style to the above.
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs50/i/2009/261/3/9/Pirate_vs__Ninja_Tshirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/103/8/0/Foxboy_design_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/103/2/2/2264a841d50a987ed21dc0b1a014d742.jpg
Really need to fix that tail...

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/9/e/Pirate_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.png

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/5/d/Ninja_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

Other
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/066/e/5/Cat_T_shirt_Design_by_Serpentine16.gif

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs27/f/2008/085/7/9/Fox_by_Serpentine16.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h287/serpentine16/happystorm.png

I'll take 8!

[leakingpen]

ive heard good things about zazzle

[Serpentine]

I'll take 8!...of what?

I'll check out Zazzle. At the moment Cafe Press is the main one I'm looking at, just because it's the biggest, but it's confusing me. So far, for one thing, it doesn't seem to be possible to put your design on a particular colour of shirt. This might just be because it has to go through some approval process, but it's not very clear what that involves. I'm also thinking about getting a shop with them, but I'm not sure it's worth it - it seems to be for webcomics and popular blogs and, you know, successful people, not people like me. But on the other hand it'd give me something I can customise to which I can point people to look at all my stuff easily...

[leakingpen]

The thing with cafepress is that you've got to pay them monthly, whether you make any sales or not. Also, you can't specify colors to only appear on, no. Which has led to problems with artists saying, DON'T buy this design on a white/black shirt, as you won't be able to see it, and peoiple not listening, then badmouthing the design.

[Tiki Snakes]

Well, I bought a shirt from Redbubble, I think. (Bought a shirt and a picture at the same time from two different sites). Whichever one it was, it arrived in the UK safely and that's all I can really say as they were bought as gifts and I haven't even seen the items themselves. :smallsmile:

[Serpentine]

Looks like I'm going with RedBubble. It's fairly simple to use, and nice and quick to set up, although it's frustrating that you have to set up the image in a particular - and exact - set of dimensions and you can't modify it once the design's submitted. It also sucks that you can only put the design front- or back-and-centre; it means my angel and devil on the shoulders design is still strictly custom-made.

My shop thingy is here (http://www.redbubble.com/people/serpentine16), if anyone's interested.

[The Succubus]

Any plans to do a female demon t-shirt? =)

(i.e. a t-shirt with a female demon on it, not a women's demon t-shirt)

I like the idea of the angel and demon shoulder design - one suggestion, perhaps one with two demons for the naughtier folks amongst us? :smallamused:

[Serpentine]

In the original, the request for my friend, the angel had a little demon tail. I *could* put that up as well, but I'm afraid it'd lead to confusion.
And nah, I think that particular design has more or less run its course I'm afraid. Neither angel nor devil really has a sex, though.

[Dr.Epic]

...of what?

Of thems!:smallsmile:

[Serpentine]

Well... You can, in that link I linked to :smalltongue:
Someone's said they're too expensive, but they already cost about $23 as the basic, I'm pretty sure I only get any money on top of that... I'm looking into it though.

[Serpentine]

In case anyone cares: Zazzle is really expensive, with me getting $3 from a $36 to-shirt.
Cafe Press may be cheaper, but my first design STILL isn't available for me to see what I can do with them.
RedBubble sells shirts a bit on the steep side, but at least it's on the underside of $30 with a decent royalty for me, and I've quickly gotten the hang of their system even if it's not quite as customisable and flexible as I'd like.
I'm looking at Spreadshirt, but haven't decided whether to dabble with it.

[Serpentine]

I made some more stuff! And I actually like it! I might just be able to --gasp!-- art!
I think these ones came out particularly well, or at least better than I expected:
http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.13009188.0493/fc,550x550,baby_blue.u2.jpg
http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.13009151.0470/fc,550x550,silver.u2.jpg
http://ih1.redbubble.net/image.13009141.0456/fc,550x550,army.u2.jpg
http://ih1.redbubble.net/image.13009082.0432/fc,550x550,lemon.u2.jpg

[Tiki Snakes]

I have certainly seen worse. The shirts themselves don't really seem too steep. I did a quick check with another T-Shirt specific site I visited once or twice and they were going for a comparable price, and that's a professional website.

You'll have to keep us informed how it actually works out. Any bites?

[Serpentine]

Lots of views (I may be a bit obsessed with views...), no buys. I may have to buy one myself just to see whether it works.

[Oblivion]

Maybe you could also look into Threadless: http://beta.threadless.com/make/submit/. Doesn't seem very complicated to use, but it is not guaranteed that your design will be selected...

[Serpentine]

I did have a look at Threadless. Looked fairly complicated, though, and I'm not sure how the template things work. May have another look sometime, though. Thanks.

