Our CEO Jana Eggers recently met up with designer Daniel Casarella from Barking Irons in his New York studio. He revealed what designers should keep in mind when creating a good t-shirt design. He essentially points to three things which are important for a successful design:

1. Balance – how and where the parts of the design are placed on the shirt
2. Typography – the choice of font and its proper use to effectively communicate your message
3. Research – a good design should always be able to tell a story and stories are much easier to tell when you really know about the history behind it.

P.S. The Barking Irons apparel in our Exclusive Collection is still in stock and Summer is certain to bring along some great new additions.

I had not thought of this one before, but it is totally brilliant. Send a t-shirt as an invitation to a family reunion. Last night I was watching my newest Christmas gift - the box set of the TV show Rob & Big. It is one of the silliest things I have ever seen and I have been talking about it a lot over the holidays - so a good friend of mine ordered it for me as a Christmas gift. Rob is this professional skateboarder and Big is his bodyguard/friend, the show is about the two of them doing random stuff with their dog meaty. I am not really sure why I love it - maybe because I have a dream that I will one day be able to skateboard. On a side note both Rob and Big seem to have clothing lines and this show is filled with awesome t-shirt designs. (Working at Spreadshirt has helped me to develop an eye for t-shirts).

Anyhow, last night we were watching the episode about Rob & Big going to Big Black’s family reunion. The episode starts with the guys at home in Hollywood and Big opens a package with a t-shirt for the family reunion. Here is a picture of Rob and some of Big’s family wearing the t-shirts at the reunion.

I think this is a great idea. Most reunion t-shirts have the date on them - why not send out the t-shirts as an invite to big event. A cool idea for family reunions or for any event. If you are a business it would be really great to get people a t-shirt (or apron or tote) with your brand before the event. And Spreadshirt is so perfect for this because we can make shirts in all sizes & colors and handle the shipping too. I would love to hear about other creative invitations that you have received for events or family reunions.

PS - If you are a Rob & Big fan - there is a free download of the the first episode of season 3 on itunes - it is hilarious.