The importance of art

[ZooCity]

This is a great conversation.

I actually have achieved just about all you referred to Clark in my marketplace.  We (basically me) as a company are known for our design and quality primarily and are top of mind in the community for design work.  Lately, I see my design work imitated on everything from posters to shirt art. We have a successful boutique retail line that we manufacture in house and this certainly helps us as well.  That's awesome and I'm proud of that.  It's what built the company to where it is, alongside those points Killer outlined. 

This has got me thinking more on this and I really like giving the option to clients.  Our print packages come with a half-hour of layout, basic design and digital mockups as well as consultation.  I do make it clear that we can do much more in the art department as well as creating a retail ready, high-end product and always give pricing for that up front but many just don't have the budget.  Before the 'ol economy tanked it was better and many clients were happy paying even double for their shirts than last year and getting a tight product but these days everyone still wants that but just can't afford it. 

[Artelf2xs]

It's funny, My brain has gotten so skewed  with the jump into Digital one off shirts. As a production artist my first thought was of art as in " Camera Ready" or Origianal not a copy of a reproduction.

Art is subjective ! Just look at what Old Navy hets 35 bucks for

If you cannot offer great design work, Illustration and color theory you are not ever going to be competitive in the market. Nor will you gain a reputation.

there is a market for all types, from My kids drawing to the Hack crap I stole off the internet.
I have one customer I am doing three hours of art @$65.00 an hour for only 24 shirts!

and another that ordered 500 tees with the little web icon that he insist we use. He even auot vector traced it to not get a charge.... It has like oars and hockey sticks making text....
Even though I will recreate a clean vector no charge at that many shirts, so we do not look bad,,, It's just Ugly Fudge,,,,, these are two example, Night and day, black and white.... and there is a ton of business in the gray area!

[Artelf2xs]

I might add, While a good number of people just assume any old computer image they have can be digitally recreated on a shirt with push button technologie, The vast number od people coming in for less then 12 digital print are more then happy to pay the 35 art charge when they see what we can do.

We are getting 45 - 60 for single custom digital shirts.

On large runs, Some people doing events that need 2700 shirts Have to have the design their grama or an employee did!

[Command-Z]

Speaking as an artist in the industry I'd say art in extremely important. 

On this subject of customer-supplied art and cheap vs. expensive etc... when a customer insists that what they bring in to your shop is what they want, what is the role of the printer here? To give the customer exactly what they want, or teach them what would work even better? Clark's post with the crawdad is a good example... sometimes they need to be shown and taught what good design is. Going the extra mile to educate a little bit about effective design and what people will actually wear is a win-win... for some extra money, a design that will actually be WORN will bring in more business for everyone.

I'm working right now on a design... client wanted a very specific scene for a resort selling t's as souvies. They told me what they wanted and what they DIDN'T want. (Eagles. "Everyone here is selling eagles." It's in the town name.) I explained that what they wanted on the shirt would not work, since people likely wouldn't buy or wear it. Long story short, we came up with a design together that brought what they wanted together with what I thought (and we both agreed) would move more shirts off the shelves. (Yes, there's an eagle. People will expect one... there's a reason everyone is selling them.)

As a professional designer, I kind of feel it's my job to speak up about bad ideas (without actually saying "bad idea") and guide them toward a better solution. In my mind, they're not just hiring me to be a human pencil, but to develop a product that they can sell. The ability to draw a pretty picture or turn bitmaps to vectors is one thing, the ability to make a sell-able product comes from my years of experience in this industry.

Many of these shirts we design/print are getting re-sold. At the very least, they are advertising something. People are getting these shirts printed so that THEY can make that money back somehow. If the shirt doesn't get worn, the advertisement isn't being seen. As professionals, we can guide them to make wiser investments that will bring greater ROI... and that often involves risk... and that risk is best put into better art. Higher quality shirts is good, too, yes, but what do you look at first when you see a printed shirt? What makes people say "I like that shirt! Where did you get it?" ??

And it doesn't have to be 10-color $800 art, it can be a difference of $50 to make a big improvement, like Clark's crawfish. Not that much risk when you think about it.

[DouglasGrigar]

Art is subjective ! Just look at what Old Navy hets 35 bucks for

Now compare the percentage of income spent on advertising and review that...

Type in “old navy” in google... the only two not direct corporate websites are Wiki and O.N. facebook page...

Just type in “old” it is number 4 - for the word “old” dang...

[prozyan]

I used to be very firmly in the "No way people in my area will pay like that for artwork"  camp . . . until I started trying for it.  I was, and still am, very surprised at the number of people in my area that will pay for premium artwork, even if it increases the prices $1.00 or more per shirt.  And trust me, the region I live in isn't known for its wealth.

I've found in the last few years that saying "there is no way I could charge that", no matter whether it is art or basic pricing isn't necessarily true.  Sure, I lose customers based on price all the time.  Then again, price is the last thing I try to compete on and I never worry about a customer that goes somewhere else to save a few dimes.  After all, a customer who chooses you for price will leave you for price.

[DouglasGrigar]

After all, a customer who chooses you for price will leave you for price.

Same problem 40-50 year old men have with the 20-30 yo. girlfriends they try for...

[squeegee]

If there's anything in this business that could truly make a customer dependent on you, it would be good artwork.

[Clark]

On this subject of customer-supplied art and cheap vs. expensive etc... when a customer insists that what they bring in to your shop is what they want, what is the role of the printer here? To give the customer exactly what they want, or teach them what would work even better? Clark's post with the crawdad is a good example... sometimes they need to be shown and taught what good design is. Going the extra mile to educate a little bit about effective design and what people will actually wear is a win-win... for some extra money, a design that will actually be WORN will bring in more business for everyone.

Well said.  <thumbs up smiley if we had one>

[killergraphics]

[screenxpress]

Clark, I really, really like that picture.  It's sweet and beautiful artwork. 

But I do have one picky little question.  Why does the spoon handle go "under" the apron strap on the craw's right side?