[Lea Plath]

I'm gonna be watching this, Serpy. I've got some old T-Shirt designs from when I was in High School that I would like to sell. Cow being abducted by a UFO. Vampire face. etc. If you find somewhere, let me know.

Also, mind linking your dA? I am being derpy and can't find it.

[Serpentine]

My DA is here (http://serpentine16.deviantart.com/), but it doesn't have all my shirt stuff there - that's on RedBubble (http://www.redbubble.com/people/serpentine16) which seems pretty good so far, though I wouldn't mind some feedback on how my profile and stuff there looks.
While I'm at it... *coffpointsatsigbannercough* :smallwink:

[Saeyan]

I like the purple kitty one. Just saying.

[leakingpen]

found this,

http://teespring.com/

its a crowdfunding type thing. set a price, and number of people till it prints, and it only prints if you sell enough. screen print, so much higher quality.


Hey serp, M.C.A. Hogarth, an online fiction writer, uses zazzle. She has a BUNCH of stuff up, and i was talking with her on the expensiveness, she has some of every product up, and keeps her eye on this page http://www.zazzle.com/coupons where they put 1-2 day coupons all the time, and as soon as a good coupon hits (like right now, half off all cards) she tells her readers they can buy it cheap.

[Inglenook]

I'm not sure if they're what you're looking for, but you might have a peek a DesignByHumans and TeeFury.

[GrlumpTheElder]

So.. Just stumbled upon this thread... Nice designs - I like the cat one.
And the pirate, the Ninja and the Pirate vs Ninja

[Serpentine]

Thanks Lumples. Haven't sold any yet, but I'm puzzled that my second-most viewed one is "I sometimes wear clothes"...

edit: I made another one! Random flowery thing this time:
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/011/6/4/643a59be103a36c942b5db5cad726fae-d5r54a1.pngIt's on that Redbubble thing now.

[Serpentine]

I sold one! :biggrin:

[Serpentine]

Erm... I've made two more, but they're not very interesting and I don't want to spam...

[Tiki Snakes]

I sold one! :biggrin:

What one did you sell, Serp?

[Serpentine]

This one. (http://www.redbubble.com/people/serpentine16/works/9660178-duality)
I wish I could know more about what they bought...

[Serpentine]

I did a new one, AND I sold another one! Both are this (http://www.redbubble.com/people/serpentine16/works/9972752-cuttlefish-are-creative), which was the hardest one I've drawn so far:

http://ih2.redbubble.net/image.13448536.2752/fc,550x550,white.u2.jpg

I may let this thread die now, I'm not sure. I don't want to step over the "no advertising" line. I always put up new stuff on my shiny new Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/PurpleDragonCrafts), though.

edit: Oh! Before I let it die, though, I'd like to take ideas. I'm going to make a "Cuddlefish" - a cuttlefish that just loves to hug - and I want to make some other similarly themed things, probably all marine and with a cutesy pun. Any ideas?

[The Succubus]

A cuttlefish with it's tentacles wrapped around a teddy bear with a little heart over it.

"Cuddlefish: Hugging 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea"

"Cuddlefish: Hugs in the sea bed."

"Cuddlefish: This is what all the tentacles are for."

[Serpentine]

No no no, I've got the cuddlefish under control. I want ideas for other, similar, cute-puns for sea creatures that I can cutesify up My Little Pony-style.

[The Succubus]

Hmm, okay then.

"Twinkle, twinkle little Starfish"

"Seahorses: Women like a man that helps with the kids"

Otters sometimes go to sleep at sea wrapped in seaweed. (http://protecttheoceans.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/MBAseaotter.jpg) I'm sure there's potential for cuteness here.

Oyster beds, with obvious punnery.

[Serpentine]

I have an action shot from a friend who bought the cuttlefish shirt! :smallbiggrin:

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/581229_10152579876435072_106442154_n.jpg

I like the shirt he put it on.

[leakingpen]

rockerfish, draw a fish with hair, headbanging.

Kitteh Fish say a "cat" cat fish playing with a piece of coral like its a yarn ball

Care-el Coral that is a bunch of hugging individual coral cells, making a piece of coral.

[Serpentine]

That's the stuff! :smallbiggrin: There will also be a poor little sea urchin with a patched hat.

[The Succubus]

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/1301/wp201302190082013022410.jpg

The shirt is really good quality and the logo feels like its not going to vanish in the next wash. Speaking of which, I need to do something about my bathroom mirror. -.-

[Serpentine]

It looks very artistic :smallwink:
Also: yay! :smallbiggrin: Would it be okay if I used that photo around to show how it looks and stuff?

