A Thread of Real-World Critique

But it's just a t-shirt.  Isn't it?

Wanna know why it matters that our kids/students 'test' their best ideas on the open market? Because they get legitimate feedback and not a single cute "atta-boy" pat on the head.  It's not about the grade.  But the results matter greatly.

An example:

Been reading the thread of criticism and feedback at "Threadless", a site that allows designers to upload t-shirt ideas.  Everyone votes.  Everyone offers feedback.  And everyone learns.

Tying it back to the kids/students:

The reason I was looking around the "Threadless" site was that Ethan Bodnar -- one of the (2) 2nd place winners in the DY/Dan contest -- has a t-shirt concept being reviewed there.  Here's what it looks like, along with the vote tally:

But more importantly, here's the feedback he's receiving. By actual professionals in the game, and amateurs with the same passion, alike.  A sampling:

• Maybe the first pillow needs to be a bit warmer colour. It might look like its going from a damp pillow to a wet one right now. I really like the typography in the arrow though.
• To me, there's not enough happening here. The text seems like a slogan, because it's not really part of the art to an important degree. Think about ways to make this more interesting. What if an eskimo was telling the story? The sun? Maybe one pillow sleeps on the other pillow. Make sure you're using all the unique aspects of your subject (sleep, coldness, pillows, turning) to your full advantage. And keep things as visual as possible.
• Nice slogan, but the art is not up to it. Take the above suggestions and recompose.
• How about a pillow with flames on one side and icicles on the other? Like someone else said, make the art tell the story and POP!
• Hey Ethan!!This is a really cool concept, but I do agree that the text is a bit hard to follow because it stops and picks up again back at the beginning, a process that makes my brain confused as to which way it should be reading. I think the diagram vibe is kinda nifty, but, obviously, very few agree with me on that. Oh well.

Kinda cool feedback for a 'kid', huh?  Oh yeah, and it's happening 'outside of school', too.

Oh, and while we're at it, take a look at Ethan's business card (side 1, side 2).  Maybe it'll inspire a teacher or two to have their kids create a subject-focused business card for a class project, maybe even a portfolio like Ethan's, too.

Side one:

Side two:

Comments

[Ethan Bodnar]

Thanks Christian,

Threadless is a great site. A revision of this shirt is coming soon too. And the way their website works is great too cause I can go an upload, say, another 3 revisions of the design until it is perfect.

And since I know your an English teacher, their is a website that kinda does what Threadless does for design. It allows you to upload your writing and people can offer feedback and what not.

http://www.urbis.com/