ha! I beat Ted.

(Just giving you a hard time, Ted) ;o)

BTW, Armin, did you consider Cafe Press? I'm not that familiar with their product, but it seems like a way to have people buy shirts without forcing you to front the cost.

Though I didnt have the time to enter a tee - I just wanted to thank all who did!! Great job!! It was fun to see what would come of this. I can not wait to see who the winner is... but I think I will purchase one regardless!!!

What is the next contest going to be? Poster/print? I need to decorate my apartment and would love some new design (other than mine)!!!

brilliant suggestion Sarah. Armin we must know somebody that knows somebody that would donate printing and paper for a fund raiser here.

oh, and put me down for 1 medium. whatever.

> BTW, Armin, did you consider Cafe Press?

Sucks big time! I tried it and it was terrible quality, bad placement but good customer service.

> What is the next contest going to be? Poster/print?

One thing at a time people! Please.

Let's proceed to the "design by committee" stage where we choose our favorite elements from each shirt, combine them into a freakish amalgam, and change the background color to maroon.

Sorry. Bad day.

Let's say we voted for Marian but Peter wins. Like Tan, no f'ing way am I wearing a kitty cat on my chest. Are we still held to the fact that we said yes to a purchase when voting? Perhaps there was fine print and I didn't read it, just wondering in terms of quantity and money. Otherwise two cats in Chicago will have a kick ass bed.

Kiran, suck it up... you'd look adorable in a kitten shirt.

Let's proceed to the "design by committee" stage...

Wow! That made me laugh! A little too close to a past committee experience. Never again!!!

We could start a Speak Up support group to help everyone heal from past design by committe experiences.

It's a pretty macho-lookin' kitty cat, if you ask me. And i figure if you can own a kitty cat, you should be able to wear one.

Thanks 59 people for voting for me my design!

> Are we still held to the fact that we said yes to a purchase when voting?

No, there is no fine print obliging you to anything. But it will be frowned upon.

I do have a question of my own. Being that Graham's tee only had six votes, would it be frowned upon if selected a winner? Just curious.

I'm not above wearing the little fountain cat! Though I'll probably catch some heat from my non-design friends.

I'm just wondering how 200 people (or thereabouts) managed to vote 490 times. Is this some kind of designer math?

>Is this some kind of designer math?

Each person was supposed to vote for three. We should have had 600 votes. Some people just voted for one or two t-shirts — hence the odd number.

I'm not following you...you say 3 people voted 600 times and that made 200 votes? Or do you mean 600 people voted 3 times for 200 different shirts? Or 200 of the same shirt? So then how many shirts do I get for $600?

I do have a question of my own. Being that Graham's tee only had six votes, would it be frowned upon if selected a winner? Just curious.

Well, it seems to break the 'no extraneous type/punctuation' rule you put forth. ;o)

I do have a question of my own. Being that Graham's tee only had six votes, would it be frowned upon if selected a winner? Just curious.

Hey man. Voting was your idea. You left yourself the option to dictate so you won't be breaking the rules or anything—but nobody said we had to like it. ;o)

(For those who are interested, here is a sad story about a t-shirt contest gone horribly awry.)

Sam, you need to lay-off the catnip dude. Ok, 200 people voted right? If those 200 people had picked three t-shirts each, there would have been 600 votes in total. Since those 200 people did not all vote for three t-shirts we got less than 600 votes. Better?

Thanks Darrel and Rebecca. Points well taken.

Sincerely

The Dictator

Rebecky-

THAT was funny!

What the hell. I'll wear the damn cat.

Tan, I hate you for designing a white shirt. I think in color it would have kicked much more ass.

-BaT

I voted for, and will wear Marian's. The cat may be clever to all you cat owners out there -- but to a cat-neutral person like me, it has about as much to do with SU or design as Ted's bear. Sorry, but not for me.

As to Graham's -- well that's up to you Armin. No one's going to make a stink about it -- I like the design, and will probably buy one. But it won't bode well for you the next time you do this. I mean, what was the point of letting everyone vote?

Armin, if you can't answer a simple question I don't see why we should have to shell out $1800 ($600 x 3 votes) for a damn t-shirt!

At this point I am on cat antibiotics. Two kinds. It's bad.

Anyway, here's mine. I am sick of this whole thing:

>Tan, I hate you for designing a white shirt. I think in color it would have kicked much more ass.

I know, I know. I wished I had put it on a gray shirt also. But alas, it's over -- so I concede to the mighty victor.

Next time.

i will not wear any of the options but i'll submit my $10 for the cause. save the shirt for your cats.

ps

Oh, come ON! The cat rules my boots! Get in touch with your feminine side. I don't own a cat. But I love the image so. :) Please, Armin, for the love of the ladieeees? ;)

> Get in touch with your feminine side.

(I can't resist)

If I had a feminine side, Lea. I'd touch it as often as I could.