[The Succubus]

Alright, just as long as you add a footnote saying that the bathroom in question is much tidier now. :smalltongue:

[Serpentine]

You... put the shampoo bottle in the cupboard? :smallconfused:

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I've been having friends tell me I should start making shirts based soley on the puns I've invented. Any recomendations on which site you prefer to work with, and the turn out for profit on such things?

[The Succubus]

Nah, the mirror's a bit on the grubby side, 'tis all.

@Wombat: I'm quite pleased with Serpy's T-shirt from Redbubble. Shipping was quick and as mentioned above, the quality was good too. It also comes with a little patch thing saying who made the design on it, which was a nice touch. :smallsmile:

[Serpentine]

Oh? Where's the patch?

Vombatus vombatus: I've found Redbubble relatively straightforward and easy. You can decide your own profit level, but the base price is high enough that any decent profit percentage makes the shirt a bit on the steep side (for reference, I set mine at the default 20%, and they cost between $25 ($5 profit) for a small basic t-shirt and $57 ($9.50 profit) for an XXL zipper hoodie).
Basically, Redbubble seems to be the best I've found so far, but that's mostly from the point of view of laziness and lack of techsavvy. Everything else I know about, you can find upthread.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Very much thanks. I have some tech saviness, and some non. I'm happy to learn if someone can explain, but at this point, easiness seems to be very attractive, especially since I'm going through a move and some life non-fun stuff. Simple = better at the moment. Are you able to also recommend other artists such as you in my "store"? Cause I'd totally be down for plugging you shamelessly.

[Serpentine]

I have no idea.
...
So I went and looked... There's some places you can put a link, like your profile or journal. Oh! And there's also a "favourites" and "following" section, too. Let me know when you have it up - I'll give you a blurb on my Facebook page, too :smallsmile:

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I have no idea.
...
So I went and looked... There's some places you can put a link, like your profile or journal. Oh! And there's also a "favourites" and "following" section, too. Let me know when you have it up - I'll give you a blurb on my Facebook page, too :smallsmile:

:smallsmile: Much thanks! Hoping to have one up and going before the week is out, but we'll see how it goes with this move. I lose internet thursday, so worse comes to worse, I'll work on it during the week and get it up next. Either way, I'll let you know of my progress...I guess on here?

[Serpentine]

Great :smallsmile:

I got an idea, and I'm working on it, but I don't know if I like the result yet... Brutally honest critique plox.

"Robot Icarus"
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/526308_215777378567698_1215273161_n.png

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Great :smallsmile:

I got an idea, and I'm working on it, but I don't know if I like the result yet... Brutally honest critique plox.

"Robot Icarus"
*snippity snip snip*

Bwahahahahahaha. I find it hilarious, but it needs....more definition. I notice the picture title is "robot icarus". I thought it was a skeleton that stole an angel's wings. And if it's a referrence to something called robot icarus, well that's lost on me. :smallfrown:

But I still laughed!

[The Succubus]

The idea behind it is good - a villainous type nicking a pair of angel wings for their own fun. In this case, the robot has a fun expression and the wings look good...but the angel on the floor is not very clearly defined, shape-wise.

[Serpentine]

Hmmm... How can I make it look more robot-like, then?
And no, it's not a reference to anything specific. Just my brain.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Hmmm... How can I make it look more robot-like, then?
And no, it's not a reference to anything specific. Just my brain.

Give him screw tops in the joints, possibly some buttons on the chest, and a bit more definition to the angel. Perhaps a slight definition of a cliff the robot is about to run off of?

[The Succubus]

I kind of see it as a 3 panel comic in my head:

Panel 1: Angel descends to robot, bringing it the gift of life and helping it "ascend".

Panel 2: Angel hand and robot hand reaching out to touch, like this (http://deephighlands.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/the-finger-of-adam-the-patagonia-almost-touching-the-finger-of-god-the-antarctica.jpg).

Panel 3: Robot flapping away on angel wings, angel laying there with two bloody stumps between its shoulders.

[Serpentine]

Right, new version:
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/225378_215813245230778_2144138515_n.png

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Robot looks great!

[Serpentine]

I added a thingy on his head and I'll work on a cliff tomorrow.

[Serpentine]

The latest, hopefully last, Robot Icarus:
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72371_217927715019331_1011312354_n.pngThoughts?

[Serpentine]

I've spent far, far too much time on this thing, but anyways, here's the completed Robot Icarus (http://www.redbubble.com/people/serpentine16/works/10056526-robot-icarus):
http://ih3.redbubble.net/image.13570354.6526/fc,550x550,black.u3.jpg
Next on the menu: the Cuddlefish.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

For the hip joins, the body square might overlay the circles, making them half circles. Other than that I like it. Outline will help with the black background, but I liked it without too. :smallsmile: