Alright. In the true spirit of AT we have a passionate tie for the AT 2007 T-shirt design. Marilyn and Peter's design and both of Jashiki's designs were all highly regarded, so we wanted to ask you a much more specific question as printing these does involve a cash commitment on our part. Please be honest (note: we would consider printing 2 designs if the tie continues and this will be a limited edition for 2007). See bigger pics of designs here.
definitely #3 it's the most subtle. it promotes at in a stylish way while not making me feel like i'm carrying a sandwich-board for you guys.
The Jashiki designs are nice, but remind me of those rubber bands that are in animal shapes.
the floorplan is smart and well thought out.
#3 Jashiki's blue squiggle is hip but sophisticated. It has real presence without screaming "look at me." Definitely a well-designed graphic image.
Although the other designs are easy on the eye, Marilyn and Peter's design reflects more what apartment therapy is about and where in the US they are. I especially like the fact that the design is within a pill shape! Very conceptual.
NONE OF THEM.
The single squiggle is the best, but the color combo is total airport gift shop. The kind of thing a dude throws on to mow the lawn or change the oil.
Given that tees can be fashion these days, I'd aim higher. You guys deserve something kick ass, not someing 'meh'.
Maybe some green on a brown T would be more fetching?
How about the AT orange on a brown tee?
Jashiki's Blue is totally commercial. I can think of a bunch of people who I would buy this for.
#1 AND #3. #1 is clever and represents the whole concept well...and #3 is more subtle and cool also. I agree with the others though, that maybe a different color might work? I dunno, I'm not a big blue fan, but I know a lot of other people are.
The floor plan is clever but too complicated for a tee shirt. I like both #2 and #3, but conceptually #2 is exclusive to AT so it gets the edge. You could always use #2 for a sweatshirt and #3 for the tee.
I should check out those airport gift shops more often.
I thought #3 was a blue squiggle on a midnight t shirt. While it is still my favorite, I am less excited by the idea of black t shirt.
Am kind of sick of black (and white for that matter) t shirts.
I like them all, but can you make a women's (baby doll style)? I would wear that out, but just a regular t shirt style would only be worn in the house.
er...#7? sans the drip but orange squiggle, w/ apartment therapy.com on the left sleeve in blue???
#1 though intersting is "over thought" (?) there's just too much going on, it's too detailed. think of the nike swoosh - you get it, that's the beauty of logo design.
#2 is too specific to the "cure"...
#3 feels like no effort was put into it at all...and as much as i love the colour blue, doesn't feel fresh and interesting.
ultimately i don't expect anyone to reinvent the wheel - the logo should harken back to the AT site - all the elements all ready exist: the graphic/colours/fonts, just scroll back up to the top of the bloody page!
IF this is the final 3, then i'd vote for #3 but a white T-shirt with an orange squiggle and AT in blue in the middle.
Oooh, a baby doll shirt! I would definitely buy that.
I loved the Jashiki squiggle on the deep blue shirt. What happened? Why would you use a boring old black shirt?? Please rethink this. Even brown would be better than black. But deep blue rules.
I have to agree: why not stick with the colors you've already established: turquoise, green and orange? The Jashiki #3 style, but with an orange squiggle on a turquoise background, with apartmenttherapy.com in green. Or three squiggles (turquoise, green and orange) in the Jashiki #2 style on a neutral background.
#3, baby doll option, orange on brown.
with no offense intended to the designers, the blue shirt rings of a giveaway t-shirt that ends up at the thrift store in a few months (or as a shoe polishing rag) and while the mutation of the logo is pretty cool it still rings of the same thing. to me, the black t with the floorplan is the closest to a tshirt that i might actually wear out and about.
it looks interesting in its own right--not just because you know what the apartment therapy logo is.
again, though, all three designs look well done--my critique is purely fashion based!
I Agree, I agree
I still don't get the brain shape, but love the idea of incorporating the sites into a floorplan. If this one wins, though, can the front still have the "real" AT logo? I think it too early in your brand history to not use what the website shows.
Neal, based on what you describe, how many of the existing shirts have you bought?!? ;)
Hmmmm, orange squiggle on turquoise. Go, Dolphins!!
And the "blue" shirt looked black on my monitor until people started calling it blue. And I had secretly hoped the screened squiggle was going to be silver!!!
(and, um, I still don't get the brain/lobe motif...)
I see AT as being about clean and uncluttered. These choices look cluttered to me, ignoring the crispness of the regular AT logo.
i don't think it's a brain, p2 -- it's an aspirin -- like the aspirin shape on the front. anyway the floorplan is a good idea, i'd wear it. maybe try other colors if black is a problem for everyone? like the blue/orange/green combos.
I'm going with #3 - if there are color choices, may I suggest:
MEN: Navy tee/orange squiggle
WOMEN: Robin's egg blue baby doll tee with an orange squiggle.
Holly
#3 is clean and uncluttered. It telegraphics AT. I will buy several for holiday gifts when they are available.
TD--
THANK YOU for explaining that.
Okay, now I see aspirin, but not sure why floorplan on an aspirin.
Aspirin? Seriously?
No, seriously, let's ask Marilyn and Peter. Maybe it's Tylenol.
i love #3, but on a blue or white shirt, not black. black t-shirts with designs on them rarely look good on anybody.