You can pay me in installments Sam.

>I mean, what was the point of letting everyone vote?

I'll be the first to admit that this whole contest thing is not easy, and I'm trying to figure out things as I go along. The whole option to dictate, as Rebbeca so accurately put it, was in fact just to cover my ass.

Plus the fact that I have a wildcard just adds to the suspense.

Next time, just dictate that we have to like it. Then say "Bwahahahaha!!!"

I have to leave the computer now for 6-8 hours (dammit!!!). If you announce the winner and it's not me, then my gracious congratulations to whoever it is in advance. If you announce the winner and it is me, I will submit my acceptance speech later.

Let's proceed to the "design by committee" stage where we choose our favorite elements from each shirt, combine them into a freakish amalgam, and change the background color to maroon.

Someone else visits this god awful state of design! I am not alone! All committees must die. :)

Seriously, feeling your pain. Sorry.

> I am not alone!

you guys need to get in touch w/ your corporate side.

Alright, a more formal introduction (so that I'm fully accountable for my following comments):

My name is Justin (hello everyone) and I, like a few of the other entrants, normally observe Speak Up discussion from afar. I'm often too intimidated by the level of camaraderie taking place as a discussion unfolds to actually chime in with any thoughts. I love the site regardless, have enjoyed watching it evolve, and am consistently impressed with the knowledge/insight/language some of you bring to the table.

But: I think the Wildcard is a bad idea. And by Wildcard I mean the apparent sympathy vote. And by apparent sympathy vote I mean that I expected a lot more from someone that went on and on about Scher's 5(th). I know that being of the Tomato school both excuses and magnifies opinions and efforts, as does any badge of notoriety. I think it discredits the authenticity of the site, though, and all of us as individuals and designers to ignore the not-so-goodness of that entry because it's Graham's.

Don't mean for this to sound like a personal vendetta, because it's not. I've got nothing against Graham, his work, or his admirers. I've got nothing against well-known designers in general or their admirers. And I apologize for stepping out of bounds of the above discussion. But, well, does anyone see what I'm getting at? I know it's an awkward spot for a tangent and maybe it's better suited for a formal discussion, but the occasional well-known-designer pussyfooting, especialy here, surprises me.

And to really seal my fate: come on, really? The cat? Outside of the obscure inside joke how can you justify that as a serious competitor?

You should talk to someone over at typophile about how to run a shirt contest. They did one last year (and are doing one again now) and it was a great success, at least from a visitor's standpoint. Designs were posted daily for a month so everyone kept coming back and talking about them. The designs were anonymous so feedback was much more candid. Submissions were plentiful (maybe 100+ designs, I'm not sure), and the voting period lasted longer than (ahem) two days. This year Typophile also has a panel of judges, to help ease the subjectivity of the judging somewhat.

Like you, Armin, I feel it's a shame that there were so few sumbmissions, and that most of the designs that were submitted were such crap (I guess you lump mine into that category too, oh well).

Just some thoughts.

how come the new kids never sign on with a simple "hi, my name is justin?"

Thanks for your thoughts Justin. keep swinging at some of the insider familiarity. Just remember at the end of the day to leave some money in the register and give back to the kids.

something off topic but relative to the above is this idea that you for some reason aren't allowed to fallible. As though the VH1 logo must be good because Viacom says so. Or that Graham regardless of the fact that he's a brilliant designer and a hell of a chap can't do whatever he wants to with his free time. this actually pertains more to a few other threads but seemed like a good idea to introduce here.

either way, Justin, welcome.

that should read, "to be fallible." me too, huh?

sam's being a whiny little bitch, and they make the best t-shirts. i want one of those. adult small. address upon request. i'll wear the fucker every. single. day. this is not a joke.

Thanks, Eric, for the welcome.

And I must reiterate my regards to Graham. I don't mean to attack him or Tomato personally. I don't know enough about either of them and feel it would be arrogantly foolish even if I did. Just criticizing the situation.

So yes, fallibility is what I was getting at, fallibility pertaining to certain people/groups in certain situations. It's tricky: you don't want to amplify criticism of someone's work too much just because of who they are or what they're done, but you also don't want to call crap gold. That's all. Just don't want to see Speak Up turn into a timid little kitten.

And be nicer to Sam. With a slight modification I'd pick his design over the rest:

1st 100 buyers get the "hotpants" for 50% discount.

sorry guys...just wanted to bring some laughs.

Yeah, not sure what's up with the wildcard business. Seems a bit unfair and there were plenty of other shirts that scored higher than Graham's (no offense).

Someone had to do it:

Just for the record, and not that I have to justify all of my decisions, I kept Graham's not because of the Tomato factor. It is the only t-shirt with Speak Up's attitude, it's irreverent, it's fragmented (as our opinions), it's fresh, different, strong. It takes a chance.

But you will have to wait a few more hours to see if I am indeed the mean dictator I could be.

>the occasional well-known-designer pussyfooting, especialy here, surprises me.

Justin, big props for saying that on your first post. But there is absolutely no well-known-designer pussyfooting going on. I genuinely like Graham's.

> Just some thoughts.

Hey Chris, you are right, there are many things that could have gone differently. I rushed it the contest to get these ready for AIGA's National Conference. So there was no time to get judges or allow for more time to design or for more voting. Still, 200 people voted in less than 2 days, that ain't that bad.

Next time around it will be better. I promise.

>i'll wear the fucker ever day.

I'm confused, which one are you wearing pk?

sam's being a whiny little bitch, and they make the best t-shirts.

Ha ha, and good morning to you too, grandpa.

Actually, maybe pk is saying that "whiny little bitches" make the best t-shirts--"bitch" would seem to be the antecedent of "they" in that sentence. But anyway.

I rushed it the contest to get these ready for AIGA's National Conference

Cool. I'll be there too. If anyone wants to stop and say hello please do. I'll be the guy in the typophile T-shirt.

:-)

sam's being a whiny little bitch

ah, now there's a tshirt i'd vote 600 times for.

armin, not to press you further but how 'bout action figures some time in the near future. We could have 'Battle Vit' duking it out with the evil forces of design.

i think the best t-shirt got the most votes.

We need a Vit bobble-head.

justin-attack away. the fact that a 'name' (or otherwise) may prevent someone from saying what they think is wholly the individuals own problem. it's also one of the worst kinds of fallability (with regards to design, at least).

eric, saw that coming from at least 290 miles away.

it's just human nature to be a little more considered in one's comments when speaking to a more widely known figure. i certainly felt that way when rudy vanderlans and kenneth fitzgerald showed up in the rant discussion. if it's a matter of fallability, i think it's entirely understandable, uncritizable, and human.

graham, you can't expect people to not be aware of "tomato" (whatever that may mean to each person)--it would be more than a little disingenuous to think that tomato makes no difference to people posting here. look at the way people reacted to nancy mazzei's appearance in the vh1 discussion--it makes a difference who you're talking to, and their "presence" in a discussion also makes a difference, for better and for worse.

Hello,

Not that I would like to disqualify anybody but I was wondering if #1 is meeting the rules since I thought

we couldn't use any special characters?

Same thing for #12 using an exclamation point!!!

What do you think?

> We need a Vit bobble-head.

> how 'bout action figures some time in the near future. We could have 'Battle Vit' duking it out with the evil forces of design.

I could be the next Ken! Who wants to be my Barbie? Sam, you whiny little bitch?

Ok, ok. The winner will be announced shortly. Just need to finish some work stuff.

Also,....I would like if someone could explain the concept behind # 17!

i'll be your cherry tomato anytime, armin.

what i want to see: speak up poker chips

sam-safe to say i don't agree (except about the consideration thing-although not always); life's too short to expect anything. if i follow your thinking to its logical conclusion, i'd never get anything done. but, if it works for you, then that's cool.

#12's exclamation point could be one of the dot and dashes just placed a certain way. ;) Yessum.

ahem...

Tan, that one is being recalled. It's flawed. I would never be caught dead wearing khakis, much less a frickin' polo shirt. It will be updated with the new Speak Up T-shirt, and my trimmed-down goatee.

that's just wrong. no power sword?

it's sold separately, along with the matching condo/crime lab playset.

the fact that a 'name' (or otherwise) may prevent someone from saying what they think�

I totally agree. And even though Armin's made his case, Graham, I still think if your name hadn't accompanied the shirt it would've received even fewer votes.

life's too short to expect anything. if i follow your thinking to its logical conclusion, i'd never get anything done.

Blatant disregard is no life-to-the-fullest excuse. If I follow your thinking� then I'd never never get anything done well. Because I'd be too busy pretending there's nothing to learn from a person that's accomplished or experienced more than I have. So it's a balance. Openly criticize, yes, while understanding that Mrs. Designer is not in the same boat as a first-year design student.

but, if it works for you, then that's cool.

A lot of us have the respect-your-elders bit engrained from the get go, so I undertand the pussyfooting to a point. I'll modify that belief so that it says respect your elders' ethics. Meaning, there are times to hold your toungue, times to carefully consider your words, and times to realize that a person is full of shit and should be treated as such regardless (if possible) of who they are. So, I guess I'm with you there.

and btw, for you folks who may not be as familiar w/ Mexican lore, "Chupacabra" is the mythical Mexican version of Sasquatch or bigfoot. Except it also drinks blood or flies or something like that. Hairy, mythical...I thought it fit Armin quite nicely.

Hairy and mythical — I like it!

I think Chupacabra is in fact Nosferatu seeking asylum in Jaliiiiisco, hombre.

hhp