I thought it was a brain too. Cross section of a skull. Right brain/left brain . . . conceptually it didn't map perfectly, but whatever.
I saw the logo treatment on the front - THAT looks like an aspirin - but ignored it.
"black t-shirts with designs on them rarely look good on anybody"
????????
Let's just stop debating brain-not-brain-aspirin-whatever. I think it is more representative of a home makeover show than AT, myself. If you don't care for it, stop being negative about that one and be positive- for the other. Same goes for the negative commentary on all the designs.
Relax, pinkie, negative comments here are minimal. Trying to understand a design is not "being negative."
I agree that too much text can resemble a "thrift store shirt." And I think it was (the orginal) Jackie who reminded us that AT is uncluttered and crisp.
And right: the pill/Tylenol thing? It's a cool idea, but it isn't Apartment Therapy's brand - the reference fails.
Basically the cleaner, the better, the more wearable, say I.
I didn't mean to be negative. I realize now using "whatever" sounds dismissive of the effort put into the design.
What I meant was that I didn't have any reasonable expectation that someone could fit different living areas or cities into the right brain/left brain concept in a way that would advance the idea even more.
I sincerely thought it was a brain and had a short discussion with the husband about the power of perception after my misunderstanding.
I thought the idea of using something other than the AT logo (the "aspirin" on the front) had been nixed by others - for the "branding" reasons other people commented on. I agree with them.
Why not let people vote with their money and upload the designs to a site like CafePress? Then you don't break have to break the tie. Of course then the margin is not as high.
Just a thought.
That's not a brain? Yikes. Thinking it was a brain, I could envision an impulse buy of that shirt (despite my p(too)-ish reservations about the deeper meaning of the design)... as an aspirin, no. Jonathan Adler already grabbed the "take two of my vases and call me in the morning" angle of home health.
Here's a second for Jonathon Townley's CafePress suggestion. Such sites are for exactly this situation, where you don't know how big your market is and don't want to be stuck with excess. That'd allow you to offer a much wider range of shirt styles and colors, too, as well as the TOTE BAG some of us want. (tote bag tote bag tote bag tote bag) Shipping is an utter bore that's best outsourced through places like CP.
I see the mutation is not getting the votes. So much for democracy.
...hmmm tote bag!
When *your* candidate does not get votes, that does not signal a failure of democracy. Disappointment, yes. Failure, no.
None of the above.
The mutation one would be cooler if it went down the arm of a long-sleeved tshirt.
If all shirts are to remain "as is," then I vote for #3.
I love #1, but I don't get it. At first I thought it was like a cool map type thing in a circle, and that was okay, but then it was a brain (which was confusing), and now a pill? I'm lost.
And #2 is a great concept, but as far as being something I'd wear...........
So, yeah, #3 won by default because it's simple and to the point. Although I wouldn't mind if you played with the colors a bit. Maybe that should be the new poll.
By the way, I'd wear any of them as a tote bag. And if #1 won, I just tell people, "It's not an aspirin, it's the blueprint for my geodesic dome."
The floorplan idea is cool, I just wish it was a better looking floorplan.
It is an interesting concept but in the end it just looks amateur, so I had to vote for #3.
Rehash the floorplan and I would votee for #3.
I mean that with a new floorplan I would vote for #1. You know what I mean.
#2 very clever
Oh Gawd p2 lighten up.
you first
p2 is right. #3 is the only shirt that maintains the Apartment Therapy logo/brand. It would be counterproductive to produce a tshirt that alters your identity unless you are hoping to launch a new logo.
the obvious confusion over option #1 is enough to rule it out. TShirts are like billboards...you want your message to be instantly understood at a glance.
I'm in the group who thought it a brain, or the head of a screw and I think the floorplan is too detailed to go on the front of a tshirt. People would have to stop and stare at your chest to get it. But people like the idea of the floorplan, why not put it inside the AT Squiggle...that would at least make sense marketing-wise.
The floorplan/brain/pill/screw actually goes on the back of the shirt. It's been suggested that the squiggle/logo be incorporated on the front. But still, four cities, a nursery, and a kitchen do not an apartment make.
Let's face it, #1 is a terrific design, but still a work in progress as far as becoming the face of AT.
I'm all over the choose-your-own / Cafe Press idea, esp. the option for a tote bag!
Didn't like the "floor plan" in the first round and like it less now. While a clever idea I just don't think in successfully reads well as a floor plan or as anything else at first glance. I too thought it might be a brain (needing therapy). It is a design too convoluted to be interpreted quickly by the viewer.
I dislike the floorplan design also. It's too cluttered and busy for a tshirt design that you should understand in a glance.
#3!!!!!!!!!
#1 as an annual edition
#1. the others are way to PacSun.
It was between #1 & #3, but I chose #1. It has everything you need to know and people will ask you about the layout. So it sparks interest & conversation which is always good advertising.
I might actually wear #1 because it is unique and interesting. #2 is kind of cute too. #3 is too much like another five shirts I already have. As it stands now, I probably wouldn't actually shell out for any of these though. Maybe if there were some other colour schemes, not just black, white and navy blue.
ptoo (hi!), i just meant that most of the black logo-type shirts i've seen tend to look cheap, like tour t-shirts gone bad. (although i say that as someone with a black long-sleeved rob thomas t-shirt that i adore. *cough*)